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Originally published:

NOVEMBER 2019
Vol. 105 Issue 11

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Stories In This Edition

ALC gets an earful

Herding Hens

Food hub funding boost

Municipalities challenge ALC over process

No bad apples

Editorial: Taking stock

Back Forty: Remembering Aunt Dolly, and others

Viewpoint: Keeping BC farms (and farmers) growing

Farm status undermined by local bylaws

Big green gourd

Heavy rains don’t wash out potato hopes

Giant hornets headline beekeepers’ concerns

Honey producers honour industry leaders

Country Life in BC wins awards at conference

Bridging the urban-rural divide

New skills needed for technology-driven agriculture

Data drives more efficient poultry farming

Ag Briefs: New CEO appointed at BC Tree Fruits

Ag Briefs: Site launched for farmers’ institutes

Ag Briefs: Child labour feedback sought

Demand underpins cheesemaker’s expansion

Cranberry growers expect lower yields

Neighbours raise stink over cannabis farms

Sheep farmers share their experiences

Lots (and lots) of pumpkins

Federation moves forward on key initiatives

Riparian assessment requirements updated

On-farm slaughter a key skill for producers

On the move

Sidebar: Better than offal

Feedback on new watering regs a concern

Market Musings: The future in beef looks like a slam dunk

Growers all ears at silage corn field day

UBC dairy centre signs five-year lease

Falkland Dairy volume buyer at Holstein Sae

Mega-dairies are the future of US farms

Research: Bacterial leaf streak lacks chemical controls

Big beef show at BC Ag Expo

Farm News: Growing prospects brighten dark autum days

BC Young Farmers look to grow north

Horse Power

Day-long 4-H event puts emphasis on safety

Woodshed: Newt schemes to rescue Kenneth’s tractor

Good gourd! Giant vegetables weigh off

Jude’s Kitchen: Late fall harvest

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7 days ago

Farmland Advantage is receiving a $445,000 grant from the federal government. The program, the “brainchild” of Invermere cattle rancher Dave Zehnder, provides compensation to farmers for their conservation efforts to protect BC’s grasslands, riparian areas and wildlife habitat. The funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada under the Species at Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands (SARPAL) and Priority Places programs, will be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas appeared in our March 2022 edition and you can view it at ... See MoreSee Less

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Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

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INVERMERE – Farmers and ranchers in the Columbia Valley will continue to see rewards for taking action to conserve and enhance important riparian areas on their farms. The Windermere District Farmer...
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2 weeks ago

A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural Land Commission hosted in Langley Monday night regarding a proposal to include 305 acres controlled by the federal government in the Agricultural Land Reserve. More than 76,000 people have signed an online petition asking municipal and provincial governments to protect the land from development, and for the federal government to grant a long-term lease to the Heppells. Read more in this morning's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. conta.cc/3XYXw6k ... See MoreSee Less

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Your weekly farm news update

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The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 January 25 2023 Surrey ALR inclusion cheered A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural L
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Mike Manion Pitt Meadows City Councillor

2 months ago

Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand this season and prices remain comparable to last year. But the number of tree farms has decreased dramatically over the past five years and the province will increasingly need to look elsewhere if it wants to meet local demand. More in this week's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. ... See MoreSee Less

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Christmas trees in demand

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Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand, with high quality trees making it to market. “The market is good. We’ll probably outdo last year and last year was one of our best years…
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2 months ago

Another four poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley have tested positive for avian influenza over the weekend -- 15 in the last week alone. There are 60 farms currently under quarantine in BC, more than any other province in Canada and three times that of Alberta, which ranks second. Officials maintain the virus is being spread by dust and groundwater and not farm-to-farm transmission. No farms in the Interior have tested positive this fall. ... See MoreSee Less

Another four poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley have tested positive for avian influenza over the weekend -- 15 in the last week alone. There are 60 farms currently under quarantine in BC, more than any other province in Canada and three times that of Alberta, which ranks second. Officials maintain the virus is being spread by dust and groundwater and not farm-to-farm transmission. No farms in the Interior have tested positive this fall.
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Avian influenza virus can be killed by chlorine at no higher a concentration than is present in drinking water, so unless farms are using untreated groundwater in their barns I don't see how it could be a source of transmission. www.researchgate.net/publication/5594208_Chlorine_Inactivation_of_Highly_Pathogenic_Avian_Influen...

2 months ago

In a surprise move, Lana Popham -- hailed at the recent BC Dairy Industry Conference as a key ally of the agriculture sector -- has been replaced by Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis as part of a cabinet overhaul today by new BC premier David Eby. Popham will now oversee Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. The two ministers worked closely together following the atmospheric river events last fall. ... See MoreSee Less

In a surprise move, Lana Popham -- hailed at the recent BC Dairy Industry Conference as a key ally of the agriculture sector -- has been replaced by Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis as part of a cabinet overhaul today by new BC premier David Eby. Popham will now oversee Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. The two ministers worked closely together following the atmospheric river events last fall.Image attachment
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Goes to show how far-removed our current government is from the agricultural sector. To put someone in this position who has no farming background is a slap in the face to all of our hard-working producers.

Going to be a heck of a learning curve. Helping the agricultural community recover from the biggest natural disasters in history, handling the avian influenza outbreak that is threatening our poultry industry, dealing with a crisis in meat processing, managing ongoing threats from climate change, supporting producers who are facing unprecedented inflation in an industry with very slim margins to begin with..... to name a few of the challenges our new Minister will have to face all with one of the lowest budgets of any ministry. I wish her the best of luck but I hope she's got a lot of support around her.

Best of wishes in your new position

Congrats to Pam, cool to see a Fraser Valley based ag minister but also so sad to see Lana reassigned . I have no doubt she will do an amazing job in her new role.

Will be missed by #meiernation

Bryce Rashleigh

Nooooooo!

Lana did a shit job and now we have a minister with no farming background at all. Aren’t we lucky..

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ALC gets an earful

Small farmers feel frustrated

Peter Mitham photo

November 1, 2019 byAngela Abrahao, Peter Mitham, Jackie Pearase & David Schmidt

DELTA – Small-lot agriculture, secondary residences and the profound disconnect between farmers, local government and the Agricultural Land Commission are emerging as common themes at townhall sessions the province launched in September to figure out how it can support farming in the Agricultural Land Reserve.

The four-hour sessions featured presentations by ALC chair Jennifer Dyson, CEO Kim Grout and assistant deputy minister of agriculture James Mack, with time for questions and discussion. Six sessions have been held to date, including on Vancouver Island, in the Lower Mainland and Kelowna, Prince George, Dawson Creek and Castlegar.

The volume of feedback has prompted the addition of meetings in Cranbrook on November 5 and Kamloops on November 14 for farmers, landowners and other stakeholders to voice their concerns.

Small-scale producers have dominated many of the meetings.

“Most larger farms are busy harvesting corn, potatoes and other vegetables,” noted Lydia Ryall of Cropthorne Farm on Westham Island at the Delta meeting on October 1.

The other reason is that many small lots are too small to be farmed without the kind of diversification current regulations prohibit.

“My property can’t be farmed and I don’t want to be restricted,” one attendee stated, noting that there are more than 2,500 similar properties in Richmond.

However, what many at the meetings believe is necessary for farming is much different than what the ALC envisions. It’s also different than what many were allowed to do under previous governments and prior to an overhaul of regulations this past February that gave force and effect to Bill 52, which regulates housing and activities within the ALR. Additional regulations implementing Bill 15, which focuses on ALC governance and operations, are set for introduction this fall.

Those who attended the meeting in Prince George on October 3 voiced similar concerns.

Producers were visibly frustrated, expressing concerns over rising production costs and red tape that they feel leaves them without profit or a future for farming or ranching in BC.

Martin Lacasse, who works off-farm as an electrician, heard about the consultation on the radio while driving to work, and decided to attend.

“I’m not sure that any of these legislative changes are going to help a new farmer.  My brother is living on our family farm,” he says. “We’re both working in the trades. If we could work the 100 acres of field and make money off of it we would.”

Lacasse says if government wants young farmers, it needs to provide the support they need to succeed. His comments echoed those of older farmers who said programs originally intended to support farmers when the ALR was implemented have been stripped away.

“Farmers have felt for many years that the land is being protected but the farming is not,” said a Prince George landowner. “Two years ago in this area we had a commitment that those programs were going to be looked at and they have not changed at all.”

Turn the tables

Christine Watt travelled 430 kilometres from her farm in Loon Lake to voice her concern that the changes are being driven by non-farmers and stifle how farmers run their businesses.

“There is this idea that we need to make farmland cheaper, more accessible – oh, let’s get the young guys in here. I’m saying, let’s get a survey going and make businesses in Vancouver cheaper and devalue them so that our young entrepreneurs can go down there and start a business,” she says. “I don’t think it would go over very well.”

The lack of consistent answers from the ministry, the ALC and local government has undermined the confidence of many farmers, prompting some to stop planning for the future altogether.

Quesnel resident Christa Pooley and her family spent 18 months working with planners, accountants and lawyers to complete a farm succession plan. She has spent time researching the recent changes to the ALR but received different answers from the eight people she’s spoken with as she tried to figure out what documents she needed for her application to succeed. ALC land planners, agriculture ministry staff and even the agriculture minister’s office couldn’t give a single answer.

“We absolutely do not know where this legislation leaves us,” she says. “We can’t invest financial resources wisely if we have no idea if our succession plan will work within this legislation.”

A crowd of about 75 attended the meeting in Kelowna on October 10, the majority from local government and small-scale farms.

Questions and comments started early in the four-hour session, cutting short the official presentations.

“The ALC has become a police organization trying to stop the abuses. It’s not about enhancing farming,” said BC Cherry Association president Sukhpal Bal. “Start treating those bonafide farmers with some respect … and stop treating them as criminals.”

Bal urged the ALC to take a two-pronged approach that reins in non-compliance but also helps bonafide farmers get ahead.

Another cherry grower said the fact the ALC does not know the number of farms or where they are in BC is indicative of its ineffectiveness and disconnect from BC farmers.

“Until they start to care about agriculture … it’s all about preserving land, not about the farmer,” he said. “More needs to be done to encourage and enhance farming.”

A Sorrento chicken producer well acquainted with business start-ups described farming as “more challenging than any other business I’ve been in, mainly because of the bureaucracy.”

Bill 52 has created so much uncertainty that he’s been reticent to pursue a residence on his property for farm workers. Other producers have also run into hurdles, noting that some local governments are prohibiting additional housing in the ALR.

James Mack said that’s their call because municipalities have the right to determine what’s allowed under local zoning. But he said the ministry is trying to get things right, despite the criticisms.

“Point taken on our failures, where we’re at and what we’ve done,” he told the Kelowna meeting. “Our goal is the same as yours. The whole point is to make farming a great business to be in, not only for farmers but for British Columbians. They want to have a BC food supply. It’s our job to figure that out.”

The six-week consultation wraps up November 15. For more information and to register for the remaining two meetings, visit [https://engage.

gov.bc.ca/supportingfarmers].

 

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