BC FARM WOMEN'S NETWORK
Helping to educate the public and promote awareness of agriculture and it's future

with thanks to Cyber-Help for Organic Farmers from whose site many of these links were selected
(only a few on our list choice are directly organic-farming related)

Please notify us of any broken links

FIRST-TIME FARMING
Farm Center - New Farmer: Information to get started.
Business Start-Up: For British Columbia.
Young and Beginning Farmers: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Young and Beginning Farmers section

TOOLS & ASSISTANCE
Rural Women Making Change: Alliance of community organization members, academics and individuals.
Cyber-Help for Organic Farmers: encouraging organic and alternative food production in Canada
Planning and Assessment for Value-Added Enterprises (PAVE) Program: Assistance
Plant Hardiness Zones: Interactive map.
Organic Crop Tracking System: Techniques of record-keeping
Farm Management Tools: Including spreadsheets, calculators and software
Small-scale Food Processing: Cyber-Help for Organic Farmers
Interactive Business Planner: Prepare a 3-year business plan.
Benchmark for Success CD: Assess the financial performance of your farm

BUSINESS
Canadian Farm Business Advisory Services. Access to a range of services
Industry Canada A wealth of general business information
BC Restaurants web site: Services for suppliers
BC Agricultural Land Commission and The Agriculture Land Reserve
Farm Check-Up: Business articles, tips and links
Alternative Enterprises and Agritourism: innovative on-farm or on-ranch ventures.
Agritourism FAQ: BC Ministry of Agriculture

LEGAL
Acts, Codes and Regulations: for British Columbia and Canada. A selection from Cyber-Help for Organic Farmers.
Guide to Farmland Access Agreements Leases, Profits à Prendre, Licences and Memoranda of Understanding.
Environmental claims: A guide for industry and advertisers

FINANCE & INSURANCE
Farm Credit Canada
Canadian Agricultural Loans Act (CALA) Program
Greencover Canada - Financial assistance with improving your grassland management, protecting water quality, reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, and enhancing biodiversity and wildlife habitat.
Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program - disaster and major crop loss relief

TAXATION & ESTATE PLANNING
Tax Planning for Canadian Farmers
Estate Planning Checklist for Farm Families
Farm Succession Planning Steps And Checklist
Working Together - transferring the farm

MARKETING
BC Restaurants web site - Services for suppliers
BC Association of Farmers' Markets
South Cariboo Farm Fresh Guide: Connecting local food with local people [PDF 350k]
South Cariboo Meat Co-op: Co-operative to serve local livestock producers and their customers throughout B.C.
Organic Market Information: from Agrifood Canada
Data on horticultural commodities across Canada. from Agrifood Canada
World Market Reports: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.

EMPLOYEES & TRAINING
Organic Farming Apprenticeship Program: Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm
Farm Workers: BC Government Employments Standards fact sheet.
BC Government: Ministry of Labour Information for Agriculture Workers and Employers.
Worksafe BC: BC Workmen's Compensation Board
S.O.I.L.: Organic Farm Apprenticeship Program
International WWOOF Association: referral system for volunteers on organic farms.
Help Exchange: Free online listings for farms seeking volunteer workers / farm stay.
Western Agriculture Labour Initiative: Labour solutions for your BC farm.

ANIMAL HEALTH & FOOD SAFETY
Canadian Cattle Identification Agency: non-profit, industry-led organization promotes animal health and food safety.
Farm Animal Welfare: Cyber-Help for Organic Farmers.

FARM WORKERS
Career Focus Program. Contributes to projects that employ recent graduates in agriculture and related fields
Employees and Volunteers. Employment, apprenticeship, farm-stay etc.
Health Canada Development of new food products, especially GM: approval, regulations, labelling

NGOs and ADVOCACY ORGANISATIONS
Agribusiness Accountability Network. Promotes Collaborative Responses to Corporate Power.
Agriculture of the Middle. Seeks to renew the disappearing sector of mid-scale farms
Beyond Factory Farming Coalition. promote ecological livestock production
BC Agriculture Council Represents collective interests of BC agricultural producers
BC Rural Women's Network: to influence change with government and industry
BC Food Systems Network. Goal to eliminate hunger and increase food security in BC
BC Cattlemen's Association.
FarmFolk/CityFolk Society. Working together for a sustainable, local food system
Land Stewardship Project. Promotes sustainable agriculture and communities
The Land Conservancy of BC. Conservation Partners programme.

ONLINE PUBLICATIONS
Agri-Digest. Pan-Canadian Journal of Issues in Agriculture
British Columbia Organic Grower. All copies archived.
Food Technology Buyers' Guide. Ingredients, packaging, services
Country Guide magazine Canadian Farming News
On Farm Research Guide. Basic plot layout, statistics for the layperson and other useful advice. [PDF 1MB]
Acres USA. Commercial-scale organic and sustainable farming
USDA National Agriculture Library: Searchable database of articles. Requires log-in.
Permaculture: Introduction, information, links
Ram's Horn: Monthly journal of food systems analysis
Sustainable Farmer: Information about how to raise food and fibre mindfully
Water, Agriculture & You: Rodale publication on improving water quality [pdf 7MB]

E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS
ATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service: Weekly Harvest Newsletter
Canadian Organic Growers' E-Newsletter
Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada: monthly E-zine
Rodale Institute: weekly newsletter
Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources

PESTICIDE AND HERBICIDE INFORMATION
Environmental Health Perspectives - peer-reviewed research and news.
Pest management regulatory agency - label search for Canadian registered pesticide products
Natural Resource Defense Council information web site on pesticide dangers
Extoxnet - The EXtension TOXicology NETwork - pesticide toxicology
Pesticides - Where to Find - Environment Canada
The Pesticide Data Program Data on pesticide residues detected in selected foods.

PRICES AND PRICE TRENDS
InfoHort – Canada-wide market information
Stats Can: Canadian International Merchandise Trade: An inexpensive fee-for-service database of detailed trade data
E-Mail market reports: from Toronto and Montreal
Commodity & Market Prices: Beef and Cattle, General Crop Reports (weekly), Dairy, Feed Grain, Fruits and Vegetables, Grains and Oilseeds, Hogs, Poultry & Eggs, Sheep & Lamb, Herbs, Hay
Agricultural Marketing Resource Center: Explanations of markets and marketing
Vegetables and Melons Outlook: Current intelligence and forecasts on U.S. vegetables and melons sectors.
Today's Market Prices: Daily herbs, fruit and vegetables - wholesale
Monthly Medicinal Herbs and Spice Prices

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