• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Country Life In BC Logo

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915

  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Search

Primary Sidebar

Originally published:

JUNE 2020
Vol. 106 Issue 6

Subscribe Now!

Sign up for free weekly FARM NEWS UPDATES

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Country Life in BC, 36 Dale Road, Enderby, BC, V0E1V4. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
Your information will not be
shared or sold ever

Stories In This Edition

Bracing for CUSMA

Blossoming hopes

Ottawa comes under fire

ALR complaints rise, investigations on hold

Editorial: Shifting promises

Back 40: Timing perfect to advance slaughter initiatives

Viewpoint: Finding the right balance in times of stress

Berries look good amid COVID-19 concerns

Sidebar: Pollination shapes up

Poultry and hops a winning combination

Ag Briefs: Producers mourn rising young abattoir operator

AB: BC Veg eyes strategic plan

AB: Wage hike compounds challenges

AB: Former ALC chair Erik Karlsen dies

Provincial disaster assistance ‘isn’t working’

Growers plan ahead as potatoes find markets

BCTF introduces grower incentives to boost quality

Agritourism gets creative in midst of COVID-19

Biosolids project halter following harassment

Rethinking the concept for mobile abattoirs

Ranchers brand gov’t support inadequate

Dairy reduces energy costs with solar power

Ingratte heads dairy commission

Research: Dairy housing a matter of perspective

Grower harvests near-perfect Honeyscrisps

Making the shift from table to wine grapes

Abattoir meets needs of Gulf Islands farmers

Sidebar: Community spirit

Strenthenging on-farm food safety protocols

Sidebar: On-farm practices for a pandemic

Farm News: Taking refuge in The Lab

4-H sales adapt amid COVID-19 restrictions

Leafrollers can be a potential crop contaminant

Silicon control of fungal issues trialed

Not all farmers’ markets are thriving

Woodshed: Desperate times call for chivalrous measures

Flower power

Jude’s Kitchen: Home cookin’

More Headlines

Follow us on Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

7 days ago

Farmland Advantage is receiving a $445,000 grant from the federal government. The program, the “brainchild” of Invermere cattle rancher Dave Zehnder, provides compensation to farmers for their conservation efforts to protect BC’s grasslands, riparian areas and wildlife habitat. The funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada under the Species at Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands (SARPAL) and Priority Places programs, will be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas appeared in our March 2022 edition and you can view it at ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

buff.ly

INVERMERE – Farmers and ranchers in the Columbia Valley will continue to see rewards for taking action to conserve and enhance important riparian areas on their farms. The Windermere District Farmer...
View Comments
  • Likes: 1
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

2 weeks ago

A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural Land Commission hosted in Langley Monday night regarding a proposal to include 305 acres controlled by the federal government in the Agricultural Land Reserve. More than 76,000 people have signed an online petition asking municipal and provincial governments to protect the land from development, and for the federal government to grant a long-term lease to the Heppells. Read more in this morning's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. conta.cc/3XYXw6k ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Your weekly farm news update

web-extract.constantcontact.com

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 January 25 2023 Surrey ALR inclusion cheered A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural L
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

Mike Manion Pitt Meadows City Councillor

2 months ago

Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand this season and prices remain comparable to last year. But the number of tree farms has decreased dramatically over the past five years and the province will increasingly need to look elsewhere if it wants to meet local demand. More in this week's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Christmas trees in demand

buff.ly

Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand, with high quality trees making it to market. “The market is good. We’ll probably outdo last year and last year was one of our best years…
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

2 months ago

Another four poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley have tested positive for avian influenza over the weekend -- 15 in the last week alone. There are 60 farms currently under quarantine in BC, more than any other province in Canada and three times that of Alberta, which ranks second. Officials maintain the virus is being spread by dust and groundwater and not farm-to-farm transmission. No farms in the Interior have tested positive this fall. ... See MoreSee Less

Another four poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley have tested positive for avian influenza over the weekend -- 15 in the last week alone. There are 60 farms currently under quarantine in BC, more than any other province in Canada and three times that of Alberta, which ranks second. Officials maintain the virus is being spread by dust and groundwater and not farm-to-farm transmission. No farms in the Interior have tested positive this fall.
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 3
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

Avian influenza virus can be killed by chlorine at no higher a concentration than is present in drinking water, so unless farms are using untreated groundwater in their barns I don't see how it could be a source of transmission. www.researchgate.net/publication/5594208_Chlorine_Inactivation_of_Highly_Pathogenic_Avian_Influen...

2 months ago

In a surprise move, Lana Popham -- hailed at the recent BC Dairy Industry Conference as a key ally of the agriculture sector -- has been replaced by Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis as part of a cabinet overhaul today by new BC premier David Eby. Popham will now oversee Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. The two ministers worked closely together following the atmospheric river events last fall. ... See MoreSee Less

In a surprise move, Lana Popham -- hailed at the recent BC Dairy Industry Conference as a key ally of the agriculture sector -- has been replaced by Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis as part of a cabinet overhaul today by new BC premier David Eby. Popham will now oversee Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. The two ministers worked closely together following the atmospheric river events last fall.Image attachment
View Comments
  • Likes: 10
  • Shares: 8
  • Comments: 8

Comment on Facebook

Goes to show how far-removed our current government is from the agricultural sector. To put someone in this position who has no farming background is a slap in the face to all of our hard-working producers.

Going to be a heck of a learning curve. Helping the agricultural community recover from the biggest natural disasters in history, handling the avian influenza outbreak that is threatening our poultry industry, dealing with a crisis in meat processing, managing ongoing threats from climate change, supporting producers who are facing unprecedented inflation in an industry with very slim margins to begin with..... to name a few of the challenges our new Minister will have to face all with one of the lowest budgets of any ministry. I wish her the best of luck but I hope she's got a lot of support around her.

Best of wishes in your new position

Congrats to Pam, cool to see a Fraser Valley based ag minister but also so sad to see Lana reassigned . I have no doubt she will do an amazing job in her new role.

Will be missed by #meiernation

Bryce Rashleigh

Nooooooo!

Lana did a shit job and now we have a minister with no farming background at all. Aren’t we lucky..

View more comments

Subscribe | Advertise

Biosolids project halted following harassment

Protesters, vandalism tarnish ranch’s reputation

ON HOLD. Conrad Schiebel stands on the glacial till he was hoping to reclaim with biosolids. The project setbacks for Chum Lake, seen here, are 100 metres. That's more than triple the Organic Matter Recycling Regulation requirement. Photo / Tom Walker

June 1, 2020 byTom Walker

KAMLOOPS – A project to transform a logging site into productive pasture using biosolids from the city of Kamloops has been sidelined after the rancher was the target of harassment.

Conrad Schiebel of Turtle Valley Bison Ranch near Chase faced a road blockade, a social media smear campaign, defacement of his property and death threats throughout last year.

“People accused us of being environmental terrorists,” says Schiebel. “That really cuts deep.”

Schiebel says the ranch has lost income and customers, suffered damage to its reputation and neighbours have turned against it. Work to build the pasture has stopped, while Kamloops now faces the challenge of what to do with its stockpile of biosolids.

Ironically, the group harassing Schiebel is part of the very same First Nation that proposed the project in the first place.

Firebreak

During the winter of 2017-18, the ranch logged a 70-acre parcel of their land, which is privately held and outside the Agricultural Land Reserve. Schiebel aimed to build a firebreak for its current pastures and hoped the site would provide more grass for its herd of 75 bison.

“Late in 2018, we were approached by the Little Shuswap Lake Indian Band leadership to consider a biosolids application as a possible way to turn our logged area into productive pasture,” recalls Schiebel. “Both the elected council and several hereditary chiefs gave their support.”

Pasture seeding on the glacial till was completely unsuccessful in 2018 and the idea of biosolids held some promise. Schiebel spent a year researching biosolids before making a decision.

“We reviewed the practice with several agricultural, soil and water scientists as well as the BC government website on organic waste regulations,” says Schiebel. He adds that the website has high-quality, evidence-based information about the use of biosolids, which is a controlled substance under the province’s Organic Matter Recycling Regulation.

They also met with Arrow Transport, the company with the contract to manage the 19,500 wet tonnes of biosolids Kamloops produces each year, as well as an independent professional agrologist.

“They deemed our ranch as being an excellent site for this type of reclamation project,” says Schiebel. “The site has since been assessed by an independent hydrologist who also concurred that the risk to any surrounding water sources or aquifers would be extremely unlikely.”

Turtle Valley has a serious commitment to the land and its community.

“The ranch has worked diligently to implement our environmental farm plan,” notes Schiebel. “We have always worked closely with neighbouring First Nations and included them in all our farming and land development plans.”

The ranch received a permit from the province and Arrow began its deliveries in early April.

The biosolids are mixed with sawdust before being trucked to the site and deposited in a prepared trench. A backhoe combines the mixture with the glacial till before filling in the trench. The resulting soil has a 7% biosolid content.

“This isn’t just a straight surface application,” explains Schiebel.

Blockade

Area residents led by Connie Seaward began blocking the road that leads to the reclamation site on April 28, 2019 to protest the project. Arrow received an injunction against the blockade 10 days later. In turn, the protestors sought an injunction against the project. BC Supreme Court dismissed the protestors’ application against the use of the biosolids saying there was no plausible evidence to show that the biosolids would cause harm.

But Seaward’s group have certainly caused harm to the ranch. Ranch signs have been spray-painted with profanity, its vehicles and Schiebel’s RV have been paint-balled, broken glass has been thrown in the yard where its dogs run and death threats have been sprayed on nearby cliffs and a railway crossing. Schiebel figures it has cost the ranch around $100,000.

“We have lost good customers, particularly restaurants, that say they can’t be associated with all the controversy,” he says. “We had to sell off a number of our animals before maturity when things looked like they were taking a turn for the worse.”

Neighbours have not been immune to the fallout. A local contractor purchased new equipment to work on the project, but now his machines sit idle.

While local residents did not relish the idea of going to jail if they continued the blockade, that hasn’t stopped a splinter group of Shuswap Nation members from stepping in. The “Secwepemc Grassroots” reinstated the blockade in July and effectively halted the trucks. Arrow Transport, Turtle Valley and Kamloops all agreed to put the project on hold last fall.

The way a splinter group of protestors have been able to grab power from the leaders who initially proposed the project mystifies Schiebel.

“No one seems to be able to explain to us how this small group has the veto power over other First Nation representatives who were consulted and indeed introduced us to the project,” he notes.

Schiebel is equally frustrated by the fake science and vitriol that’s circulated on social media.

“The ease at which ill-informed comments or malicious attacks can now be shared is becoming a new reality for farmers and ranchers in today’s social media-driven world,” he says.

At present, the project remains idle.

“We were facing significant opposition from locals and later First Nations,” says Kamloops utility services manager Greg Wightman. “Although we were granted an injunction against the protestors blocking the road, we decided to put a pause on the project.”

The Kamloops biosolids committee has presented eight possible solutions to council. Agricultural application remains an option.

“We went through a very expensive review process to carefully outline all options,” says Wightman. “I actually presented this at a national conference and people couldn’t believe the opposition we faced in our region.”

Meanwhile, the backlog of biosolids in Kamloops continues to grow, assisted by the protestors. Sources say byproducts from local septic tanks are trucked down the road and processed and stored at the Kamloops holding facility. Every time the protestors flush, they’re adding to the problem.

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

Organic matter regulations delayed

Previous Post: « Grand Forks ducks flood
Next Post: Province boosts online grants »

Copyright © 2023 Country Life in BC · All Rights Reserved