The Organic BC Podcast

Originally released 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 a...

Originally released for the 2022 BC Organic Conference  One of our orcharding-focused Q&A sessions at last year's conference brought a lot of questions about Codling Moth Management from participants, so BC Orchardist & podcast guest host Molly Thurston sought out someone who could enlighten us on the subject! Molly's guest is Matthew Grieshop, formerly Michigan State University's Organic...

This episode: for the 2022 BC Organic conference, our conference coordinator, Michelle Tsutsumi, interviewed Sarah Mock , author of Farm & Other F-Words , a book that challenges many of our cherished beliefs about farms and farming. Is the small, family-owned farm the 'ideal' farm? Are most forms of farming inherently exploitative? How might some of our ingrained values about farming be contri...

In this episode: a conversation with Kurt Simcic, an organic viticulturist who works for the Mark Anthony Group. The company, which owns numerous wineries in the Okanagan including Mission Hill Estate Winery, Cedar Creek Estate Winery, and Liquidity Wines, tasked Kurt with overseeing the transition of 1200 acres of its vineyards to certified organic production. Those acres are now fully certified....

In this episode, we'll be learning about on-farm research trials that examined the role that silage tarps can play in managing agricultural soils in the winter months in British Columbia. Raelani Kesler , Master of Soil Science student with the Sustainable Agricultural Landscapes Lab , discusses the research process and key findings. Our conversation includes some of the challenges growers face ma...

In this episode we discuss on-farm research trials that compared different combinations of organic amendments (composts and organic fertilizer) and their impact to crop yield, soil carbon, input costs, and residual soil nutrients. Amy Norgaard , a former Master of Soil Science student with the Sustainable Agricultural Landscapes Lab at UBC, discusses the research process and key findings. We also...

Originally produced for the 2021 BC Organic Conference Podcast On this episode: guest interviewer Abra Bryne, who is a policy advisor with Farm Folk/City Folk , interviews Darrin Qualman in a wide ranging conversation about the climate crisis in the context of our food system. Darrin is the Director of Climate Crisis Policy and Action for the National Farmers Union . He is the author of...

Originally produced for the 2021 BC Organic Conference This episode features a conversation between Guest interviewer Tristan Banwell and Anne Macey, who is the president of the Saltspring Abattoir Society and also sits on the COABC accreditation board. So Anne knows a lot about livestock processing and a lot about the organic standards, which is why Tristan phoned Anne to talk about maintaining t...

Originally produced for the 2021 BC Organic Conference This episode, another chapter in our research roundup. This time, I speak with Dr. Nathan Pelletier , the NSERC/Egg Farmers of Canada Industrial Research Chair in Sustainability, about his work measuring the carbon footprint of organic farms in Canada. 

Originally produced for the 2021 BC Organic Conference This episode, my conversation with farmer, academic, and author Chris Smaje. Chris is the author of a new book called  A Small Farm Future: Making the Case for a Society Built Around Local Economies, Self-Provisioning, Agricultural Diversity, and a Shared Earth. The book takes as a given that various environmental, economic, and poli...

Originally produced for the 2021 BC Organic Conference This episode: guest interviewer Tristan Banwell interviews Dr. Charles Massey, Australian farmer, scientist, and author. His most recent book,  Call of the Reed Warbler : explores regenerative agriculture and the connection between our soil and our health, and examines the ways our farming systems need to change to make them truly sustain...

This episode: a COABC explainer that aims to help you understand the organization's role in BC's organic industry, and the relationship between certified organic operators, the province's certifying bodies, and the COABC (which is now facing the public as Organic BC ). That sounds pretty dry, but your podcast host put lots of effort into keeping it sufficiently moist to hold your attention. If you...

In November of 2020, we lost someone who made many meaningful contributions to the organic farming movement in British Columbia and Canada, and who played a very important role in the reduction of pesticide use on countless acres of tree fruit in BC and beyond. I'm talking about Linda Edwards, who died suddenly at the age of 77 the day after she contributed to an episode in this podcast...

In 1994 the newly-formed  Certified Organic Associations of British Columbia  identified the lack of reliable information on organic crop production as an important obstacle to the growth of the organic agricultural industry. From this realization grew a plan to publish a number of organic crop management guides. The organic tree fruit management manual was the first in this series....

This episode features an installment on the theme of wholesale buyer perspectives. This time, I talk to Nick Johnston of Nature's Fare Markets . Nick manages the buying for the prepared foods side of Nature's Fare, and he joined me to provide advice for those wishing to sell into grocery stores, as well as talk about recent trends in the marketplace. This is a re-release of an episode produce...

Every five years, the Canadian Organic Standards are updated to keep the standards current . Each update follows a multi-year process of review, during which anyone can submit requests for revisions. The whole process is overseen by the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) Technical Committee on Organic Agriculture. The committee was required to produce an update by the end of 2020, and th...

This episode: BC Ministry of Agriculture Organic Industry Specialist Emma Holmes in conversation with Miranda Hart , Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UBC Okanagan. A good deal of Miranda's work focuses on the biology of soil, and in this conversation we'll learn about the tricky business of studying soil microbes, the trickier business of trying to inocul...

This episode, I speak with Todd Kabaluk , a research biologist for Agriculture and AgriFood Canada, about his research on the use of entomopathogens as a biological control for wireworms. 

Brian Spencer was trained as a molecular biologist, but he found his way to biological pest control and never left. This episode, a conversation with Brian, who has devoted his career to mastering the control of bad bugs with good ones. This conversation is one of my favourites of this series, and will be of interest to everyone, not just the pest-obsessed. Our conversation was kind of free-range....

Another chapter in our Research Roundup. This time, Dr. Kelly Ross, a researcher with Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, tells us about research on harnessing the antibiotic properties of berry pomace for use in poultry feed in order to combat the rising problem of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella. Project contact info: Dr. Moussa Diarra (Project Lead):  moussa.diarra@canada.ca   Dr.&nb...

This episode features guest interviewer Molly Thurston's interview with David Granatstein . Molly is a horticulturalist, agrologist, and co-owner of Claremont Ranch Organics , an organic orchard in Lake Country, BC. David is a recently retired Professor Emeritus at Washington State University. David served as a sustainable agriculture specialist for over two decades, with a focus on orchard manage...

This episode features an installment on the theme of wholesale buyer perspectives. This time, I speak with Lisa McIntosh of Kelowna-based grocery delivery service Urban Harvest . Lisa sources a LOT of locally and regionally produced organic food for Urban Harvest. In fact, she's been so supportive of our industry over the years that the COABC bestowed its Brad Reid award on her in 2019, which...

This episode features a chapter in our miniseries on seed production. This time, my conversation with Sal Dominelli of Sweet Rock Farm on Gabriola Island. Sal has operated a small-scale organic seed company for years. It's a wide-ranging conversation, but the target audience Sal and I kept in mind was the newbie seed grower--those who are just getting going in commercial seed production, or veggie...

This episode is about the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Fisheries' Animal Health Centre . Guest interviewer Tristan Banwell interviews Dr. Glenna McGregor, a veterinary pathologist at the centre, about the centre's purpose and how it can help you diagnose pathology in your animals. Along the way you'll learn a bit of vocabulary and some basics about necropsy. This episode is a re-release...

One major focus of the 2021 conference podcast series was what we called our research roundup. I sought participation from a few different research institutions across the country so that we could hear about recent research of interest to the organic food and farming community. In this installment, I talk to Dr. Chandra Moffat, a research scientist focused on entomology and biological pest co...