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Originally published:

DECEMBER 2020
Vol. 106 Issue 12

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Stories In This Edition

Abattoirs eye pandemic funding

Water fight

Turkey sales strengthen

Orchardists forge ahead following late-season freeze

Editorial: Back to the future

Back 40: Pandemic gives leaders a bosst, but what about farmers

Viewpoint: BC agriculture set to ead food conversations

Kamloops farmers push back on irrigation plan

Sidebar: A new tool for municipalities

ILT puts broiler farms on the defensive

Snowed under

Antimicrobial phase-out delayed

BC Tree Fruits makeover gets green light

Keremeos supply store closes

Province rethinks land matching pitch

Ag Briefs: Land commission appts announced

Ag Briefs: Blueberry council set for elections

Ag Briefs: Award honours young agrologist

Ag Briefs: Horticultural loss

Ag in the Classroom prepares for change

Beekeepers go virtual for 100th anniversary

Sidebar: Pandemic puts pause on bee research

Island farmers frustrated by ferry waits

Slaughter limitations forcing producers out

Livestock specialist has close ties to ranching

Cattle take lead in fire prevention efforts

New food hub planned for Salmon Arm

Passion and schooling pay off for young grower

Cleanfarms looks into ag plastic recycling program

Robotic strawberry picker on the horizon

Agritech venture aims to unite data management

Sidebar: Microsoft moves in

Up in smoke

New tool helps farmers avoid nutrient runoff

Peace region weather network expanded

Sidebar: Adaption network hosts webinar series

Tarps provide targeted alternative to cover crops

Orchardists making greater use of decisionaid system

Asian parasitoids come to the rescue of berry growers

Research: Keeping cows’ reproductive cycle on track

Agroforestry project makes farm viable

Young farmers encouraged to cultivate resilience

Farm Story: A change of season brings a change of mind

Universal broadband fund cheers farmers

Woodshed: New beginnings for Deborah and Susan

4-H members finish season at virtual Ag Expo

Jude’s Kitchen: Classic festive appies for the holidays

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4 days ago

A turkey farm in West Abbotsford is the second commercial poultry flock to tested positive for avian influenza since the initial case was reported in Enderby on April 13. CFIA announced the case May 19, but has yet to define the control zone. Ray Nickel of the BC Poultry Association says more than 50 farms are in the vicinity of the infected premises, meaning control measures — including movement controls — will have a significant impact on the industry. The supply of birds moving into the country from US hatcheries will also be affected, compounding the host of supply chain issues growers have been dealing with over the past year. A story in our June issue will provide further details. ... See MoreSee Less

A turkey farm in West Abbotsford is the second commercial poultry flock to tested positive for avian influenza since the initial case was reported in Enderby on April 13. CFIA announced the case May 19, but has yet to define the control zone. Ray Nickel of the BC Poultry Association says more than 50 farms are in the vicinity of the infected premises, meaning control measures — including movement controls — will have a significant impact on the industry. The supply of birds moving into the country from US hatcheries will also be affected, compounding the host of supply chain issues growers have been dealing with over the past year. A story in our June issue will provide further details.
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2 weeks ago

The province has extended the order requiring regulated commercial poultry operations to keep their birds indoors through June 13. Originally set to expire this Friday, the order was extended after a careful review by the province's deputy chief veterinarian. Poultry at seven premises, all but one of them backyard flocks, have tested positive for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza since April 13. The order allows small-scale producers to continue pasturing their birds outdoors provided biosecurity protocols developed by the Small-Scale Meat producers Association are followed. ... See MoreSee Less

The province has extended the order requiring regulated commercial poultry operations to keep their birds indoors through June 13. Originally set to expire this Friday, the order was extended after a careful review by the provinces deputy chief veterinarian. Poultry at seven premises, all but one of them backyard flocks, have tested positive for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza since April 13. The order allows small-scale producers to continue pasturing their birds outdoors provided biosecurity protocols developed by the Small-Scale Meat producers Association are followed.
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Sounds like 2 weeks to flatten the curve turning into 2 years.

USDA doing avian vax research, May 11 bio-docs to UN incl section on H5N8 w/wild bird spread. Found link to apparent pre-release on May 11 Geller Report. Good luck farmers.

3 weeks ago

Two more small flocks in BC have tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza. The latest cases are in Richmond and Kelowna. CFIA is in the process of determining a control zone around the property in Richmond, the first report in the Fraser Valley of the H5N1 strain of the virus among poultry. Speaking to Country Life in BC this week, federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said CFIA staff are working diligently to address outbreaks, and she encourages small flock owners to do the same. While commercial farms have tightened biosecurity measures, owners of small flocks have greater freedom. “Some smaller ones don’t necessarily have these measures in place,” Bibeau says. “They should also be extremely careful, because if we have a case in a backyard flock ... it could have an impact on bigger commercial installations.” ... See MoreSee Less

Two more small flocks in BC have tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza. The latest cases are in Richmond and Kelowna. CFIA is in the process of determining a control zone around the property in Richmond, the first report in the Fraser Valley of the H5N1 strain of the virus among poultry. Speaking to Country Life in BC this week, federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said CFIA staff are working diligently to address outbreaks, and she encourages small flock owners to do the same. While commercial farms have tightened biosecurity measures, owners of small flocks have greater freedom. “Some smaller ones don’t necessarily have these measures in place,” Bibeau says. “They should also be extremely careful, because if we have a case in a backyard flock ... it could have an impact on bigger commercial installations.”
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Killing our food chain. How do we know they are actually carrying a virus, look what's taking place with covid, is it real.

Ik kan niet zo goed Engels maar als ik het goed begrijp is bij jullie ook vogelgriep maar nog niet bij jullie

Any idea when this episode or bird flu might be over?

3 weeks ago

Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC welcomed its first new members in 20 years at its AGM on April 27. The BC Blueberry Council, BC Cherry Association, BC Cranberry Marketing Commission, BC Food & Beverage Association, BC Meats and Organic BC were approved as members, bringing the IAFBC’s membership to 15 farm and food organizations. IAFBC is also growing in responsibility, managing a record $8.3 million in funding from six funding agencies and developing new programs to support the agriculture sector including Farmland Advantage and Agricultural Climate Solutions. ... See MoreSee Less

Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC welcomed its first new members in 20 years at its AGM on April 27. The BC Blueberry Council, BC Cherry Association, BC Cranberry Marketing Commission, BC Food & Beverage Association, BC Meats and Organic BC were approved as members, bringing the IAFBC’s membership to 15 farm and food organizations. IAFBC is also growing in responsibility, managing a record $8.3 million in funding from six funding agencies and developing new programs to support the agriculture sector including Farmland Advantage and Agricultural Climate Solutions.
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4 weeks ago

A second BC flock has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the province reported this evening, April 25. The small backyard flock of chicken and ducks near Kelowna has fewer than 100 birds and is relatively isolated. This is the second backyard flock to be suspected of high-path avian influenza in the past week. The other, on Vancouver Island, was found to be AI-free. Amanda Brittain, chief information officer with the BC Poultry Association’s emergency operations centre, says the latest case is of minimal concern to industry because there are no commercial flocks within 12km of the premises. ... See MoreSee Less

A second BC flock has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the province reported this evening, April 25. The small backyard flock of chicken and ducks near Kelowna has fewer than 100 birds and is relatively isolated. This is the second backyard flock to be suspected of high-path avian influenza in the past week. The other, on Vancouver Island, was found to be AI-free. Amanda Brittain, chief information officer with the BC Poultry Association’s emergency operations centre, says the latest case is of minimal concern to industry because there are no commercial flocks within 12km of the premises.
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4-H members finish season at virtual Ag Expo

BC 4-H planning for next season

Picture perfect! And fancy enough to catch the judge’s eye. Noah Sherwood from the Tod Mountain 4-H Club raised the BC Ag Expo champion market lamb this year. Members submitted photos and videos of their livestock projects so they could be judged and entered in the three-day online sale. Noah’s lamb sold for $650 to A&T Developments. PHOTO / BC AG EXPO

December 1, 2020 byJackie Pearase

BARRIERE – The 4-H community continued to demonstrate its resiliency with a much different show and sale at the BC Ag Expo in Barriere, September 25-28.

With pandemic restrictions still in place, organizers put together a virtual show and sale for 4-H and open youth.

“When we made our decision to go virtually, we really wanted to deliver an

in-person fair but with the numbers that we have, it just wasn’t feasible. We couldn’t wrap our heads around the size restrictions,” says BC Ag Expo Society president Evelyn Pilatzke.

Organizers quickly adapted a recently purchased software package from an in-person fair to a virtual format, with the volunteer members learning the ropes as plans progressed.

Over 125 youth from the Cariboo, Shuswap, Okanagan, Boundary and Thompson Nicola Regional District participated in the 4-H and open categories. The fair typically has about 300 youth entrants plus adults.

The youth competed in classes for beef, cavy, goat, lamb, photography, rabbits, carcass and educational display, plus the Fred Nicol, Twemlow and Boundary Dash events.

Participants provided front, side and rear photos of their entries plus a 30-second video of their animal walking.

The online auction showcased the various classes, champions and auction items including beef, lamb, photographs, a chevon goat and a rabbit.

Fewer youth took part in the three-day auction but active bidding at the end resulted in decent prices for all participants.

“It was a different concept than an in-person auction for us,” says Pilatzke. “It was a nail-biter right up to the end.”

Over 70 bidders signed in over 52 hours. The average price for market steers was $3.09 a pound, $5.98 a pound for carcass steers, $583 a head for market lambs, $512 a head for carcass lambs and $176 each for photographs.

South Thompson 4-H Club member Conor Brown entered in the beef and sheep classes this year to raise money for university.

He is grateful for the community support that enabled the show and sale to take place despite the pandemic but missed the in-person aspect of a traditional fair.

“It was a heartbreaker not to be able to show. That’s our grand finale,” he says. “The show means so much; it’s the time we get to show all our work. We work our beef for almost a year and the sheep for about six months. Plus the social part of the fair is gone, where you see old friends, kids you grew up with in 4-H.”

Tod Mountain 4-H Club member Hailee Lamb was disappointed that COVID-19 limited opportunities to show her steer and heifer projects this year. But the 16-year-old was impressed by her sale prices at the online auction and vows to continue with 4-H next year.

Stepping up

BC 4-H manager Aleda Welch says clubs have stepped up this year to provide their members with some regular events during such an unusual year.

“It’s fabulous that a lot of these fairs and third-party organizers were able to arrange for virtual auctions, shows and sales so that our members could complete their project year,” she says. “At the end of the year, a lot of clubs and districts were actually able to have their in-person achievements in a modified version. It wasn’t what they were used to in the past but the feedback was that they were very appreciative that the leaders rallied behind them and were able to have a little bit of normalcy for the end of the year.”

BC 4-H also adapted, changing its annual five-day Food for Thought event involving 45 youth to six

one-day events in different locations across BC where group restrictions could be met.

“It all worked out extremely well. We got some great feedback from the kids; they were very happy to have gotten out at least for that one day and participate in the 4-H program,” Welch says about the event.

BC 4-H and 4-H groups across BC are now looking forward to an uncertain future with great hopes that things return to normal.

“As for next year, we’re hoping for the best. We’re currently planning for

in-person programming with the hope that we’ll be able to do the programs as we have been able to in the past where the members can get together and do the programs as a group,” notes Welch.

But with virtual 4-H events behind most large agricultural fairs in BC, everyone also feels prepared for a repeat of this year.

“If worst comes to worst, we’re certainly ready to put on another virtual fair. We’re hoping, though, it’s going to be an in-person fair. The kids really miss seeing all their friends and doing it as an in-person fair,” says Pilatzke.

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