March 2023 - Issue 16

AG TEAM UPDATE

False springs aside, the days are noticeably longer, calves and lambs are arriving, and people are starting seeds. It is also the season of Annual General Meetings for many not-for-profit organizations! There are many agriculture-focused, not-for-profit organizations throughout the Regional District. They help people stay connected and informed and build community. Want to compare notes about varieties you are planting this year? Ask other producers if they have ever sold at a Farmers' Market? Want to know if there is any funding available to help you enhance your grazing system? In general, these grassroots organizations are great opportunities for producers to stay up to date with current events in an informal setting.

Some news from our Ag Team - Michelle Roberge has stepped down from her position as Regional Agriculture Coordinator. We wish all the best and are very thankful for the expertise and creativity she brought to the position. Megan has taken on Michelle's responsibilities -- our Economic Development/Agriculture team will work hard to ensure that people engaged in agriculture within the region do not notice a disruption in service.

Regional Agricultural Support Network

What is a Regional Agricultural Support Framework?

The RDBN has been participating as a core member of a province-wide Regional Agricultural Support (RAS) framework as part of a systems change project funded by the Vancouver Foundation and being administered by the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District. On January 27, 2023, there was a gathering of several people involved in this project, as well as others who are involved with the essential relationship building and extension of agriculture information and research results. Examples of organizations that are involved in regional agriculture support are Farmers' Institutes, Ministry of Agriculture and Food, local government, First Nations, academic institutions, and various grass-roots non-profit organizations.

There are several places where all of these organizations share common ground. Some examples of where these different perspectives converge:

• the importance of collaboration and for all of these different organizations to be interconnected to promote communication
• the diversity between the different regions throughout the province - one size does not fit all!
• the general lack of organization capacity - this might mean funding, people-power, or both
• an acknowledgement that our agriculture-food systems in B.C. are very complex and that producers growing the food are facing significant challenges (e.g., extreme weather events, fluctuating market prices for inputs and outputs, broken relationships, etc.)

Next steps for this project...

The first two years of this project have revealed that there is much work being done, but unless a person is directly involved, it may not be obvious who or what organizations are working to promote agriculture in your own community (never mind province-wide). The third year of this project will therefore focus on how to best bring that information together in an accessible format.

Regional Perspective

This newsletter is a regional example of an effort to share information and profile events and organizations happening in our RDBN communities. Resources like this are the most effective when they are being used, so thank you for subscribing. 🙂

Upcoming Workshops & Learning Opportunities

GO Podcast Series - Season 2

BC Climate Change Adaptation Program

Please let us know what you'd like to see in the next Growing Opportunities eNewsletter!

Megan D'Arcy, Agriculture Coordinator
Phone: 250-692-0783
Email: megan.darcy@rdbn.bc.ca