The Organic BC Podcast

This ep: a preview of the 2023 BC Organic Conference---OUR 30TH ANNUAL!!!---from conference coordinator Sarah Stewart. The conference runs November 7 through the 9th and you can learn more/get tickets at organicbc.org

This ep: a longform conversation with a farmer who was present and active for all the major milestones of BC's modern organic sector. Paddy Doherty talks about communal farming in the BC Interior in the 70s, why organic farming appealed to him from the get-go, the art of growing great carrots, and his thoughts on the evolution of BC's organic sector. COG's Organic Production Handbooks , where you...

Note: the first release of this episode left off the end of the episode. It's been fixed now...if your version cuts off, re-download! Episode should be 1 hour 9 minutes. This episode: you can't run a successful rotational grazing system without good fencing! Rancher Tristan Banwell guest hosts to interview fencing expert Axle Boris of Fencefast about the crucial considerations for using electric f...

This episode I talk to Dru Yates of ES Crop Consult. Getting the right amount of nitrogen to our crops at the right time can be tricky, and if we over-apply it, it doesn't just hurt our bottom line. Nutrient pollution contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and pollutes our water, and so I invited Drew to join me to help us understand how to find the right balance between meeting a crop'...

This episode: farmer & entrepreneur Jacob Beaton joins guest host Tristan Banwell to discuss the Indigenous relationship with agriculture that has been largely ignored or even suppressed in mainstream discourse about the history and traditions of Canada's First Peoples. Jacob is a member of the Eagle Clan of the Tsimshian Nation. He lives and farms near Gitwangak in Gitxsan territory of Northe...

This episode: a primer on production practices that can reduce on-farm GH gas emissions via carbon sequestration. Joining us for this episode: Amy Norgaard , Climate Change Extension Specialist for the BC Ministry of Agriculture & Food, and Dieter Geesing , Provincial Soil Specialsit for the BC Ministry of Agriculture & Food. First up: Amy outlines the problem of farm-based greenhouse gas...

This episode: part one of a conversation with the owners of Fresh Valley Farms . Based in Armstrong, BC, owners Steve Meggait & Annelise Grube Cavers produce pasture-raised, organic beef, pork, poultry & eggs on 300+ acres under a rotational grazing system. This time, we'll learn about cover cropping practices at Fresh Valley Farms, some of the vital tools and equipment in their operation,...

This episode: part one of a conversation with the owners of Fresh Valley Farms . Based in Armstrong, BC, owners Steve Meggait & Annelise Grube Cavers produce pasture-raised, organic beef, pork, poultry & eggs on 300+ acres under a rotational grazing system. In this episode, Steve & Annelise summarize their business model and describe their core farming values. After that, Steve reviews...

This episode: guest interviewer and orchardist Molly Thurston returns! This time her guest is Tom Forge , a research soil ecologist at the Summerland Research and Development Centre who specializes in nematology and integrated root health management for perennial fruit crops. Molly interviewed Tom so we can learn about the biology of plant-parasitic nematodes, how they impact tree fruit and other...

This episode features part two of my conversation with Anna Helmer of Helmer's Organic Farm . This conversation is meant to be a companion to a video that Organic BC produced about Helmer's Organic Farm for its Organic Innovation Series. This episode, we go into more detail about the five year rotation  that the Helmers use to produce their potatoes, and how this rotation allows them to...

This episode: a conversation with Anna Helmer of Helmer's Organic Farm. This conversation is meant to be a companion to a video that Organic BC produced about Helmer's Organic Farm for its Organic Innovation Series. The video will take you on a virtual tour of the Helmer farm and showcase their dedication to low inputs, long rotations, and heavy cover cropping. That video will be released on...

This episode: a conversation about limiting nutrient pollution in organic cropping systems. Our guest is Sean Smukler, an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia. Sean and his collegues completed research on this topic as a project under the last round of Canada's Organic Science Cluster. In this conversation, Sean talks about that research...

This episode, a conversation with two biologists from the S ummerland Research and Development Centre about how climate change is impacting tree fruit production in BC, and how the breeding work of the research centre can help the industry understand and adapt to these impacts. The guests in this episode are Jesse MacDonald and Chris Pagliocchini

This episode features part two of my conversation with Manish Raizada, a Professor of Plant Agriculture at the University of Guelph. Herein, Manish talks about his lab's efforts to develop a microbe-based biopesticide that could be sprayed on crops like wheat and corn in order to protect those crops against fusarium wilt. Manish also describes research of crop wild relatives as a key to gaining in...

In this episode, host Jordan Marr interviews Manish Raizada, a Professor of Plant Agriculture at the University of Guelph. They discuss the role that biofertilizers can play in reducing our food system's dependence on synthetic nitrogen and its undesireable impacts on water quality and climate emissions. Manish, who heads the Raizada Lab at the University of Guelph, describs the evolution of the s...

This episode: an inspiring conversation with Reid Allaway of Ferme Tournesol about his years-long commitment to electrifying various internal-combustion-powered machinery around his co-operative farm. There's a lot of useful information in here for those who want to follow Reid's lead, including the successful transition to an electrified cube van that costs the farm $5 in electricity for every de...

Originally produced for the 2022 BC Organic Conference This episode, five BC farmers (and your host) talk about the challenges of 2021's chaotic weather events. With thanks to: Chris Bodnar Mike Broersma Cameron Bell Hermann Bruns Molly Thurston

Originally produced for the 2022 BC Organic Conference This episode is all about the British Columbia Certified Organic Program (BCCOP), the first province-wide organic program that existed in BC, and at present, fairly unique in North America because of its regional focus and its use of the peer-review process. There's so much to say about this program. It represents a through-line from the grass...

Originally produced for the 2022 BC Organic Conference This episode: farmer and verification officer (and BC Organic Conference planning committee member) Jolene Swain talks to host Jordan Marr about the Permitted Substances List for organic operators in Canada ( CAN/CGSB-32.311-2020 , officially). This conversation is primarily for people who are new to certified organic production, but aims to b...

Originally produced for the 2022 BC Organic Conference In this episode, BC Organic Rancher Tristan Banwell describes changes to BC's slaughter regulations that took effect on October 1st, 2020. We begin our conversation with a brief review of how slaughter regulations have evolved in BC over the last two decades, leading up to these newest changes, which Tristan believes will create new opportunit...

This episode was inspired by concerns raised by Organic BC board member Brody Irvine. Brody is a part-owner of Discovery Organics , a BC-based organic food distributor that has traditionally purchased from farms of all sizes. Brody fears that the most recent updates to Canada's food safety regulations have made it difficult for smaller-sized operations to continue selling into certain wholesale ma...

Originally produced for the 2022 BC Organic Conference In this episode, guest interviewer (and our sector's Industry Specialist at the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Fisheries!) Emma Holmes interviews Dru Yates, a pest & soil specialist with E.S. Cropconsult , based in the lower mainland. This is part two of two. Here, Emma & Dru discuss: IPM advice for new farmers B.C. Plant Healt...

Originally produced for the 2022 BC Organic Conference In this episode, guest interviewer (and our sector's Industry Specialist at the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Fisheries!) Emma Holmes interviews Dru Yates, a pest & soil specialist with E.S. Cropconsult , based in the lower mainland. This is part one of two. Here, Emma & Dru discuss Dru's experience of the impacts of climate c...

Originally produced for the 2022 BC Organic Conference In this episode, guest interviewer and rancher Tristan Banwell speaks with rancher Steve Kenyon about winter grazing strategies for the herd. Tristan is co-owner of Spray Creek Ranch in Lillooet, BC. Steve is a grazing expert and co-owner of Greener Pastures Ranching , in Busby, Alberta. In addition to managing a custom livestock-grazing opera...

Originally produced for the 2022 BC Organic Conference. This episode: a wide-ranging conversation with Kerry McCann and Andrew "Budgie" Budgell, co-owners of Laughing Crow Organics in Pemberton, BC. Laughing Crow is a diverse operation. Kerry & Budgie grow produce & cut-flowers for farmers markets and a CSA and in recent years have established a successful agritourism enterprise featuring...