2012-Agriculture has long been an important industry in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region of British Columbia, providing a large part of the region’s character and lore in addition to the employment and economic benefits it provides the region. Examination of the Ministry of Agriculture and Land data has shown that there is room to develop new agricutlure products and increase production of under produced product lines in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region.
The Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition is developing a web based agriculture enterprise tool that will allow existing and new agriculture businesses to access and anazlyse the business opportunities in various product lines including berries, fruit, vegetables, livestock, and field crops. Business analysis will be done at the farm level using data such as Canada Land Inventory information, Ministry of Agriculture and Lands data, and current market information. The project will gather the necessary regional data into a web based tool that will alllow farmers to access this data digitally, on their own, through one on one presentation, or in workshop sessions. This web-based tool will also include a live Blog that will allow growers and buyers to connect in real time to facilitate business opportunities.
The marketing component of this project, which was undertaken with funding support from Northern Development, links growers with their markets with a series of Cluster Sessions, in which there will be opportunities for growers to develop business relationships with other growers and sector buyers.
The Agriculture Web-Based Enterprise Tool brochure and newsletters can be downloaded from the South Cariboo Agriculture Centre’s website at www.cariboo-agcentre.ca.
