BC FIRB gets a good egg

BC Egg Marketing Board chair Gunta Vitins has been appointed vice-chair of the BC Farm Industry Review Board, succeeding Al Sakalauskas, who succeeds her at the egg board.

The two traded places November 1, with the appointments lasting for a term of two years.

BC FIRB chair Peter Donkers welcomed Vitins to the board, noting her six-year term with BC Egg and a 32-year career “spearheading innovative agri-food initiatives in the public and private sectors.”

Sakalauskas is not parting ways with FIRB entirely, however, as he has been part of the panel supervising work towards a long-term pricing formula for broiler producers.

Consultations with growers resulted in the BC Chicken Marketing Board submitting a final pricing proposal to BC FIRB on October 30, and a decision is pending.

“[Sakalauskas] will be staying on to see the decision through, so I think that probably helps with the timing,” BC Chicken vice-chair Derek Janzen told growers at their general meeting November 9. “Having consistent panel members will definitely help in that, so I think that’s a positive thing.”

BC Chicken hopes to see a long-term pricing formula in place by January 14, but acknowledges that the ball is n BC FIRB’s court, which also has to review a submission from the BC Hatching Egg Commission, given the intimate relationship between the broiler and hatching egg sectors.

In the meantime, an interim formula that aims to take costs of production into account will govern the price broiler producers receive.

Growers attending the November 9 meeting also discussed the resurgence of avian influenza in the Fraser Valley. While a small number of detections have occurred at broiler farms, all poultry producers are on edge as this year shapes up to be a repeat of last year’s massive outbreak.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has reported 31 infected premises in the province since October 20, all but three of which have been commercial farms in the Fraser Valley.

CFIA representatives are speaking with national poultry groups on a biweekly basis in an effort to manage the situation, with improvements expected relative to last year when the volume of cases overwhelmed CFIA resources.

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18 hours ago

Forty-six regions in BC are eligible to participate in the federal livestock tax deferral program, announced yesterday, more than anywhere else in the country. The program allows producers who downsize their breeding herds by 15% to defer reporting the proceeds until the following year, when they buy replacement stock. But after multiple years of drought, the BC beef herd is cruising 25-year lows and some producers are calling for more support to maintain and rebuild their herds. For more, see: [www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-leads-livestock-tax-deferrals/]

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5 days ago

After weeks and weeks of no moisture, there's rain in Kelowna today. While much more moisture is needed over the coming weeks and months to reduce drought conditions and the air smells of wet campfire, the slow, steady rain is very welcome for fruit grower#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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6 days ago

The first Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust Grassland Set-aside Variety Trial Field Day was held at Delta's family-owned Tecarte Farms, August 27. Co-owner Bill Bates and DFWT executive director Christine Schmalz welcomed more than 35 people to view seven acres planted to different grassland blends specifically chosen to rejuvenate the soil and support the farm's blueberries. For the Bates family, it was time to try something different following the decline of the field's blueberry bushes over the past several years. "We tried everything, and nothing worked," says Bates. The blueberries were removed in May and the grassland crops planted about a week later.

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Bessette Creek is the latest watershed hit with a temporary fish protection order this year as the province moves to protect returning Chinook salmon. A total of 131 surface and groundwater users must cease drawing water immediately, with forage producers, greenhouses and nurseries impacted. "Declining flows in Bessette Creek reached record lows in early July 2026 and have remained below the minimum level required to support fish population survival," says the province. Bessette producers have embraced voluntary cutbacks, scheduled irrigation and other measures to reduce water use, and are also waiting on funding to boost water storage infrastructure. They're the second group of producers hit with a provincial order this year. Salmon River irrigators were told to top watering earlier this month following a reprieve to address wildfire risk. Growers in both the Salmon River and Bessette watersheds are urging the province to support new water storage infrastructure in advance of next year.

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There is a problem... having lived in the salmon river ( silver creek ) area, I remember a fish biologist telling family members that salmon only "survive" in high iron content creeks, they do not "thrive".... salmon river ( silver creek ) is a very high iron content, would stain clothes brown when i would use bleach... So don't expect high salmon numbers off of that creek , even in ideal situations...

I just wish they would take an interest in CHASE CREEK....went bone dry...100% of trout abd other species died...smell was terrible from rotting fish. Understand this has happened many times in the past. Chase Irrigation District totally responsible for this disaster. Now fishermen are complaining about major drop in water levels at Pillar Lake.

They could not mismanage things worse than they have. It's impossible for them to. The fact that farmers that we need for our animals are now suffering the consequences our governments have not protected us from, is absolutely fucking wild.