This episode we explore Canada's Next Agricultural Policy Framework, and how farmers can have a say in the policies and programs our governments create for farms and farmers.

In the episode we discuss some surveys BC farmers are being asked to fill out. Here are some links:

Provincial Ministry of Ag Survey:

Takes about 15 minutes to complete

Deadline: Wednesday, June 10th

Survey link: https://submit.digital.gov.bc.ca/app/form/submit?f=3fe4d6db-bc21-490e-a821-cb195e2fac20

Agriculture & Agrifood Canada Survey:

Takes 10-20 minutes to complete

Deadline: Tuesday, June 30th

Survey Link: https://agr.survey-sondage.ca/f/s.aspx?s=981FEF92-6622-46FF-AD99-3E3E3637A0B9

I think the title for this episode does all of the necessary heavy lifting. Take a break this time, Show Notes.

farminginbc.ca/submit to contact me.

This ep: my interview with the farmers of Cedar Isle Farm near Harrison Hot Springs, where Hannah, Diane, Jim, & Rosa told me about growing wheat, oats, barley and rye for their Grain CSA and for regional bakeries.

We discuss their production & marketing, the stress of ensuring farm longevity & succession amidst a 500K tax bill, farmers-as-paragons, and ideas for strengthing farm communities.

farminginbc.ca/submit to record your thoughts for the show!

Today on the show, my conversation with Butcher Matt Kemp, a week after he figuratively cut the ribbon at the Okanagan Butcher Hub, a new meat cutting facility located in Spallumcheen, just a hair north of Vernon.

Built by the Smallscale Meat Producers Association with support from multiple levels of government, it’s hoped that this butcher hub will help address a capacity issue that has dogged the region for years.

Matt joined me to talk about the year-long problem of insufficient slaughter and meat-cutting services in the Thompson-Okanagan, and really, around much of BC, and how this insufficiency has had knock-on effects on small-scale meat production. We’ve lost a lot of production, says Matt, and he hopes that butcher hubs like the one he’s now managing can slowly start to bring this production back online.

This time on the podcast: my conversation with Robin Hunt of Big Rock Ranch.

Back in 2016, Robin moved from Squamish up to their grandparent’s property near 100 Mile House to start a market garden business and live the truly rural life they’d been craving for years. There was a steep learning curve for Robin and their business partner Johan, but in short order the two established themselves as a fixture at the local farmers market, and the business expanded quickly to include restaurant sales, a CSA program, and eventually, wholesaling. Robin joined me last week to talk about that trajectory and the burnout that followed, leading to a decision to pause farming operations for the foreseeable future.

Today on the show, listener submissions about the permanent time change announcement, and then we head to the central interior, where residents of Dunster, a rural community in the Robson Valley along highway 16 south of McBride, have been grappling with a decline in population that some say is connected to a single corporation having bought up a substantial amount of the farmland there. You’ll hear from two residents of the region who are part of an organized effort to advocate for policy change that might help communities like Dunster grow rather than contract.

Info about the online forum on March 25 mentioned in the episode:

The Dunster Community Association is holding an online forum with communities across B.C. to discuss and understand how land speculation, non-farm development, corporate interests, and Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) policies are impacting agricultural and community development. If you’ve encountered similar issues or are making efforts to address farmland loss or corporate acquisition in your area, we invite you to share your perspectives so that we can gather to address these challenges. This online meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 25th 6:30 pm to 8 pm.

If you want to reach out to Dunster Community Association about this issue/project before the online meeting, please connect with Rashmi Narayan (Dunster Farmland Project Coordinator) at dunsterfarmland@gmail.com.

For many years, the BC Vegetable Marketing Commission’s authority has only covered southern BC. But in 2024, the commission announced its intention to expand its regulatory authority over production in northern BC. The news was met with surprise and suspicion by some in that farming community who opposed the specifics of what the commission was envisioning. Eventually, this opposition came together to speak with a unified voice through the District C Farmers Institute, and the marketing commission listened, and subsequently engaged that community in a consultation process to determine what its expansion into the area of BC above the 53rd parallel would look like.

Two years on, BC’s Vegetable Marketing Commission has just published an updated version of its rules that includes an expansion of its authority to all of BC. On the surface, it appears the primary concerns expressed by the District C Farmers Institute have been addressed, but I was curious to know what farmers were opposed to in the first place, what the consultation process looked like, and whether the farmers originally opposed to northern expansion of the commission are now satisfied.

So I reached out to the District C Farmers Institute, and they connected me with two representatives who gave me an interview. Then, after that, I welcome BC Veggie Marketing Commission Senior Policy & Market Analyst Jerome Lengkeek back on the show to talk about these developments from the commission’s perspective.

It’’s been a while since I’ve featured a long-form conversation with a BC farmer, but this episode I’ve got one to share with you. Danny Turner is one half of the ownership of Just A Mere Farm in BC’s Creston Valley. For year’s Danny’s main cash crop has been organic cherries, but the last time he turned a profit on the crop was before Covid. So Danny has gone all-in on organic blueberries, and he joined me to tell me why. We also talked about his earlier life as a management consultant, the value of good agrology, and why he thinks farmers should think in ten year cycles.

In the community segment this time, some stories about regrettable purchases for the farm.