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11 B C B U S I N E S S . C A M AY 2 0 24 To p l e f t : E l ai n e S t o v i n ; G o F i g u r e ( L- R ) : A d o b e S t o c k / L u c k y G r a p h i c 's ; A d o b e S t o c k /c h e n . d e s i g n ; A d o b e S t o c k /J I R M o r o n t a ; A d o b e S t o c k / m a r t i n u s s u m b aji; A d o b e S t o c k /g o r a n ; I n t e r M i a m i C F For B.C. cattle ranchers, last summer's dry spell hit hard. By midSeptember, more than 80 percent of B.C.'s water basins were experiencing level 4 or 5 drought, which, according to the provincial government, means "adverse impacts to socioeconomic or ecosystem values are almost certain." But thirdgeneration Okanagan Falls rancher Brian Thomas didn't need a govern ment scale to tell him that. As president of the BC Cattle men's Association, he was watching a slowmoving di saster play out on the ground. Following a low snowpack and little rain, pastures across the province were drying up, leav ing cattle with too little to eat. Many ranchers were forced to buy feed months sooner than B U S I N E S S C L I M AT E DRY RUN How drought is changing B.C.'s agriculture industry by Jennifer Van Evra Jennifer Van Evra is an award-winning Vancouver journalist, broadcaster and UBC writing instructor. they normally would, even trucking hay up from Washing ton and Oregon. "They kind of saved us," remembers Thomas. "But the transport fee on the hay cost more than the hay itself." For many, the skyrocketing costs of feed—and, in some cases, the need to move entire herds— weighed too heavily, and the number of cattle that went to market was roughly 50,000 higher than the year before. Thomas has irrigation on his ranch, so he wasn't as hard hit; still, he's feeling the pressure. "I went to my accountant and he asked, 'What's your financial goal?'" remembers Thomas with a wry laugh. "And I said, 'Well, I'd like to break even.'" Last year's drought didn't end with the turn of the calendar. As of February 1, the provincial snowpack was "extremely low"—39 percent below normal—with nine snow stations measur ing alltime lows. A monthly bulletin from the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship warned that the low snow levels and seasonal runoff forecasts, along with a warmer seasonal outlook and the lingering effects of last NOT HORSING AROUND Brian Thomas saw his Okanagan Falls ranch hit a devastating dry spell last year SOURCES: WHITECAPS FC, BC PLACE, BC SOCCER ASSOCIATION, FIFA, MEDIA REPORTS It took 45 MINUTES for pink #10 Messi jerseys to become the top sellers in MLS in 2023 after Messi's signing was announced last June. The value of Messi's contract with Inter Miami over 2.5 years is estimated to be worth US$150 MILLION. The estimated MLS-wide revenue increase associated with the signing is US$256 MILLION. There are 116,015 registered amateur soccer players in B.C., including 74,129 boys and men and 41,886 girls and women. BC PLACE WILL HOST 5 group stage matches— 2 featuring the home side—and 2 knockout matches between June 13 and July 7, 2026. 3 16 48 104 HOST COUNTRIES VENUES NATIONAL TEAMS MATCHES FIFA MEN'S WORLD CUP 2026

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