Saturday July 22, 2023 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
RELATED: BC Wildfire & Drought Update at July 20, 2023 | BC welcome wildfire firefighters from Brazil, Sunday July 23
There is potential impact on food supply production in BC due to the drought and wildfires this summer.
But the Ministry of Agriculture and Food says it strongly supports BC producers and the availability of BC products at the grocery store.
“At this time, we aren’t seeing the drought or wildfires impacting prices or availability of products at the grocery store,” said the agriculture ministry in a statement on Friday.
The Ministry also points out that BC sources food from from a variety of locations both within Canada and internationally.
Dry land impact on farming:
Large-scale non-irrigated dryland farming in BC is experiencing about 50% less production due to drought this summer, said Mark Raymond, executive director, Agriculture Resource Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Food this week during the July 20 BC Wildfire Service update.
Raymond said his team is working with agriculture providers to make sure they are not over-watering.
“The Ministry of Agriculture and Food is actively working on emergency funding and insurance programs to help BC Farmers and ranchers with what could be a very tough summer,” said Pam Alexis, Minister of Agriculture and Food, in a statement to media on July 21.
“The main issue that we are directly hearing from people on the ground, with respect to drought, is that farmer and ranches are having to use their fall and winter feed now, and this is in some cases factoring into the business decisions that farmers and ranchers are making in real time,” said Minister Alexis.
Some farmers are sourcing hay and feed from the northwest United States, which is significantly adding to their operational costs.
“We are working closely with the BC Cattlemen’s Association and BC Dairy to explore all options to help identify more sources of feed for producers as we know how important this is,” she said.
AgriService BC:
All farmers who are impacted by the summer 2023 drought are encouraged by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food to contact the AgriService BC line at 1-888-221-7141 with their concerns.
From there, ministry staff can help farmers and ranchers access existing programs or put them in touch with a regional agrologist for specialized assistance. “We are here to help,” it was stated by the Ministry on Friday.
Water conservation:
A few times over the past two weeks, everyone in BC has been asked by Bowinn Ma, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, to conserve water where they can during this 2023 summer drought.
In the Greater Victoria area where water is supplied by the Capital Regional District (CRD) Water Distribution Service, the usual summer Stage 1 water restrictions are in effect (May 1 to September 30).
CRD says they are not likely to go to Stage 2 or 3 (that hasn’t happened since the Sooke Reservoir dam was raised in 2003), though the Gulf Islands will likely see greater water restrictions as the drought drags on.
Urban farming:
People in the Greater Victoria area with food gardens at home or in the community can water those at any time with a handheld container or hose with a shut-off control.
