Farming

Local berry and vegetable growers have faced severe flooding during the recent extreme weather to rock the Fraser Valley. (Ben Lypka/Abbotsford News)

Disastrous flooding likely to set Fraser Valley food growers back many years

Berry and vegetable farmers devastated by extreme weather, recovery could cost billions

 

Flooded farms are seen in this aerial photo in Sumas Prairie, Abbotsford, B.C., on Monday, November 22, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

‘It’s my life’s work’: Fraser Valley fruit and vegetable growers face uncertainty

Flooding comes a few months after a heat wave in late June “torched” crops

 

File - Members of Communist Party of India shout slogans during a protest against farm laws in Mumbai, India Monday, Sept. 27, 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, has said his government will withdraw the controversial farm laws that were met with year-long demonstrations from tens of thousands of farmers who said the laws will shatter their livelihoods. The drawn-out demonstrations have posed one of the biggest political challenges to Modi, who swept the polls for the second time in 2019. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

Bowing to protests, India’s prime minister agrees to repeal farm laws

Narendra Modi’s announcement in a national address comes ahead of elections early next year

 

Calf houses float in the flood waters in Abbotsford, B.C., Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. (Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)

Thousands of animals, livestock have perished in B.C.’s historic flooding: Agriculture Minister

BCSPCA on standby to help farmers, livestock

Calf houses float in the flood waters in Abbotsford, B.C., Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. (Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)
A protest is planned at an Abbotsford veterinary clinic on Saturday after a dairy farm he co-owns recently came under investigation by the BCSPCA for criminal animal cruelty. (File photo)

Protest planned against co-owner of Abbotsford farm accused of animal abuse

Activists gathering at the Abbotsford Veterinary Clinic on Saturday at 9 a.m.

A protest is planned at an Abbotsford veterinary clinic on Saturday after a dairy farm he co-owns recently came under investigation by the BCSPCA for criminal animal cruelty. (File photo)
Cedar Valley Farms in Abbotsford has had its licence suspended due to allegations of animal abuse. (Image from video footage provided to Animal Justice)

PETA calls for closure of Abbotsford dairy farm accused of animal abuse

Animal-welfare organization sends letter to provincial and federal agricultural ministers

Cedar Valley Farms in Abbotsford has had its licence suspended due to allegations of animal abuse. (Image from video footage provided to Animal Justice)
Avtar Dhillon is having success growing saffron flowers on his Abbotsford blueberry farm. The stigmas are removed from the plants, dried out and sold as a spice for cooking and other purposes. (Vikki Hopes/Abbotsford News)

Abbotsford farmer first in B.C. to grow and harvest ‘world’s most expensive spice’

Avtar Dhillon has success with saffron, normally produced in arid climates

Avtar Dhillon is having success growing saffron flowers on his Abbotsford blueberry farm. The stigmas are removed from the plants, dried out and sold as a spice for cooking and other purposes. (Vikki Hopes/Abbotsford News)
The pigs at Happy Herd Farm getting ready to eat their favourite snack (Aldergrove Star files)

Happy Herd Farm looking for volunteers

Animals at Aldergrove’s Happy Herd need pumpkin drop-off, Monday, Nov. 1.

The pigs at Happy Herd Farm getting ready to eat their favourite snack (Aldergrove Star files)
Dairy cows feed in a barn on a farm in eastern Ontario on Wednesday, April 19, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Abbotsford dairy farm has licence suspended amid allegations of animal abuse

BC SPCA is conducting an investigation after receiving video footage of ‘very serious instances’

Dairy cows feed in a barn on a farm in eastern Ontario on Wednesday, April 19, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Maan Farms in Abbotsford has lost half of its pumpkin crop due to rot. The unmarketable pumpkins are being offered to animal farmers and sanctuaries. (Dylaina Gollub Photography)

Abbotsford farm loses half its pumpkin crop due to rot

Maan Farms now offering unusable pumpkins to animal farmers

Maan Farms in Abbotsford has lost half of its pumpkin crop due to rot. The unmarketable pumpkins are being offered to animal farmers and sanctuaries. (Dylaina Gollub Photography)
(Abbotsford News/ File)

Blueberry season wrapping up early in Abbotsford

Hot summer weather was too much for local crops

(Abbotsford News/ File)
A farmer harvests her hay on a farm near Cremona, Alta., Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. Livestock producers in Saskatchewan facing hot, dry conditions this growing season and a feed shortage have another problem to contend with -- hay fraud. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

RCMP warn of rise in hay fraud in Saskatchewan

High demand for hay this year is fuelling the scam

A farmer harvests her hay on a farm near Cremona, Alta., Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. Livestock producers in Saskatchewan facing hot, dry conditions this growing season and a feed shortage have another problem to contend with -- hay fraud. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
A two striped grasshopper infected with Entomophaga grylli, a fungal pathogen which only kills grasshoppers, is seen on a plant near Lethbridge, Alta., in a July 2021 handout photo. A pattern of dry, hot weather across the Prairies over the past few years has resulted in a grasshopper infestation of epic proportions, with some experts saying the nuisance is negatively affecting every part of the agriculture industry. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dan Johnson, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Booming grasshopper populations plague Prairie farmers

Higher than usual number of grasshoppers inhabiting grassy areas and feasting on crops

A two striped grasshopper infected with Entomophaga grylli, a fungal pathogen which only kills grasshoppers, is seen on a plant near Lethbridge, Alta., in a July 2021 handout photo. A pattern of dry, hot weather across the Prairies over the past few years has resulted in a grasshopper infestation of epic proportions, with some experts saying the nuisance is negatively affecting every part of the agriculture industry. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dan Johnson, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
The trial date has been set for the four people charged with 21 combined counts of break and enter and criminal mischief in relation to a protest at an Abbotsford hog farm in 2019. (Ben Lypka/Abbotsford News)

Trial date set for activists linked to Abbotsford hog farm protest

The ‘Excelsior 4’ will head to trial on June 28, 2022, the four defendants face 21 combined charges

The trial date has been set for the four people charged with 21 combined counts of break and enter and criminal mischief in relation to a protest at an Abbotsford hog farm in 2019. (Ben Lypka/Abbotsford News)
On Aug. 3, Pender Island residents Chris Hall and Stef Lowey will have officially completed a year of only eating what they can grow, harvest, catch or raise themselves. (Courtesy of Chris Hall and Stef Lowey)

From salt to stevia: B.C. couple nears full year without buying food

Pender Island’s Chris Hall and Stef Lowey have produced everything they’ve eaten since Aug. 3, 2020

On Aug. 3, Pender Island residents Chris Hall and Stef Lowey will have officially completed a year of only eating what they can grow, harvest, catch or raise themselves. (Courtesy of Chris Hall and Stef Lowey)
B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham. (Screen shot)

Government to allow ‘more residential flexibility’ in agricultural lands, says B.C. minister

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham was guest speaker Friday during Surrey Board of Trade-hosted Zoom meeting

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham. (Screen shot)
Farm hand Connor Hunt bales a hay crop near Cremona, Alta., Monday, July 17, 2017. Farmers are calling for emergency relief as drought ravages crops across the Prairie provinces. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Prairie farmers pray for rain as drought, grasshoppers ravage crops and pastures

Scorching temperatures have left crops in poor condition across wide swaths of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba

Farm hand Connor Hunt bales a hay crop near Cremona, Alta., Monday, July 17, 2017. Farmers are calling for emergency relief as drought ravages crops across the Prairie provinces. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
The recent heat wave may have spared later variety of blueberries. (The News files)

Lower Mainland blueberry farmers hope heat hasn’t harmed later variety crops

Duke, the earliest variety, most affected by recent heat wave

The recent heat wave may have spared later variety of blueberries. (The News files)
Tom Michell of Michell’s Farm outside Victoria shows damage that heat caused on his raspberry crop. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)

Vancouver Island farmers face significant crop losses due to excessive heat

Berry patches suffer extensive damage, but high temperatures a benefit for corn growers

Tom Michell of Michell’s Farm outside Victoria shows damage that heat caused on his raspberry crop. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)
Pumpjacks draw oil out of the ground as a deer stands in a canola field near Olds, Alta., Thursday, July 16, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Canadian farmers have spring in their step from strongest commodity prices in years

Canola recently hit a 13-year peak after stubbornly low prices, gaining 52 per cent year-to-date

Pumpjacks draw oil out of the ground as a deer stands in a canola field near Olds, Alta., Thursday, July 16, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh