Agriculture
City asks permission to use land for waterpark, event centre
KAMLOOPS - The weather is cold outside but the city is looking ahead to warmer weather as staff continue to plan for the future of the Tournament Capital Ranch property — a future that could include a water park, exhibition centre, nature trail and picnic area in addition to agricultural uses. The nature trail and...
Okanagan Valley wineries propose new designation area
SOUTH OKANAGAN - Okanagan Valley wineries may receive a new official designation after a study revealed that an original agricultural landscape is a contributing factor to the production of unique wines. Golden Mile Bench wineries, located near Oliver, have submitted a proposal to become the first official sub-Designated Viticultural Area of the Okanagan Valley DVA....
Drone project set to take off
KAMLOOPS - A professor at Thompson Rivers University is hoping a pilot program, mostly aimed at tracking cattle, will soon take off. “This is fabulous technology,” John Church, the Cattle Research Chair at the university says. “The concept of using drone technology for precision farming… to my knowledge, there’s not a lot of people using...
B.C. enters new trade deal with China for Okanagan cherries
OKANAGAN — A new trade agreement was made this week between Canada and China to ship Okanagan cherries over seas. The two parties have been operating market deals on a trial basis for two years (the 2014 season is the second year) and are extending their relationship with the longer agreement. The B.C. Minister of...
Kelowna orchard wants apple vodka distillery
KELOWNA – Owners of a Southeast Kelowna apple orchard have been given the green light to seek approval from the Agricultural Land Commission to construct an apple vodka distillery and tasting room. The application was made by Blair and Kelly Wilson of Wallace Hill Rd. The subject property is a 20.3 acre apple orchard with...
Food, animals hot topics
KAMLOOPS — Chickens, bees and community gardens are just a few of the topics already covered in the first six hours worth of meetings held by the newly formed urban agriculture committee. A total of 17 people sit on the committee, which has had three meetings already, and much of the talk has centred around...
Urban Agriculture group closing garden gates
PENTICTON — Volunteers are closing their garden's gates because city council, under false pretences, shot down a licence renewal. The Penticton Urban Agriculture Association will be selling and giving away their gardening tools, boxes, compost and soil this saturday. The association’s board of directors decided to vacate the garden by June 30, the end of...
Summerland may lose prime farming land to development
SUMMERLAND — After much debate between officials and residents, Summerland town council voted in favour of the controversial land swap last night. The now adopted bylaw proposes 80 hectares of prime agricultural land be replaced with 90 hectares of less-farmable land. This “prime” land hasn’t been considered part of the Agricultural Land Reserve since 2005,...