B.C. Helps Farmers Prepare For Extreme Weather

Farmers and ranchers are grabbing up a new round of funding to help strengthen their resilience to wildfires, flooding, and extreme heat, and mitigate future climate impacts.

“Climate change and extreme weather pose an array of challenges for people throughout British Columbia, including our farmers, ranchers and food producers,” said Pam Alexis, Minister of Agriculture and Food.

“It is important that we support them with programs like this so they can be more resilient to the impacts of climate change and better protect their livelihoods, while ensuring we have a stable, sustainable food supply.”

The Extreme Weather Preparedness for Agriculture program was launched as a pilot last summer and aims to build a more resilient and sustainable agriculture and food sector by helping prepare for future climate events, such as wildfires, flooding, and heatwaves.

In the first year of the program, more than $1.4 million supported 129 projects in the poultry, dairy, beef, tree fruit and berry sectors.

One of the primary projects funded was improving barn cooling systems to help keep poultry and cattle safe in the event of extreme heat.

For 2023, the program is supporting projects with up to $2.5 million. It is expanding its criteria to include B.C.-licensed beekeeping and aquaculture producers, as well as federally licensed cannabis and hemp producers.

To see the full release, visit Government of British Columbia.