Planting the seeds for a sustainable future - City of Kamloops

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYA historical review of the local agricultural industry suggests that Kamloops was once an “Agricultural Eden” with infrastructureand programming in place to support a vibrant agricultural economy. Long-term economic trends, however, have lead to adecline in local agricultural production and diversity. An extensive review of the local and regional climate, agriculturalindustry, and landscape indicates that Kamloops and the surrounding region can potentially produce more food per capita thanit does today and that cattle ranching is an industry in this region that has withstood the test of time.Kamloops and the surrounding Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) have an ideal climate for agriculture. The warm, drysummers are desirable for field, fruit, and vegetable crops as well as specialty crops such as herbs, berries, and Christmastrees, although the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has had a negative effect on BC’s tree fruit industry. TheThompson Rivers Basin area can support a wide range of crops including fruits and vegetables. Large valleys with lakes andrivers provide fertile soil and a ready water supply. The diverse climate of the region supports major crops like alfalfa, hay,most vegetables, and hard fruit along with the specialty crops previously mentioned. Local crop production is consumed partlywithin the region, with most production being shipped to the coast of British Columbia.The Federal Research Station, located on Ord Road in Kamloops, has conducted a great deal of research on the agronomy ofgrowing forage crops in the Kamloops area in cooperation with the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands (MOAL). The mainpurpose of forage production is for winter feed for over-wintering beef cattle.There are some hay growers in the area so forage can also be a cash crop. Thegrasslands surrounding Kamloops are invaluable as they provide summer feedfor beef cattle.This background report draws on the valuable information collected throughnumerous recent local and regional studies and incorporates additionalinformation to create a comprehensive report on the state of agriculture inKamloops, and to some degree, the region today. Also detailed is theimportance of local/regional agriculture from economic, social, andenvironmental standpoints.Community Futures Thompson Country(CFTC) released a series of reports called Backto the Land in 2000. These reports containvaluable information as to the state of theregional agriculture industry and wereconsulted in developing this report. To viewthe CFTC reports, contact CFTC at 250-828-8772.CITY OF KAMLOOPS 2