You Got a License for those Potatoes, Bud? Orderly Marketing Comes to Northern BC
Farming in British ColumbiaShow Notes
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.
More from Farming in British Columbia
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Belatedly. Herein: a hodge podge. It's fun. LISTEN TO IT.
This episode: my interview with Chris Bodnar, a University of the Fraser Valley professor and long time Abbotsford-based farmer. Chris is the primary author of a recently published report titled Farming at the Edge, commissioned by the BC Agriculture Council and BC Dairy. In it, Chris presents a financial analysis of our sector that tells a different story than the one that Statistics Canada has told in its most recent report on BC’s Farm Economy. This analysis led Chris to a bold set of policy recommendations for our sector that he shares in the report. Chris joined me on the phone in mid-September to talk about his findings. Here’s that conversation. Also featured: a visit to the Farming in BC tradeshow to learn about a conference Holistic Management Canada is hosting in Kamloops November 20-22.
Today on the show, a conversation with Richard Hebda about seed security and seed conservation. Richard is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Victoria and an expert in botany and paleontology, and a curator of botany and earth history at the Royal BC Museum. Richard has published research for decades on many topics, but what’s worth noting here is that much of his research has focused on the impacts of climate change on natural and human-influenced ecosystems. Richard joined me to talk about a project aimed at preserving and adapting heritage seeds in the context of a changing climate, although mostly we talk about what's going well, and what's lacking, in our collective efforts to slow down the loss of our seed diversity. You can learn more at heritagepotato.ca, although the URL will soon change to cropclimate.ca
The BC Ministry of Ag has proposed rule changes for food processing in the ALR that would make it much easier to build food processing facilities on classes 4-7 land, with a much lower requirement for the use of BC-produced food. I've already produced two episodes about this; in this one I'll share some listener feedback about this topic. ******* The proposed rule is as follows: On class 5-7 soil (and class 4 if the parcel is serviced by the date this rule is implemented), ALC approval is not necessary to build food processing plants in the ALR, so long as 5 percent of the primary product used in the processing is grown or raised in the province. Read the Ministry of Ag's proposal and discussion paper here. You can tell the government what you think of this proposal by emailing Ag Minister Popham at [email protected]
The BC Ministry of Ag has proposed rule changes for food processing in the ALR that would make it much easier to build food processing facilities on classes 4-7 land, with a much lower requirement for the use of BC-produced food. This is part two of my coverage. Part one dropped Aug 17th, 2026. Herein: four more perspectives on the proposal. The proposed rule is as follows: On class 5-7 soil (and class 4 if the parcel is serviced by the date this rule is implemented), ALC approval is not necessary to build food processing plants in the ALR, so long as 5 percent of the primary product used in the processing is grown or raised in the province. Read the Ministry of Ag's proposal and discussion paper here. You can tell the government what you think of this proposal by emailing Ag Minister Popham at [email protected]