Business Climate: How drought is changing B.C.’s agriculture industry
For B.C. cattle ranchers, last summer’s dry spell hit hard. By mid-September, more than 80 percent of B.C.’s water basins were experiencing level 4 or 5 droughts, which, according to the provincial government, means “adverse impacts to socio-economic or ecosystem values are almost certain.”
But third-generation Okanagan Falls rancher Brian Thomas didn’t need a government scale to tell him that. As president of the BC Cattlemen’s Association, he watched a slow-moving disaster play out on the ground. Following a low snowpack and little rain, pastures across the province dried up, leaving cattle with too little to eat. Many ranchers were forced to buy feed months sooner than they normally would, even trucking hay up from Washington and Oregon.
