Our research co-operatively documented and validated (in a non-experimental way) the ethnoveterinary medicines used by livestock farmers in British Columbia. As scientists we evaluated technology already developed by farmers or community members. Ethnoveterinary medicine is the scientific term for traditional animal health care. Research into ethnoveterinary medicine is often undertaken as part of a community-based approach that serves to improve animal health and provide basic veterinary services in rural areas. The research area of British Columbia had 383 organic farms in 2004, a decline of 1.5% since 2001, on approximately 25,000 acres [10,000 ha]. This represents 1.9% of all farms. There are an additional 77 farms in transition to certified organic production [1]. Only 1.5% of the population of British Columbia lives on a farm [2].
The average wage for farmers working full time in agriculture in the Capital Region of Vancouver Island was $14,000; however 53% of all farms have receipts of less than $5000. It was reported that 7,460 farmers in British Columbia with annual sales of over $10,000 have a low net farm income. The return to assets on these farms ranges from -1% for farmers with sales of $19,000 to $25,000 to 5.2% from farms with sales of over $250,000. Only 13% of farmers report receipts of over $25,000 [2]. In 2003 there were 420 certified organic farmers 51% of which had less than $10,000 in gross sales [1]. Twenty percent of these organic farmers had over $50,000 in gross sales [1]. These figures are important because sustainable agriculture has been defined (by the Federal-Provincial Agriculture Committee on Environmental Sustainability) as that which is economically viable for the present generation of farmers and environmentally sustainable for the future generation [3,4].
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