Reading Time: 4 minutes A mink farm in southwestern British Columbia’s Fraser Valley is now under provincial veterinary quarantine and its staff self-isolating after several animals and workers tested positive for COVID-19. Fraser Valley Health, the regional health authority for the area, on Sunday declared an outbreak at the farm after eight workers tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus […] Read more
Minks, staff positive for COVID-19 at B.C. mink farm
Coronavirus found in eight workers, five mink so far
If you build it
Ranchers and businesses at Williams Lake get together to set up a college program that’s great for students, and for local industry too
Reading Time: 6 minutes A decade ago, Brian Garland, owner of the Cariboo Auto Group in Williams Lake, B.C., was troubled. Around him were hundreds of ranches, many of them large, successful and thriving. Yet their families had nowhere local to go to study the profession and prepare to continue in their families’ footsteps. Garland’s own parents had met […] Read more
Two more ‘murder hornets’ turn up on B.C. mainland
One nest found last month in neighbouring U.S. town
Reading Time: 2 minutes Beekeepers in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland are asked to keep an eye out for so-called “murder hornets” after two were found in the region within a week. A single Asian giant hornet was found Saturday at Aldergrove, near the intersection of Fraser Highway and Highway 13 — about five km from where […] Read more
B.C. ag minister, critic expected to win re-election
NDP projected to form majority government
Reading Time: 2 minutes British Columbia’s incumbent agriculture minister and opposition ag critic both appear set to head back to the provincial legislature as the New Democrats are projected to end three years of tentative minority governing. John Horgan’s NDP, which in 2017 overturned a minority Liberal government with the help of the Green Party, was projected Saturday evening […] Read more
B.C. ag ministry to take over regulation for on-farm slaughter
Class D- and E-licensed sites to move to ag ministry oversight
Reading Time: 3 minutes British Columbia is set to consolidate all provincial-level meat inspection duties into its agriculture ministry — including the regulatory oversight for on-farm slaughter work. The province announced Wednesday that all slaughter work licensed under its Meat Inspection Regulation for Class A, B, D and E sites will now be regulated through the ag ministry, starting […] Read more
Bovine TB probe wraps with no exact point of entry found
'More stringent' tests now being run on U.S. rodeo cattle imports
Reading Time: 3 minutes Federal inspectors have formally closed the book on a 2018 outbreak of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in a British Columbia cattle herd, but with “no definitive source of infection” found. The probe dates back to October that year, when a beef cow of an unknown age, from a cow-calf operation in B.C.’s southern Interior, was culled, […] Read more
Prairie livestock vet named B.C.’s chief veterinarian
Rayna Gunvaldsen replaces Jane Pritchard
Reading Time: < 1 minute A Saskatchewan vet with a resume in emergency preparedness and managing livestock disease outbreaks has been named British Columbia’s new chief veterinarian. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham announced Rayna Gunvaldsen’s appointment Friday, replacing Jane Pritchard. Gunvaldsen trained at the University of Saskatchewan with an emphasis on herd health and regulatory medicine, worked as a herd health […] Read more
More ‘murder hornets’ found in B.C., Washington
Findings suggest some were able to overwinter
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters/Staff — Officials in British Columbia and Washington state have confirmed new sightings of the Asian giant hornet, dubbed the “murder hornet,” indicating the invasive, predatory insect survived the winter in the Vancouver area and U.S. Pacific Northwest. The stinging hornet, whose queens can grow as large as 2-1/2 inches in length, could potentially pose […] Read more
Huawei executive loses key court argument in fight against extradition
Reading Time: 2 minutes Toronto/Vancouver | Reuters — Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou has lost a key aspect of the trial on her extradition to the United States, a Canadian court announced on Wednesday. Meng, a Chinese citizen, was arrested in December 2018 in Vancouver on a warrant issued by U.S. authorities, who accuse her of bank fraud […] Read more
‘Murder hornet’ findings worry agriculture officials
Invasive pest known to decapitate honeybees, take over hives
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The Asian giant hornet — an invasive, predatory insect dubbed the “murder hornet” — has been seen in the Vancouver area and may pose a threat to the beekeeping industry and potentially to people if it establishes there, a U.S. official said Monday. The stinging Vespa mandarinia can grow as large as 2-1/2 […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
