Emma Holmes The Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) is a no-charge, voluntary, and confidential program in which producers receive one-on-one support from a qualified Planning Advisor to highlight their farm’s environmental strengths, identify potential risks, and set realistic action plans to improve environmental stewardship. It also supports farmers in taking advantage of tools, techniques, and funding… Keep Reading
Making Positive Change to Farmland Biodiversity in BC Susan Smith, Alison Speirs, and Dave Zehnder Farmland Advantage is a research and development project that works with farmers to conserve and enhance critical natural values in British Columbia. These natural values are often referred to as ecosystem services, which are services of a natural environment that… Keep Reading
An Important Solution for Conservation of Bees and Other Insect Pollinators Saikat Kumar Basu Insects such as bees (Order-Hymenoptera), some species of flies (Order-Dipetra) and beetles (Order-Coleoptera), moths and butterflies (Order-Lepidoptera), under the Class-Insecta and Phylum-Arthropoda constitute an important army of natural pollinators that help in the process of pollination in several important crops and… Keep Reading
Blain Hjertaas Holistic Management is a decision making system that helps us make better decisions. It teaches us to make decisions that are simultaneously sociologically, environmentally, and economically sound. The end result is happy people, healthy profits, and regenerating soils. Holistic Management emphasizes principles of regenerating the soil. Our modern industrial approach to agriculture has… Keep Reading
Rebecca Kneen Most of us in BC live on unceded territory—territory that was appropriated by settlers from Indigenous peoples without treaty. We are beginning, finally, to explore the implications of this condition on our relationship with the land and our Indigenous neighbours. We are learning that we live within a great contradiction: we want to… Keep Reading
Darcy Smith The Shifting Paradigm of Land Access in Southern BC At Blue Heron Organic Farm on Vancouver Island, Kris Chand and his wife Maria had been farming organically for several decades. The couple was starting to think about retiring; at the same time, they saw a rising demand for organic food. Happy with the… Keep Reading
Michelle Tsutsumi Community members who visit local farmers’ markets are increasingly asking food growers very pointed questions such as, “Are you organic?” We hear that at least once every market – and it’s so much simpler to be able to answer with a clear “yes!” Once we decided to engage in the organic certification process,… Keep Reading
By Marjorie Harris BSc, IOIA VO, P.Ag. CAN/CGSB 32.310-2015 5.2.1 Measures shall be taken to minimize the phsyical movement of prohibited substances onto organic land and crops from: a) adjacent areas If unintended contact with prohibited substances is possible, distinct buffer zones or other features suf cient to prevent contamination are required: Clause 5.2 Environmental Factors… Keep Reading
Corine Singfield A Perspective on Pigs and Chickens I could not imagine farming without the help of animals again. As a young urban farming city slicker, I longed to homestead somewhere in the woods far away. I moved to the Great Bear Rainforest to start a new farm. We had no money to buy a… Keep Reading
Andrea Lawseth, B.Sc., M.Sc., P.Ag. AEL Agroecological Consulting Pasture management is one of the main challenges for organic livestock producers throughout the province. In the lower mainland and on Vancouver Island, we struggle with wet climates and waterlogged grazing areas, while in the interior of the province the hot and arid climate poses other challenges… Keep Reading
