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Originally published:

March 2018
Vol. 104 Issue 3

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Stories In This Edition

ALR sessions closed to public

Kissin’ cousins

Wine spat heads to court

ALR sidebar: Points for review

Budget boosts ag funding for strategic initiatives

AgProud

Editorial: Good intentions

Back forty: Fires, floods and earthquakes: are your ready?

So where do I get a social license

FIRB review pleases commodities

Islands Ag

Dairy outlook faces growing headwinds

Trade negotiations boost grower uncertainties

Chicken price slides despite new pricing formula

Fruit growers elect Dhaliwal president

Growers discuss SVC audits

This little tyke

Orchard app unveiled at BC Tree Fruit forum

Gala celebrates ag leadership

Ag show attendance down from record set last year

Canadian Ag Partnership “open for business”

Weed will be an ag product unlike any other

Sidebar: Crop rich in histroy, controvery

BC MP appointed ag critic

Research money key to berry sector’s future

Sidebar: Weather hurts 2017 blueberry Yields

Cowichan Valley showcases Islands agriculture

Wildfire season offers valuable lessons

Make a plan and get fire smart

Cattle producers must champion codes of practice

Producers need training for disaster response readiness

For the kids

How do I move forward

Pine Butte kicks off bull sales

High-tech grass production showcased on tour

Environmentally friendly weed control

Sidebar: Mixed results

Hazelnut inventory sets industry baseline

Collaboration ups ante in fight against Wireworm

Sidebar: Going for control

New pest game-changers for BC forage producers

Farm safety is a family tradition on island

New varieties key to industry’s future

Successful farm tours pay attention to detail

Sidebar: No detail too small

Research: UBC perfects test of smoke taint in wine grapes

Sensors help nurseries cut water use up to 60%

Producers encouraged to monitor irrigation water quality

Sidebar: Water sampling tips

Urgan farmers take their dreams up country

Processor capacity challenges small scale producers

New entrants give fresh life to old dairy barns

KPU student receives Tim Armstrong award

Wannabe: Hurry up, Spring!

Woodshed: Clay lives up to all of Ashley’s expectations

Jude’s Kitchen: Spring brunch

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1 day 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.

2 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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ALR sessions closed to public

General public limited to survey, written submissions

March 1, 2018 byPeter Mitham

VICTORIA – The public engagement process aimed at gathering feedback towards revitalization of the 45-year-old Agricultural Land Reserve kicked off in early February with meetings in Richmond and Nanaimo.

But not everyone was welcome at the meetings organized by the nine-member committee charged with conducting the review. The invitation-only events were strictly for representatives from farm organizations and local governments. Dates, times and locations of the meetings are not advertised.

“We have a list of every local government in the province and every farm organization that we are aware of – every farmers’ institute, you name it – everybody’s getting an invitation,” committee chair Jennifer Dyson told Country Life in BC.

Well, not quite everyone. Groups with an interest in farming but not linked to production agriculture are excluded.

“We’ve had some groups that are food security groups, and we think food security is great, but they’re not necessarily the stakeholder that we’re meeting with,” Dyson says.

Nevertheless, the BC Food Systems Network, which “works to create healthy, just and sustainable food systems” presented.

The general public, meanwhile, are welcome to comment via the online survey set up to garner feedback, or a written submission.

“We’ve had a lot of MLAs wanting to attend and we’ve said, ‘Thank you for your interest, but this is a stakeholder meeting,’” Dyson says.

Concerning

That’s not sitting well with Opposition agriculture critic Ian Paton, the BC Liberal MLA for Delta South, who previously criticized the lack of representation from commercial farmers on the review committee. The inability of the general farm population, let alone farm landowners, to address the committee directly concerns him.

“It’s definitely a concern that [BC] agriculture minister Lana Popham won’t allow members of the public to make face-to-face submissions to her committee,” he says. “If the true intention of this committee is to protect farmers and farmland, why is she putting so many restrictions on who can give input, and how they can do so?”

During consultations for the BC Agriculture Plan in 2006, open houses were held across the province that attracted a broad spectrum of speakers. Similarly, when Popham led the Opposition Standing Committee for Agriculture and Food on a tour of the province in 2015, she said it was an opportunity for farmers to give feedback that government might not always want to hear.

“Giving the agriculture community a chance to be heard is dangerous for government, because then you actually need to hear the facts,” Popham said at the time. “They’re so thankful that there’s an opportunity to have a committee like that.”

Paton says the limitations on who can meet with the current committee suggest that the government has made up its mind on issues such as whether or not to return to a single-zone ALR.

“The minister has publicly stated that she sees that change coming, in the same breath that she promises to consult in a meaningful way,” he says. “In my view, genuine consultation involves speaking face-to-face with the people who will be most affected by one’s decisions. It’s my hope that Minister Popham will re-think her consultation strategy and give actual farmers, ranchers and producers the opportunity to face her directly with their ideas.”

Independent committee

However, Popham says that the committee has full independence and made the call on how to structure the engagement process itself.

“When I chose the committee members, it was made very clear that they’re independent of me, so they’ve made that decision themselves,” she says. “They’re a volunteer committee, and they’ve basically put into their schedule how many places they can meet and how much time they have to spend to come up with a report for me with these very, very serious recommendations by the end of the summer.”

Popham says she’s received “an enormous amount of positive feedback,” adding, “everybody’s invited to give their input online 24 hours a day till the end of April, so nobody’s left out of the process at all.”

Dyson agrees, noting that participation in the stakeholder meetings and online has been positive.

“People are extremely well prepared to speak,” she says. “We’ve had young people desperate for access to land. We’ve had an incredible mix of individuals.”

Online submissions have numbered in the hundreds, Dyson says, something she considers “phenomenal.”

The leading concerns in the feedback received till mid-February were house size on farm properties, and cannabis production. Many local government representatives also pointed to the challenge a general ignorance of agriculture poses.

She expects a diversity of opinions as the committee moves across the province, especially given the lack of consensus farm organizations are voicing regarding the ALR.

“There’s no unanimity around the farm organizations themselves in terms of what we hear. It’s just all over the map,” she says, noting that local governments have been more uniform in their concerns and advocacy for agriculture.

“As our provincial government does less and less and less and less and less in agriculture, the local governments have picked up more,” she says. “They’re putting on events in their communities; they’re trying to support agriculture. That has picked up where farm organizations have left off.”

Stakeholder meetings are scheduled for dates through March 14, with further dates to be set. Participation in the online survey and written submissions will be accepted through April 30 at 4 pm. For more details, visit [https://engage.gov.bc.ca/agriculturallandreserve/ways-to-participate].

The review committee’s report and recommendations to government will be delivered in fall 2018.

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