Growing Opportunities - RDBN

Those Pesky Invasive Plants!

Guests: Michelle Miller, Mike Pangman & Kiara Mills (Northwest Invasive Plant Council)This episode features Michelle Miller (Executive Director), Mike Pangman (Field Operations Coordinator), and Kiara Mills (Education & Outreach Assistant) from the Northwest Invasive Plant Council. They discuss invasive plant priorities, integrated pest management, drought impacts, landowner responsibilities, rebate programs, and how communities across northwest BC can prevent the spread of invasive species. External Links:https://www.nwipc.org/https://www.rdbn.bc.ca/departments/agriculture/weeds-pests

Interested in Community Irrigation?

Guests: Ione Smith (Upland Agricultural Consulting) & Bruce Naka (Sound Water Advise)In this episode of Growing Opportunities, Ione Smith of Upland Agricultural Consulting and Bruce Naka of Sound Water Advise discuss the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako’s pilot project exploring community irrigation in the Vanderhoof area. They share insights on water licensing, drought impacts on forage production, stakeholder engagement, system design options, and the real costs of building shared irrigation infrastructure in a changing climate. External Links:https://uplandconsulting.ca/https://www.rdbn.bc.ca/departments/agriculture/irrigation-resources

GO Season 3 Trailer

Growing Opportunities is a podcast from the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako exploring agriculture, rural living, and land stewardship in northwest BC. Featuring local producers, regional experts, and community leaders, the third series of this podcast will share practical insights intended to support resilient farms and thriving rural communities. Tune in for regional information on community irrigation systems, invasive species management, emergency management policy, and more! 

Rural Living - Land and Leases

In this episode Penni Adams, Manager of the Northwest Invasive Plant Council, gives us a quick lesson on invasive plants – which ones are common and which are on the critical list for eradicating. Penni also shares about the work of the NWIPC, and the services, education and outreach they provide. And important for landowners to know about is the Landowner Rebate to help deal with invasive plants.Have you wondered or been curious about leasing your land to someone else to work? If so, you have to listen to the second half of this podcast, where Darcy Smith of Young Agrarians, provides a great overview of leasing land – including benefits, things to consider, how to go about starting the conversation and process, and more! Both our guests were a wealth of information. Here are some additional links and resources:https://www.rdbn.bc.ca/application/files/8216/5047/0721/forage_1.mp3Penni Adams (Manager NWIPC) – manager@nwipc.orghttp://nwipc.orghttp://nwipc.org/documents/private/Landowner_Rebate_Application_rev_Jan_2022.pdfDarcy Smith (BC Manager Young Agrarians) – darcy@youngagrarians.orgMorgan Kitchen (Central & North) – Morgan@youngagrarians.orgAndrew Adams (Central & North) – andrew@youngagrarians.orghttps://youngagrarians.orghttps://youngagrarians.org/tools/land/bc-land-matching-program/

Rural Living - Farm Classification and the ALR

Welcome back! This is the first episode of the Growing Opportunities podcast Season 2.In this episode Megan and Michelle talk to the previous Electoral Area A (Smithers Rural) Director for the RDBN Mark Fisher and Peter Alexander from BC Assessment.They share with us what it means to own property in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), when you might need to contact the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC), and how Farm Classification fits into this picture and why you might want to seek it out.Interviews by Megan D'Arcy and Michelle RobergeMusic by Doctor TurtleLinks mentioned in this episode:ALC https://www.alc.gov.bc.ca/BC Assessment https://www.bcassessment.ca/RDBN https://www.rdbn.bc.ca/BC Soil Information Finder Tool https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/land/soil/soil-information-finder