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MAY 2023
Vol. 109 Issue 5

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3 weeks ago

It’s been four years since the last tulip festival was held in Abbotsford, but this year’s event promises to be an even bigger spectacle than ever. Spanning 27 acres along Marion Road, Lakeland Flowers will display more than 70 varieties of the spring blossom, including fringe tulips and double tulips, the first of six months of flower festivals hosted by the farm. Writer Sandra Tretick spoke with Lakeland Flowers owner Nick Warmerdam this spring to find out how the floods on Sumas Prairie in 2021 have had an impact on his business plan as he transitions from wholesale cut flower grower to agri-tourism. We've posted the story to our website this month. It's a good read.

#CLBC #countrylifeinbc #tulipfestival
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Tulip grower makes the shift to agritourism

www.countrylifeinbc.com

ABBOTSFORD – On a bright sunny day in early April, Nick Warmerdam points out his office window at No. 4 and Marion roads to a spot about half a kilometre away across the Trans-Canada Highway.
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Omg 🥹 Jared Huston let’s go pls

4 weeks ago

Farming, like any other job.. only you punch in at age 5 and never punch out 🚜 ... See MoreSee Less

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Easton Roseboom Levi Roseboom🚜

4 weeks ago

The province is allocating $15 million to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. for a perennial crop replant program benefitting tree fruit, hazelnut, berry and grape growers. The program aims to cover 100% of plant removal costs and 75% of replanting costs. Funds are also available for sector development. The new program replaces a suite of sector-specific replant programs and recognizes the importance of sector adaptation in the face of market, disease and weather challenges. ... See MoreSee Less

The province is allocating $15 million to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. for a perennial crop replant program benefitting tree fruit, hazelnut, berry and grape growers. The program aims to cover 100% of plant removal costs and 75% of replanting costs. Funds are also available for sector development. The new program replaces a suite of sector-specific replant programs and recognizes the importance of sector adaptation in the face of market, disease and weather challenges.
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4 weeks ago

Just a week after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials revoked the last primary control zones established in the Fraser Valley to control last fall’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a new detection on April 29 at a commercial premises in Chilliwack underscored the risk of a spring wave. This is the first new detection since January 22, also in Chilliwack, and brings to 104 the number of premises affected since the current outbreak began April 13, 2022. The disease has impacted 3.7 million birds in BC over the past year. ... See MoreSee Less

Just a week after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials revoked the last primary control zones established in the Fraser Valley to control last fall’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a new detection on April 29 at a commercial premises in Chilliwack underscored the risk of a spring wave. This is the first new detection since January 22, also in Chilliwack, and brings to 104 the number of premises affected since the current outbreak began April 13, 2022. The disease has impacted 3.7 million birds in BC over the past year.
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Any other details for FVN and chillTV please? radiodon11@gmail.com

4 weeks ago

The province is contributing $3.2 million for upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station in Abbotsford that was overwhelmed during the November 2021 flooding on Sumas Prairie, part of a collaborative approach to flood mitigation in the region. During a press conference at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food offices in Abbotsford today, the province said a collaborative approach that includes First Nations is needed as Abbotsford pursues a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy due to the potential impacts on Indigenous lands. Agriculture's interests will be represented by technical teams within the agriculture ministry. ... See MoreSee Less

The province is contributing $3.2 million for upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station in Abbotsford that was overwhelmed during the November 2021 flooding on Sumas Prairie, part of a collaborative approach to flood mitigation in the region. During a press conference at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food offices in Abbotsford today, the province said a collaborative approach that includes First Nations is needed as Abbotsford pursues a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy due to the potential impacts on Indigenous lands. Agricultures interests will be represented by technical teams within the agriculture ministry.
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I sure hope part of that money is to educate the people in charge of the pumps and drainage system! They just relayed on computers and weren’t even physically monitoring the water levels. I’ve lived in the Fraser Valley my whole life and the old guys managing that system know how to do it. The new generation just sit behind computer screens and don’t physically watch the water levels. That system works very well when you do it right. The Fraser river levels are very important. The system is designed to drain the Sumas Canal (the part that runs thru the valley) into the Fraser. When they let it get backed up it put pressure on the dyke and the weak part burst. Simple science. And yes, the dykes need to be worked on too. Abbotsford has not been maintaining properly for years.

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BC vine damage discussed

January 24, 2023 byPeter Mitham

The blast of cold air Okanagan vineyards experienced December 21 was a hot topic at this week’s Unified Wine and Grape Symposium in Sacramento, California.

The largest show devoted to viticulture and enology in North America, the conference included panels on vine resilience and winter damage – timely discussions following the severe frost event that affected vineyards in BC and Washington last month. Some growers in BC describe it as the worst frost event they’ve seen in their careers.

Dramatic photos of snow-covered vineyards in the Okanagan this past December by Summerland Research and Development Centre research scientist José Ramón Úrbez-Torres punctuated a morning session on vine resilience, and the theme was taken up by Washington State University researcher Markus Keller, who kicked off the cold hardiness discussion in the afternoon.

Keller gave valuable information on the determinants of vine hardiness, and underscored the challenges vines face over the winter.

Vine dormancy begins as the hours of daylight fall below 13 hours a day, Keller explains, and is the prerequisite for vines to become hardier. The process sees leaves fall off, cellulose seal the phloem and buds drain of water, their moisture content falling from 80% to less than 45%.

Once they’ve drained, hardiness sets in and is regulated by a dynamic relationship between sugars, which maintain hardiness, and starches, which mitigate it.

It’s the relationship between the two that partly explains why not all buds are equally affected by a cold snap, as well as the duration and intensity of the cold.

A wide diurnal change in temperature also interferes with vine acclimation. Pointing to the photos of snowy vineyards in BC, he noted that snow can reflect solar radiation that warms up the trunks of the grapevines and lead to a shift of at least nine degrees over the course of the day. This can make it harder for vines to stay acclimated to the air temperature.

“But sometimes it’s not the cold weather that kills the buds,” he points out. “Be careful what you call cold damage; it’s not always the same.”

He’s seen Syrah buds, particularly after a hot summer, with 40% of the buds dead, something most growers only discover when spring comes.

Of course, the net result is the same – few new buds at the start of the season, and the risk of a short crop.

To mitigate the issue, Keller encourages a cautious approach when it comes to pruning. Growers in BC often prune early, he said, whereas those in Washington prune in February, and then usually a prepruning that gives them time to assess the health of their vines.

He recommends delaying pruning, noting that even though it contributes to delayed budbreak, vines easily make up a three-week delay in budbreak over the course of the growing season. Delaying pruning is a small price to pay if it improves the final crop.

“Don’t be afraid to do something that looks a bit ugly in the vineyard; at least you’ll have a crop,” he says.

 

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