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Originally published:

DECEMBER 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 12

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Stories In This Edition

Catastrophic flooding

Wash out

Editorial: Rebuilding food security

Back 40: A farmer’s journey doesn’t always pay for itself

Viewpoint:

Dairy industry takes swift action on animal abuse

Producers urged to make emergency plans

Province sets agenda for tree fruit future

Ag Briefs: Province moves to shut down mink farms

Ag Briefs: Interior Opportunities

Ag Briefs: BCAC meetings bear fruit

Ag Briefs: Trade focus

North Okanagan ranchers brief on key issues

Sidebar: Strong retail, disappointing feeder prices

Frustration over ‘timber-centric’ range bill

Livestock protection program up for review

Honey producers get technology transfer program

Chicken squadron

Quality over quantity for blueberry pollination

New slaughter regs helpful but not enough

Sidebar: Changes welcome

Sheep producers have tough year

The old heave-ho

Grant revives Pacific field corn trials

Cannabis grower eyes mushroom production

New poinsettia varieties trialed in Abbotsford

Nursery sales stay brisk through pandemic

Job satisfaction has deep roots

Newcomers revitalize Lake Country orchard

Cariboo research looks to extend growing season

Full circle operation upcycles food waste

BC company specializes in bio control

Farm Story: Idyllic worlds have very little idleness in them

Blueberry farming is stress-busting for new chair

Research: To till or not to till? That’s actually not the question

Christmas tree growers face a grim future

Woodshed: An awkward encounter; a clever diversion

A century of dairy farming in Pitt Meadows

Jude’s Kitchen: Celebrate! Celebrate

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4 weeks ago

It’s been four years since the last tulip festival was held in Abbotsford, but this year’s event promises to be an even bigger spectacle than ever. Spanning 27 acres along Marion Road, Lakeland Flowers will display more than 70 varieties of the spring blossom, including fringe tulips and double tulips, the first of six months of flower festivals hosted by the farm. Writer Sandra Tretick spoke with Lakeland Flowers owner Nick Warmerdam this spring to find out how the floods on Sumas Prairie in 2021 have had an impact on his business plan as he transitions from wholesale cut flower grower to agri-tourism. We've posted the story to our website this month. It's a good read.

#CLBC #countrylifeinbc #tulipfestival
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Tulip grower makes the shift to agritourism

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ABBOTSFORD – On a bright sunny day in early April, Nick Warmerdam points out his office window at No. 4 and Marion roads to a spot about half a kilometre away across the Trans-Canada Highway.
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Omg 🥹 Jared Huston let’s go pls

1 month ago

Farming, like any other job.. only you punch in at age 5 and never punch out 🚜 ... See MoreSee Less

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Easton Roseboom Levi Roseboom🚜

1 month ago

The province is allocating $15 million to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. for a perennial crop replant program benefitting tree fruit, hazelnut, berry and grape growers. The program aims to cover 100% of plant removal costs and 75% of replanting costs. Funds are also available for sector development. The new program replaces a suite of sector-specific replant programs and recognizes the importance of sector adaptation in the face of market, disease and weather challenges. ... See MoreSee Less

The province is allocating $15 million to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. for a perennial crop replant program benefitting tree fruit, hazelnut, berry and grape growers. The program aims to cover 100% of plant removal costs and 75% of replanting costs. Funds are also available for sector development. The new program replaces a suite of sector-specific replant programs and recognizes the importance of sector adaptation in the face of market, disease and weather challenges.
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1 month ago

Just a week after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials revoked the last primary control zones established in the Fraser Valley to control last fall’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a new detection on April 29 at a commercial premises in Chilliwack underscored the risk of a spring wave. This is the first new detection since January 22, also in Chilliwack, and brings to 104 the number of premises affected since the current outbreak began April 13, 2022. The disease has impacted 3.7 million birds in BC over the past year. ... See MoreSee Less

Just a week after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials revoked the last primary control zones established in the Fraser Valley to control last fall’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a new detection on April 29 at a commercial premises in Chilliwack underscored the risk of a spring wave. This is the first new detection since January 22, also in Chilliwack, and brings to 104 the number of premises affected since the current outbreak began April 13, 2022. The disease has impacted 3.7 million birds in BC over the past year.
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Any other details for FVN and chillTV please? radiodon11@gmail.com

1 month ago

The province is contributing $3.2 million for upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station in Abbotsford that was overwhelmed during the November 2021 flooding on Sumas Prairie, part of a collaborative approach to flood mitigation in the region. During a press conference at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food offices in Abbotsford today, the province said a collaborative approach that includes First Nations is needed as Abbotsford pursues a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy due to the potential impacts on Indigenous lands. Agriculture's interests will be represented by technical teams within the agriculture ministry. ... See MoreSee Less

The province is contributing $3.2 million for upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station in Abbotsford that was overwhelmed during the November 2021 flooding on Sumas Prairie, part of a collaborative approach to flood mitigation in the region. During a press conference at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food offices in Abbotsford today, the province said a collaborative approach that includes First Nations is needed as Abbotsford pursues a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy due to the potential impacts on Indigenous lands. Agricultures interests will be represented by technical teams within the agriculture ministry.
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I sure hope part of that money is to educate the people in charge of the pumps and drainage system! They just relayed on computers and weren’t even physically monitoring the water levels. I’ve lived in the Fraser Valley my whole life and the old guys managing that system know how to do it. The new generation just sit behind computer screens and don’t physically watch the water levels. That system works very well when you do it right. The Fraser river levels are very important. The system is designed to drain the Sumas Canal (the part that runs thru the valley) into the Fraser. When they let it get backed up it put pressure on the dyke and the weak part burst. Simple science. And yes, the dykes need to be worked on too. Abbotsford has not been maintaining properly for years.

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A century of dairy farming in Pitt Meadows

The Severinski family has milked cows every single day for over 100 years

Louise and Harry Severinski sit surrounded by family, including son Kevin, far right, and grandson Brandon, the fourth-generation Severinski to work on the family’s Pitt Meadows dairy farm. Severinski Farms received a Century Farm award from the province in September. SUBMITTED

December 1, 2021 byKate Ayers

PITT MEADOWS – Severinski Farms reached a golden milestone this fall, one recognized with the province’s Century Farm and Ranch Award.

The celebration in September was attended by nearly 200 people, including friends, family and local politicians. It was a special moment for the entire family, but especially Harry and Louise Severinski, who have been a part of the operation for the lion’s share of its 100 years.

“I told my parents, so they knew (the barbeque) was happening, but we hadn’t told them we’d applied for the BC Century Farm Award and we didn’t tell them we’d invited all the local politicians,” says Kevin Severinski, Harry and Louise’s son and a third-generation farmer. “So, they were pretty shocked when they saw the mayor, councillors, the MLA and MP show up. They were pretty proud.”

The Severinski family traces its farming roots back to 1910 when Steven Severinski, Kevin’s grandfather, immigrated from what is today Croatia. Upon landing in Cloverdale, Steven bought a five-acre parcel and invited his fiancé Manda to join him. The couple married on

September 12, 1921, just a day after she arrived. They milked about a dozen cows and established Severinski Farms.

When a neighbour’s farm caught on fire in early 1922, the Severinskis joined a bucket brigade to put out the fire and save the neighbour’s house. But the strain caused Manda, who was expecting the couple’s first child, to miscarry and she wound up in hospital.

During Manda’s week-long hospital stay, Steven swapped the Cloverdale property for 40 acres in Pitt Meadows. When he picked Manda up following her treatment, they drove to their new farm just north of the Fraser River, along with all their cattle and one horse. The couple bought two more draft horses upon their arrival.

As Steven and Manda settled into their new home, they grew their land base to 80 acres and their family by 10 children.

Harry, the couple’s youngest son, bought the farm in 1965. He and his wife Louise expanded the operation to 120 acres and 60 milking cows.

In 2000, Kevin and his wife Audra took over the farm. They have since grown the operation to 145 acres of owned land and 100 acres of leased land. Kevin has worked on the farm all his life. He took an off-farm job for a year after high school, but quickly came back home because he “really enjoyed the lifestyle.”

“With dairy, it’s a lot because you have to milk every day,” he says. “(But) it’s nice to have variety – you have field work, mechanic work, a lot of construction and there’s other types of maintenance.”

The farm also provided a rich environment in which to raise their four children. So much so, that two of their children are interested in carrying the farm into its fourth generation.

Their son Brandon is the family’s full-time herdsman. Their daughter Amanda is a herd manager and works off the farm in sales.

As the family navigates the challenges of succession planning with four children, they hope the operation’s legacy will continue long into the future.

The family now milks 160 cows three times a day with a herringbone double-eight parlour.

“I always wanted to milk three times a day. I worked with my dad forever and over the last four or five years we worked together, I told him I wanted to milk three times a day,” Kevin says. “He said the day I bought the farm, I could milk as many times as I wanted. Purposefully, the day we bought the farm, we started milking three times a day and have ever since.”

The Severinskis grow grass crops for the cattle, producing silage and small square bales.

Throughout the years, the family has integrated innovative and technological advancements into their operation, such as cattle pedometers and milk meters.

“We have a computer system that keeps track of milk weights and cow activity three times a day and breeding (information) is all in there,” Kevin says.

In addition to innovation, collaboration and understanding between the generations contribute to the farm’s long-term success.

“It’s very special, the fact that I get to work with my dad every day. I think it’s even more special that my dad gets to work with his grandson,” Kevin says. Harry and Brandon clean the heifer and calf barns together three or four times a week.

“My dad drives the tractor and my son moves gates. I always think about how lucky Brandon is to have those experiences. My dad shows Brandon a lot of mechanics stuff, too, and shows him how to fix equipment. My grandfather was 90 when I was 12. He was retired by then.”

Through the family’s 100 years of farming, other operations came and went, but the Severinskis stayed true to their passion – cows – and their community.

“We’ve never switched to blueberries or cranberries,” says Kevin. “A lot of people moved around or did chickens. We’ve always just stuck with dairy for 100 years. And we love Pitt Meadows. We’re very involved in the community in a lot of local events.”

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