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Originally published:

November 2018
Vol. 104 Issue 11

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Stories In This Edition

Dairy pays price in new trade deal

USMCA uncorks wine sales

ALC crippled while province mulls revitalization

Editorial: Think Big

Back Forty: If wishes were horses, beggars would ride

Viewpoint: Antibiotics are important tools for producers

Farms scramble as thousands of jobs go unfilled

Farmers’ institutes set to meet in Vancouver

Poultry growers adjust to reduced antibiotic use

Traceability regulations expected next year

UFV consolidates two centres

Plowman in the making

Letters: Animal welfare monitored

Success starts with a solid business plan

Turkey growers look to boost markets

Dairy sale

Strawberry growers rank fruit quality highest

Westcoast Holsteins brings home the prizes

Cannabis raises new workplace concerns

Tasty!

Ag Briefs: Cannabis conference alongside PAS

Ag Briefs: First Nations farms funded

Ag Briefs: Cannabis grower breaks ground

Ag Briefs: harvest conflict results in fewer plow match competitors

Pilot project in Delta supports perennial crops

Uvic research seeks perfect picking time for wine grapes

Ag council wants to get farmers CHATting

Sidebar: Remember to CHAT

Fleeced

Buying stations gain ground

Snow joke

Triple Threat

Meat processing review fails to meet expectations

Livestock transport under scrutiny by activists

Ranching program grads ready for next field

Yields high as cranberry season runs late

Tour features multi-generation farms

Horse Power

Edible flowers show promise for BC growers

Retirement blossoms into flower nursery

Research: Sunflower pollen can help improve colony health

Woodshed: The countdown begins for Kenneth, Deborah

4-H BC: Funding helps advance initiatives

Wannabe: Choosing gratitude

Jude’s Kitchen: Roots and keepers

 

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4 days ago

Congratulations to Travis and Brad Hopcott of Hopcott Farms for taking top honours as Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers last week in Laval, Quebec. For more, see this week's FARM NEWS UPDATE at www.countrylifeinbc.com/hopcotts-win-oyf#BCAGd#clinbcAg #CLinBC ... See MoreSee Less

Congratulations to Travis and Brad Hopcott of Hopcott Farms for taking top honours as Canadas Outstanding Young Farmers last week in Laval, Quebec. For more, see this weeks FARM NEWS UPDATE at https://www.countrylifeinbc.com/hopcotts-win-oyf-canada/

#BCAg #CLinBC
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Congratulations to all of you. You have done a tremendous job growing your business

Congratulations from Coniagas Ranches! Your business is awesome!!!

Thank you so much! 😁

Congratulations Travis!

Well done ! Well deserved

Congratulations

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6 days ago

Congratulations to Chilliwack’s Ben Janzen, former chair of the BC Milk Marketing Board, who received the BC Dairy Achievement Award from Jim Byrne of the BC Dairy Historical Society on November 23. Byrne hailed Janzen’s selfless work on behalf of the industry, first as a member of the first producer-elected board of Agrifoods International Cooperative in 1996 then as chair of the BC Milk Marketing Board for five years from 2016. "These successes have allowed the industry to increase processing capacity and develop initiatives that, when completed, will provide processing for growth for many years to come,” Byrne said. In response, Janzen expressed gratitude while emphasizing the determination and resilience of producers in the face of challenges. “You’re the ones that make this industry great,” he said.

#BCAg #CLinBC
... See MoreSee Less

Congratulations to Chilliwack’s Ben Janzen, former chair of the BC Milk Marketing Board, who received the BC Dairy Achievement Award from Jim Byrne of the BC Dairy Historical Society on November 23. Byrne hailed Janzen’s selfless work on behalf of the industry, first as a member of the first producer-elected board of Agrifoods International Cooperative in 1996 then as chair of the BC Milk Marketing Board for five years from 2016. These successes have allowed the industry to increase processing capacity and develop initiatives that, when completed, will provide processing for growth for many years to come,” Byrne said. In response, Janzen expressed gratitude while emphasizing the determination and resilience of producers in the face of challenges. “You’re the ones that make this industry great,” he said.

#BCAg #CLinBC
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I don't understand? Maybe it's my own ignorance but don't we produce way more milk than we use and force farmers to dump anything above their quota to ensure the prices stay high? Wouldn't we want to keep the retail price as low as possible while ensuring farmers receive their required compensation? Wouldn't that be worth an award? Help me understand 🤷‍♂️

Is this guy a reason why I cannot buy whole unpasteurized milk for my own personal use, yeah personal use even to make glue ...but really I don't carecwhy anyone wants whole unpasteurized milk ..it is Not my business..and nor should it be the business of bearacracy ..so in mho ppfffft

2 weeks ago

We are profoundly saddened to announce the passing of veteran farm journalist and Country Life in BC editor emeritus David Schmidt. He died suddenly in Chilliwack on November 20. For 35 years, David was the face and voice of Country Life in BC, covering producer meetings across the Fraser Valley and throughout BC. His reporting earned many national awards and he was honoured with several lifetime achievement awards, including the 2018 Scotiabank Champion of Agriculture, as he edged toward retirement at the start of the pandemic in 2020. He was, as one former ag minister eloquently put it, the "encyclopedia of BC agriculture." We will miss him terribly. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced. For more, see today's FARM NEWS UPDATE - www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-agriculture-loses-a-champion/ ... See MoreSee Less

We are profoundly saddened to announce the passing of veteran farm journalist and Country Life in BC editor emeritus David Schmidt. He died suddenly in Chilliwack on November 20. For 35 years, David was the face and voice of Country Life in BC, covering producer meetings across the Fraser Valley and throughout BC. His reporting earned many national awards and he was honoured with several lifetime achievement awards,  including the 2018 Scotiabank Champion of Agriculture, as he edged toward retirement at the start of the pandemic in 2020. He was, as one former ag minister eloquently put it, the encyclopedia of BC agriculture. We will miss him terribly. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced. For more, see todays FARM NEWS UPDATE - https://www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-agriculture-loses-a-champion/
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Very sad to hear of his loss…amazing dedication to Country Life.

He will be missed. His dedication to the agricullture industry was exceptional and conversattions with David were always welcomed

David was just an exceptional person . He had an unbridled passion for Agriculture. He will be so missed in this Industry. Condolences to David's family and friends.

Condolences to David's family and also his work family. He was a veteran agricultural supporter and reporter, and in his younger days attended every agricultural event he possibly could! He always had insightful views on the current agricultural state of affairs in the Fraser Valley, and also on the government programs and relief offered. He will definitely be missed in the Fraser Valley agricultural community.

David's thoughtful, careful and insightful reporting set a standard in farm reporting in BC, and much further. He will be very much missed.

Deepest Sympathy to family and friends.

Our most heartfelt condolences.

Very sad to hear this.

Sad to hear 😞

Very sorry to hear this. David was a first class journalist and an all around good human being.

Rip David.

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3 weeks ago

An agriculture plan progress report presented to Kelowna council November 6 shows a drop in the number of active farm operations in the Central Okanagan region since 2017. Six years ago, there were 1,034 actively farmed parcels; today, there are 983, according to BC Assessment data. Read more in this week's FARM NEWS UPDATE bitly.ws/ZScG ... See MoreSee Less

An agriculture plan progress report presented to Kelowna council November 6 shows a drop in the number of active farm operations in the Central Okanagan region since 2017. Six years ago, there were 1,034 actively farmed parcels; today, there are 983, according to BC Assessment data. Read more in this weeks FARM NEWS UPDATE https://bitly.ws/ZScG
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3 weeks ago

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ALC crippled while province mulls revitalization

Just two regional panels properly constituted to handle applications

October 29, 2018 byPeter Mitham

DELTA – Victoria has left the Agricultural Land Commission short of commissioners needed to assess applications while it awaits a report on how to revitalize the province’s protected farmland.

Provincial legislation requires the ALC to have at least “at least 13 individuals … knowledgeable in matters relating to agriculture, land use planning, local government or First Nation government.” However, the commission now has just 11 members, including Jennifer Dyson, who succeeded Frank Leonard as chair in May. This is half the number who served in 2017.

The commission’s six regional panels – which BC agriculture minister Lana Popham would like to see disbanded in favour of a single panel for the entire province – have been reduced to no more than two members. Panels for the Interior and Okanagan regions now consist of just one member each, and the term of the Okanagan’s sole remaining panellist ends December 30.

Perhaps more important, just two of the remaining commission members are vice-chairs, meaning most panels aren’t legally constituted to fulfil their mandate.

The situation concerns Bill Zylmans, the former vice-chair of the South Coast panel whose term ended October 8.

“It seems like they don’t want too many people around the table,” he says.

While having just one person on a panel would cripple its work, the loss of the farmer’s voice from panel membership is an equal concern.

“They’ve sent some of the most passionate people out to pasture,” he says. “If you’re going to do anything for the farming community, you need farmers on board to be doing that job.”

Besides Zylmans’, the appointments of Fort Fraser rancher Dave Merz and Vancouver Island cheesemaker Clarke Gourlay have not been renewed. In addition, Oliver orchardist Greg Norton was not replaced following his death in February. This leaves just six active farmers on the commission, with only the Kootenay region served by a functioning panel with farmer membership.

“Is this good for the farming community as a whole, and the foresight for the farming community as we continue to go through very difficult times?” Zylmans asks, pointing to trade issues among the key pressures facing growers. “What serious agricultural, historical, boots-on-the-ground expertise is left on those panels?”

ALC CEO Kim Grout didn’t respond to a request for comment on how the lack of new appointments is affecting the commission’s work, but BC Liberal agriculture critic Ian Paton, a farmer and former Delta councillor who represents Delta South in the legislature, said the effect could be “chaos.”

Zylmans lives in his riding, and Paton said the loss of someone intimately familiar with farming in the region is unfortunate for everyone. The lack of any new appointments deepens the loss of Zylmans’ experience and expertise.

“With people being let go and no new commissioners being brought on, the applications are going to stack up, and decisions. … There’s tons of decisions being waited on by municipalities,” Paton says. “They seem to be reducing these panels to the point of disregarding them, and probably just pulling the whole thing together as one big land commission like in the old days.”

Many expect new appointments to follow when the province acts on the final recommendations of the nine-member committee charged earlier this year to suggest ways to revitalize the ALC and the properties it oversees. Provincial law requires the lieutenant governor fill vacant commission positions within 90 days, and the revitalization committee report is expected in November.

“There’s a very small glimmer of hope [that] after they’ve done their thing that they may come back to some of us who, I believe, have passion for agriculture and they may look at us again,” Zylmans says. “Or, they might find somebody entirely new, which is fine, too. … But hopefully they keep the focus of boots on the ground.”

Practical farming experience is critical if the province wants to understand farmers’ concerns and keep land in production, something Zylmans says has to be at the heart of farmland preservation. Decisions must be grounded in knowledge and understanding of the challenges farmers face.

“Preserving land is great; preserving farmers is even better. Together, with those two points in mind, you can move mountains and you can bring people back to the farm,” Zylmans says. “It’s not easy to come up with the perfect model, but I think we are three-quarters of the way down the road if we put the farmer and the land together.”

 

 

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