BC Minister of Agriculture tours UFV Agriculture Centre of Excellence

UFV President and Vice-Chancellor Mark Evered, Chilliwack MLA John Martin, Chilliwack Economic Partners Corporation’s John Jansen along with UFV administrators and faculty were pleased to provide a tour of UFV’s new Agriculture Centre of Excellence (ACE) to BC’s Minister of Agriculture Norm Letnick on Thursday, August 21. The Centre is located at the Chilliwack campus at Canada Education Park.

L to R: UFV Agriculture Network’s Lorne Owen, UFV President Mark Evered, Chilliwack MLA John Martin, CEPCO’s John Jansen, BC Minister of Agriculture Norm Letnick.

View photo gallery here.

Premier Christy Clark opened UFV’s ACE on April 4 of this year.

Phase 1 of the Agriculture Centre of Excellence includes:

A 783 m2 barn including livestock area, milking area, poultry area, and swine area

A 600 m2 greenhouse featuring a multi-wall polycarbonate construction that provides a strong thermal rating and high energy efficiency. The greenhouse is the tallest in North America (12m or 3.5 storeys tall).; this is to retain the CO2 rather than venting the excess heat

225 m2 polyethyline greenhouse.

The University of the Fraser Valley has offered agricultural education since it was founded in 1974.

Current agriculture program offerings include credentials in horticulture, livestock, integrated pest management, berry production, field vegetable production, and milker technician. Students can also earn a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in agriculture management.

For more information see: ufv.ca/agriculture.