Agriculture

Hot weather, wildfires and changes in agriculture mean less Okanagan honey in the pot

OKANAGAN - An abnormally hot and dry summer appears to have had an unwelcome impact on Okanagan honey production. Helen Kennedy, who runs Arlo’s Honey Farm in Kelowna with her husband Rick Appel, says the season started off with an unusually early honey flow in May, likely due to above average spring temperatures. A productive...

If you missed the deadline on your favourite Okanagan produce this year, you weren’t alone

SO EARLY, IT'S UNHEARD OF OKANAGAN - Many crops in the Okanagan have come and gone much earlier than normal, and that’s leaving consumers with mixed emotions.  Cheryl Rohrer with Good ’N’ Plenty Produce in Armstrong says some customers are thrilled to see their favourite foods out earlier than usual, while others are left disappointed...

The beetle is gone, now the hard work begins

WILDFIRES, JOB LOSSES, JEOPARDIZED WATERSHEDS THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - For the most part the small, yet devastating, mountain pine beetle has disappeared from the landscape of the Southern Interior, but the aftermath of its work will be felt for many years to come. The mountain pine beetle epidemic that crawled into B.C. in 2000 is recognized as...

Aggressive cow killed Cherryville farmhand with deadly head butt

CHERRYVILLE - The death of a Yellowknife man who was attacked by an aggressive cow last summer was an accident, says the B.C. Coroners Service. Allen Donald Powder, 49, was moving cows from one corral to another at a farm in Cherryville on July 1. He’d worked for the farm owner’s company about 17 years...

Buy Local gets big boost

KELOWNA – The provincial government has found an extra $2-million for the Buy Local program. Agriculture minister and Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick made the announcement Saturday. "The Buy Local program will continue to be a huge success in encouraging British Columbians to choose the high-quality foods grown and produced right here at home,” Letnick says...