Planting the seeds for a sustainable future - City of Kamloops

There are two general types of constraints to increasing agricultural productivity within Kamloops, bio-physical and economic.While the bio-physical factors are relatively stable, the economic factors are varied and quite fluid, having accounted for thechanging agricultural activities in the City over the past century and a half. The bio-physical factors include:Climate (cold, heat and moisture, measured by freeze free period, heat units {or growing-degree days} and climatic moisturedeficit)Kamloops is located in a moisture deficit (semi-arid) area making irrigation a necessity for most crops. Native grasslandvegetation has adapted over the millennia to survive in moisture deficits. When land is left in its natural state these grasslandsare useful for grazing. The valley bottoms have the highest heat units and longest frost free period (with the exception of a fewsouth-facing slopes) - these two factors decrease as elevation increases. Consequently the valley bottoms are capable ofproducing the widest variety of crops, while the range of crops narrows as you increase in elevation. Greenhouses can modifyclimate regarding heat units and frost, but are generally only practical with high value crops and relatively small acerages.Topography & Location (steep slopes, shallowness to bedrock, flooding, high water table, seepage or runoff collection areas)Past glaciation has left Kamloops with incised valleys resulting in diverse landforms, soils and aspects which contributes to anumber of micro-climates and other influences on the agricultural capabilities of agricultural parcels. While there areadvantages to having such diversity it is hard to make generalizations other than to say that these site attributes can affectwhich crops and cropping methods are most suitable for a specific site. Modification of these factors is generally not possible,or is relatively expensive when it can be done.Soil characteristics (soil structure, permeability, past erosion, fertility & chemistry, moisture holding capacity, salinity andstoniness)These factors are the result of the actions of climate, vegetation and time on the parent materials that have developed into thesoils we see today. In general, these factors are management considerations in a farmer’s day-to-day operations, but most canbe readily modified by the farmer over time to improve the soil’s productivity.For those readers who would like more detailed soils information, the Soils of the Ashcroft Map Area Ministry of EnvironmentTechnical Report 23 is available online at: http://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/publications/surveys/bc/bc26/index.html.Note: A general range of crops for suitable for the different Climate Classes is available on page 11; however, the advances incrop breeding since the table was developed has rendered it almost obsolete.CITY OF KAMLOOPS 18