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Originally published:

JUNE 2020
Vol. 106 Issue 6

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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’

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1 month 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

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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

1 month 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🚜

1 month 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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1 month 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

1 month 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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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.

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