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Originally published:

OCTOBER 2019
Vol. 105 Issue 10

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Stories In This Edition

ALC cracks down

Pat Jasper …

Bill will rein in activists

BC considers making premises ID mandatory

Bin there, done that

Unsung heroes

The Back Forty: It’s time government changed its narrative

Viewpoint: Banning plastic bags ignores reality

New round of changes coming to land reserve

Hullcar farmers file first NMP plans under new code

Classy champion

Most farmers support Daylight Savings Time

South Vancouver food hub to connect farmers

Egg-splaining

Dunn leaps to dairy sector

UBCO study looks at context for climate change

City Beet harvests profits from urban gardens

Forage trial presents options for producers

Growers step up to continue corn silage trials

Density key to efficient, healthy silage storage

Weather affecting corn trials

Bumper crop pushes down blueberry prices

Valley has protential to be an agritech hub

Ministry working on land use inventory

Join initiatives a priority for feeders

Best of the best

Canadian beef herd sinks to 30-year low

Familiar challenges face fourth-generation rancher

No-till seeding showcased at field day

Market Musings: Grass-fed cattle come to market with big gains

Blight-resistant trees focus of hazelnut field day

Replant, pest support for hazelnut growers

Bright berries

New packing line can handle BC’s pear crop

Mission Hilll aims to be fully organic by 2021

Research: Clean cud promotes dental health in ruminants

Remote market supports growth of local growers

Farm groups exploring food hub opportunities

Zoom! Zoom!

Chilliwack farms hopping with insects

Livestock still a main attraction at annual fair

PNE agriculture auction keeps on giving

4-H skills still key despite changes in farming

Thousands converge on Westham Island

Woodshed: Vacation time invites all kinds of cover-ups

Kootenay grower shoots forward with microgreens

Jude’s Kitchen: Harvest local

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3 days 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.

3 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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drive.google.com/file/d/1F7SC3xgs4YD-cgK3eoZemHaTdYe3cUj6/view?usp=sharing

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BC considers making premises ID mandatory

Provincial coordinator counters fears regarding privacy issues

Sarah Zuberbuhler photo

October 2, 2019 byMargaret Evans

VICTORIA—Since 2011, the BC Ministry of Agriculture has run a voluntary premises identification program for farm owners to voluntarily register their property and animals.

Registration helps to protect animal health and facilitates a rapid response in the event of emergencies. Anyone from hobby farmers with one or two animals to large commercial livestock operators can register.

“Premises ID deals exclusively with the premises and where they are – the farm, the feedlot, whatever the case may be,” explains Lisa Levesque, team lead, traceability and premises identification with the BC Ministry of Agriculture.

Approximately 57% of premises have been registered since the program started, but the ministry is considering a new premises ID regulation under the BC Animal Health Act. The regulation would make registration mandatory for all farms and livestock sites. Those sites include not only farms but stables, feedlots, apiaries, livestock markets, abattoirs, fairgrounds, or any facility where farm animals are present, raised, kept or disposed.

The purpose is to increase the precise tracking of any disease outbreak or any environmental emergency. During the 2017 wildfires, the premises ID program saw 130 emergency registrations for livestock owners affected by evacuation orders, improving their chances of being given re-entry permits in evacuation zones to care for their livestock.

This past summer, the ministry has been doing some outreach for feedback but there’s plenty of confusion regarding the intent of the regulation.

The plan is to identify premises only. It does not include the need to identify animals through the use of tags, tattoos or any other tracking device, explains Levesque, emphasizing that the program is exclusively for premises.

“We are just tackling the physical location which helps us to make maps of animal locations which we only use internally for emergency,” she says. “Animal identification such as tagging or tattooing is a federal responsibility, so it’s managed by the CFIA [Canadian Food Inspection Agency].”

Pushback

Levesque recognizes that there is some pushback from farm owners not wanting government involved in their businesses. Some landowners feel privacy is at stake, especially if they are small operators with just a few animals. They may not see the relevance or value of being in a government registry where data might float around and become available to others.

Levesque, however, emphasizes that no information is shared with other government agencies or researchers. The focus is on disease and environmental emergency response.

“If you have one animal or 50, if you get a communicable disease on your farm, it is still an issue and you can still transfer that,” she says, giving the example of African swine fever. “It has not made it to Canada. But from a risk perspective, if you have only one pig and it is exposed to a virulent disease, that one pig can be the trigger. Animal diseases have no boundaries and it’s not about us wanting to control the farming business, but we do want to be able to respond quickly to an emergency issue.”

An example would be the avian influenza outbreak that occurred in 2004 when there was a lack of accurate information on where chickens were actually being raised compared to the contact location. The outbreak was devastating. Many poultry farmers subsequently signed onto the premises ID concept, registering voluntarily. When the 2014-2015 outbreak happened, the program played a role in limiting the spread of the disease.

Levesque said that other examples include water contamination and flooding events, wildfires such as those in 2017 and 2018, and bovine tuberculosis.

“Those are all cases where premises ID was used. It’s not used a lot, but the information was very important for those situations,” she says.

The ministry is running a survey until October 11 regarding the proposed regulation. A discussion paper regarding the proposal and the survey can be found at [http://bit.do/Premises-ID].

 

 

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