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Originally published:

OCTOBER 2023
Vol. 109 Issue 10

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Stories In This Edition

Reprieve for water users

BCTF packinghouses on the block

Rest easy

Flower co-op celebrates 60 years

Editorial: Give us this day

Back 40: The heat is on, and hard choices are needed

Viewpoint: International journalists see the best of BC

Westwold ranchers speak out against irrigation ban

Communication critical to solve water issues

Ag Briefs: Canada loses New Zealand trade challenge

Ag Briefs: Cherry promotion promising

Reliance on foreign workers under scrutiny

IAFBC keeps growing its business

Poultry growers on edige as fall bird migrations start

ALR policy review shows room for improvement

Western corn rootworm detected in OK

On-farm slaughter expands limited options

Building a business around community

Outstanding in her field

Weather ideal for grain harvest

New project offers value-added opportunities

Autonomous seeders move forward

BC hosts national Christmas tree conference

BC fairs hit hard by post-COVID volunteer shortage

Sidebar: Fairs resume post-COVID with new challenges

Panel dishes “the real dirt on farming”

Farm Story: Good corn, like good farming, isn’t cheap

Longer trial, strong results

Tidy orchards ensure clean hazelnut harvest

DFWT blueberry rest program expands east

Ditching the plastic mulch

Compost tease: learning through trial and error

Woodshed: Kenneth bets the water dowzer double or nothing

Quesnel youth awarded 4-H scholarship

Harvest thanks

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2 days ago

BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

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BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

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Congratulations!!!

Congratulations!

Congratulations

Congratulations <3

Congratulations to Duncan, Jane, and all the rest of the Barnett family!

Congratulations Jane and Ducan! Sandra Andresen Hawkins

Congratulation Duncan & Jane!!

Congratulations Jane & Duncan 🥳

Congratulations Jane Trott Barnett and Duncan!!!

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3 days ago

Grapegrower Colleen Ingram, who was recognized earlier this year as the 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association. “Given the devastation we have had over the last three years, I feel like this award should be given to the entire industry,” she says. Her story appears in the June edition of Country Life in BC, and we've also posted to our website.

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Industry champion named BC’s best grape grower

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KELOWNA – Colleen Ingram’s enthusiasm for collaboration within the BC wine industry is so great that when she was named 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association, she wanted to sh...
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1 month ago

From orchard manager to government specialist and now executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association, Adrian Arts brings a rare blend of hands-on farming experience and organizational leadership to an industry poised for renewal. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment for BC fruit growers, with Arts expressing enthusiasm about continuing the momentum built by his predecessor and working alongside a board that signals a generational shift in agricultural advocacy.

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Arts leads BCFGA forward

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A combination of organizational management and practical farming experience has primed the new executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association to lead the industry forward.
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1 month ago

A public consultation is now underway on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board. Key issues for dairy producers include transportation costs, rules governing shipments and limitations on supporting processing initiatives. Stakeholders have until May 31 to comment.

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Milk board undertakes review

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A public consultation on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board is underway as part of a triennial review required by the British Columbia Milk Marketing Board Regulation.
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1 month ago

BC wool shipments drop sharply in 2023, according to StatsCan data released in mid-April. Local producers shipped just 5,200kg at 37¢/kg, down from 18,600kg at $1.08/kg in 2022. While many farmers now use wool on-farm or dispose of it due to low market value, innovative producers like Emily McIvor point to untapped opportunities. Read more in our Farm News Update from Country Life in BC.

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BC wool value, volume drop

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BC sheep producers shipped less wool for less in 2023, reversing strong growth a year earlier. BC producers shipped 5,200 kilograms of raw wool in 2023, according to Statistics Canada data released on...
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ALR policy review shows room for improvement

‘If you don't protect the farmer, you don't have farmland’

Cariboo Regional District Agriculture Development Advisory Committee chair Christa Pooley says the ALR needs to be more flexible and allow opportunities for more revenue streams for farmers and ranchers. SUBMITTED

October 1, 2023 byKate Ayers

PRINCE GEORGE – A third-party review of Agricultural Land Reserve policies by UNBC undergraduate student Matt Henderson hopes to capture the challenges North Cariboo producers face and recommend ways government can better support the industry.

And unlike many government initiatives, it is welcomed by farmers, ranchers and community partners.

“I would say that many, many agriculturalists have become exhausted with the process of ‘engagement’ because especially that 2018 ALR, ALC, ministry of ag engagement process, left a really, really, really bad taste in ranchers’ and farmers’ mouths,” says second-generation rancher and Cariboo Regional District Agriculture Development Advisory Committee chair Christa Pooley. “It really felt like inadequate consultation from the outset.”

In 2018, the province introduced Bill 52, which aimed to address concerns about speculation and non-farm uses in the ALR. Home sizes were limited, soil removal was restricted and penalties for dumping were increased.

The changes met with opposition from producers, so the government held public consultations in fall 2019. Yet only five locations across the province hosted in-person meetings.

“It kind of felt like, ‘oh well, if we claw back this change and minimize that change, it will appease the people,’” Pooley says. “A lot of agriculturalists are beyond a place where they’re willing to engage with the ministry and so having this research carried out by a post-secondary institution, I see that there’s more appetite for engagement.”

As part of his student-led project, Henderson hosted a series of public facilitations throughout the summer using a dotmocracy, which allows participants to vote for ideas using stickers or markers. Five concepts that could support producers were generated in consultation with community partners. Then, people could vote as many times as they wished for the existing ideas, add and vote for their own ideas, or vote for other people’s ideas.

The dotmocracy was available in-person and online and allowed for completely anonymous participation.

Some of the original ideas included allowing flexibility for businesses to supplement farm income, such as a mechanics shop or welding on farms; complementary zoning for non-farming purposes that would benefit operations, such as farm equipment repair shops or abattoirs; returning to a two-zone system; legacy protection for generational farmers; and flexible policies with more supports provided through the application process with the Agricultural Land Commission.

Henderson’s preliminary results show that people from Williams Lake to Prince George want to see change and more localized context throughout policy development.

“When we have so many different voices from different sectors, regions, backgrounds all agreeing that something needs to be done … and we need to have more voices heard at the table, it’s pretty telling,” Henderson says. “Because policies here at home in BC are stifling the industry and the small and medium-sized farmers. … I just find it a little ironic where the powers that be are striving for and saying that we need to establish food security, eat local and such, but the policies that are in place are hindering the ability for anyone new coming into the farming industry and those that are already in the industry.”

Since the ALC was struck in 1973, many policies have stood the test of time, when instead policies should evolve with changing demographics, economic output and climate, Henderson says.

“If we’re serious about food security and providing … locally sourced foods to all British Columbians, we need to have policies that are actually in line with what needs to be done and we need to do it in a way that’s a lot more inclusive than what’s happening currently,” Henderson says. “Instead of an almost tone-deaf approach … in terms of what are believed to be the realities from the folks making these decisions in Victoria and Burnaby versus the realities that are happening in communities like Baker Creek or Horsefly. Places that have far different ecosystems, climates, scales, soils than places in the Fraser Valley and Okanagan.”

Indeed, the ALC recognizes the importance of protecting agricultural land from development but perhaps not how tight producers’ margins are and the need for flexibility around revenue streams.

“Yes, we need farmland, but we also need viable agricultural businesses,” Pooley says. “We need to find healthy ways to supplement farmers’ [incomes]. So, I’m not saying, you know, that every Joe Blow have 20 pieces of logging equipment and dump their waste oil on their best fields. But I think that there can be a happy balance.”

For example, licensed abattoirs, which benefit the farming community and could provide supplemental income, require the site to be zoned for use as an establishment and all resulting operational activities must be in compliance with the ALC Act. In the Cariboo especially, Pooley says, diversified income strategies such as hauling hay, fixing equipment, agritourism or logging are essential but considered as non-farm uses and restricted on agricultural land.

Most average-sized farms can’t operate without additional revenue streams, Pooley says.

“It feels like the government isn’t acknowledging how slim our profit margins are, and that if we don’t have supplemental income, we don’t have farms,” Pooley says.

This fall, Henderson will complete an independent study course in which he will identify the public’s top responses and present them to the ALC.

Pooley hopes that since this work was conducted and presented by a post-secondary institute instead of agricultural commodity groups, for example, the ALC will receive the information differently.

In addition, Henderson will draw up recommendations on how the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the ALC can restructure operations to facilitate more transparency and effective community engagement.

“There are many great works done that recommend policy changes … but those that need to hear it, i.e. the Ministry of Agriculture and the ALC, are not designed or not inclined to respond to them in a way that will actually be impactful or seen as impactful to the agricultural community,” Henderson says.

One such recommendation is having a tiered system that gives more control to local governments in the decision-making process.

“If you’re wanting to make an improvement on your land and it’s well within your land and you’re not impacting anyone around you, then you can just go and do it,” Henderson says. “If you’re providing a third dwelling for your multi-generational outfit and you need to house grandchildren there as well, you can go to your local regional district for that.”

Overall, Henderson would like to see more input on farm policies from outside government walls.

“For problem-solving, we leave it to a select few to make the decisions for all. We need to have a more collaborative approach … and provide insight of what’s happening in our area,” he says. “This isn’t an unorthodox idea. It’s grounded and makes sense. It levels the playing field that allows for new, innovative ideas of how we get through crises like drought, wildfires, atmospheric rivers.”

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