Morice Land and Resource Management Plan
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- Recommendations to the LRMP Table
- AGRICULTURE TOURS GUEST / DUDE RANCHES
- Opportunity Analysis
Market AnalysisThe following are a few examples of the attempts to grow vegetables commercially in the Northwest. In 1965, there were a few potato and cabbage growers in the Terrace area who did their own marketing to the stores with considerable difficulty. Chain stores want a steady year round supply of product. To have to adjust their supply for a relatively short period in the winter and spring is inconvenient. It also requires the stores to alienate their winter suppliers in the summer when the winter suppliers have their summer surpluses. In 1981, a vegetable processing plant was proposed for the Bulkley Valley on the condition that the growers would be shareholders in the plant, a requirement set by the Ministry of Agriculture as a condition of a grant. About 6 growers were involved, none of whom had any previous experience of growing the required crops or of vegetable processing. Nobody had any solution for disposal of culls, there being no swine producers in the area. Equipment on the farm was incomplete due to capital requirements being beyond the capability of the growers. The main difficulty, similar to the Terrace experience, was marketing. Local marketing did not work because only small volume sales are involved with continual servicing of the stores being necessary. It was found that the best volume marketing was to Edmonton on empty back haul trucks at a very reasonable freight rate. The final cause of the collapse of the enterprise was the ordering by a Vancouver Island Wholesaler of a truckload of cauliflower. When it arrived it was not wanted due to other supplies being available and was dumped. The current production of vegetables is on a small scale and all producers market through farmer's markets – not a viable commercial situation. Recommendations to the LRMP TableThere may be some high quality river bottom soils, which could be used for market gardening, but the majority of the LRMP area is higher ground. The higher capability soils are on the north shore of Francois Lake and have significant slopes, which precludes the possibility of market gardening. However, because nothing has changed regarding the key factors of climate, soils and markets it is not realistic to set aside any of the land areas in the Morice for commercial vegetable growing which have growing conditions of less than Class 3. AGRICULTURE TOURS & GUEST / DUDE RANCHESOverviewT Tsy’los Park Lodge & Adventures Chilko Lake, BC  he agriculture industry in the region is primarily focused on cattle with most farmers operating cow/calf operations. These operations are based on private land where the cows carry their young over winter and give birth to their calves in late winter. The cow and calf pairs are then shifted (by truck or by herding) to crown rangeland where they spend the spring, summer and early fall. Ranchers on horseback often supervise these rangelands. The cattle then return to the farm site where the calves are sold, mainly at auction (in Vanderhoof), to Alberta. Most of the cows are held onto for producing calves for the following year. The home farm is used primarily for growing feed during the summer months. Many farmers have additional crown leases on crown land sites where hay is also harvested.
Summer tourism opportunities have been identified as a method for increasing the income earning capacity of the ranches and home sites. These types of ranches, combined with accommodation, are usually referred to as “dude ranches” or “guest ranches”. The product options for ranches are:
Many of the major guest ranches are members of the BC Guest Ranch Association. See Appendix 1 for a list and map of these guest ranches. These Guest Ranches, with one exception (near Valemont), are all located south of Williams Lake. There are two member Ranches in the East Kootenays, 12 in Cariboo/Chilcotin, four near Kamloops and one in the Okanagan. The size the operations vary from being able to accommodate a few people to being able to accommodate close to 100 people. Opportunity AnalysisThe Morice LRMP covers an area that is well outside the area where existing guest ranches exist. The “Ride Only” ranches are often located near major urban or tourism centres, e.g. Kelowna which has only one, to provide an additional day time activity for visitors to an area. The major centres in the Morice are small, and currently have a limited tourism draw. The “dude/guest ranches” are mainly set up for multiple day stays, ranging from 3 days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) to week long stays, reserved and paid in advance. The existing ranches all require significant travel from regional and urban markets and considerable travel for the large US market. The dude/guest ranches provide a variety of activities for their guests including swimming, canoeing, hiking, fishing, boating, riding, farm work, and just relaxing. The concept is built on relaxing in the quiet of a ranch and enjoying physical activities each day. It is the mix of quiet, mountain scenery, good meals, water access and horses that are sold. Each of the areas where guest ranches are popular are connected to a regional cowboy tourism branding, e.g. the Cariboo or Rocky Mountains or the “traditional Nicola Valley ranching country”. The Morice has a combination of areas that could provide the mix of activities that are currently being successfully marketed but at this point they do not have the “ranching” branding. Download 1.06 Mb. Share with your friends:
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