Farming in British Columbia

The BC Tree Fruits Co-Op announced it's immediate closure on July 25th. This shocked the apple sector, and hit the co-op's 300+ members pretty hard. Herein: a summary of the story so far, and an interview with a co-op member who's super pissed about this. She explains why the closure is such a big deal in terms of the impact it will have on apple growers for this year's harvest. Other links: farmi...

In episode 13, which focused on how agrologists are regulated in BC, I teased the possibility of sharing an interview with someone who has been affected by the regulation that grants exclusivity over the practice of agrology in BC to registered agrologists. Here's that interiew, but you'll get a lot more out of it by first listening to episode 13. My guest for this episode is Leanne Smith of Fence...

This time on the podcast, a conversation with Vincent and Lewis Burkholder, a pair of brothers who worked summers for the local sweet corn baron as teenagers and ended up taking over his operation, sort of. I'm referring, of course, to The Burkholder Bros Corn Farm, a business that thwarted my effort to nab the URL I wanted in order to promote a new sport I invented where contestants race to...

This episode: Jane Kerner, interim CEO of the British Columbia Institute of Agrologists , joins me to discuss recent updates to how professional agrologists are regulated in BC, the definition of agrology contained in that regulation, and what the exclusivity granted to agrologists in BC to offer agricultural advice means for farmers and other farming professionals who want to provide advice witho...

This episode: Andrew Vogler on fifteen years as a mixed veggie grower in the Fraser Valley, and why he and his business partner decided to wind down a farm operation that was succeeding. Other links: farminginbc.ca/submit if you'd like to contribute your thoughts for a future episode of the show. You're also welcome to send an audio recording to Jordan via text/whatsapp/signal Jordan at 250 767 66...

This episode: you'll hear from two brothers who farm next door to one another who fight about which weather forecast is better: Environment Canada or The Weather Network. Then: a meteorlogist from each agency joins me to explain how and why forecasts from different agencies come to different conclusions about whether it's going to rain on while you're haying. Thanks to Quentin Bruns for inspiring...

This episode, my conversation with Richard Bullock, a past Chair of the Agricultural Land Commission. Richard joined me to talk about a life in farming and why chairing the ALC was the hardest job he took on in sixty five years as a farmer.  The ALC's Annual Report is a good way to learn the fundamentals about the ALC/ALR if you're into that sort of thing. Other links: farminginbc.ca/submit i...

This episode we’re taking a look at small scale pork production in BC, and specifically, a few farrowing operations around the province. Other links: farminginbc.ca/submit if you'd like to contribute your thoughts for a future episode of the show. You're also welcome to send an audio recording to Jordan via text/whatsapp/signal Jordan at 250 767 6636 or via podcast@farminginbc.ca farminginbc.ca/sp...

This episode, a conversation with  farmer Paddy Doherty of West Enderby Farm.  Paddy and his partner Elaine retired last year, but for close to fifteen years they grew organic carrots and a couple other crops in the North Okanagan. Paddy and Elaine's reputation as solid farmers would have been enough to fill a whole interview, but there was a lot more I wanted to ask him about. He's...

This episode returns to the subject of drought and how the government manages water scarcity. This time: an interview with Nicole Pyett, a hydrogeologist and Water Resources Section Head, Authorizations for the Thompson Okanagan region with BC's Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. Scroll down to find a bunch of resources NIcole mentions in our conversation. I asked Nicole to join me...

My guest today is Wylie Bystedt, a farmer based in Quesnel and the current board chair of the British Columbia Association of Farmers Markets . Wylie joined me on the phone to trumpet a recent study conducted at the University of Northern British Columbia that confirms what Wylie already knew: that farmers markets in BC are growing in popularity and economic impact. We'll talk about that study, as...

My guest today is Brody Bolen. He's 28 years old and a third generation rancher and butcher based in Jaffrey, in the southeast corner of BC. Brody's grandparents established the ranch in 1957 as a commercial cattle operation. Brody and his wife Kashtyn now live there and operate a farm-to-table business model in which they're directly involved in every step of producing their beef, including deliv...

This episode I speak with Tom Walker of Country Life Magazine and BC Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Nathan Cullen. Much of BC has experienced various stages of drought in the last few years, with each successive year of drought compounding the issue of water scarcity in numerous parts of the province. In some areas, water scarcity in 2023 led to tensions among different water use...

This episode: a conversation with apple grower and cider maker Mike Harris of Dominion Cider Company in Summerland. You'll learn how a guy went from an oil & gas job and no farming experience to managing an apple orchard and producing good cider in just a few years, why the snobs who say you can't make good cider with dessert apples are totally right and totally wrong, and how one of the...

Zak Vescera just wrapped up a stint at The Tyee as its labour reporter, and last August he launched a series focused on the housing and working conditions of BC's migrant farm workers. Here's a link to the first article in the series . The series was deeply reported, and went beyond specific allegations to look at the value of seasonal farm worker programs to BC's ag sector, their structure, and t...

Welcome to a new podcast about farming in BC! This first episode, a conversation with Emily Huxter, a beekeeper based in Armstrong.  In our conversation, Emily contrasts honey production on the prairies and the Okanagan, why the economics of beekeeping is probably not what you have assumed, and why 50% of a jar of 100% Canadian Honey may actually be from Singapore. Visit Wild Antho's web...