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Current Issue:

JANUARY 2023
Vol. 109 Issue 1

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10 hours 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

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Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

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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...
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5 days 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

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Your weekly farm news update

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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
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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

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Christmas trees in demand

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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…
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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.
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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
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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..

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Blueberry growers dodge US complaint

February 17, 2021 bySarbmeet Singh

BC’s several hundred blueberry farmers are relieved and elated after the US International Trade Commission announced that blueberry imports cause no harm to American growers.

The commission launched an investigation into global blueberry imports in response to a complaint filed in September by former US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer following a report on produce imports jointly authored by his office, the US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Commerce.

The report indicated that a dramatic rise in blueberry imports was causing economic damage to the US industry. The investigation raised concerns among BC blueberry growers that they could face limits on access to the US market.

But the USITC announced February 11 that it had determined that fresh, chilled and frozen blueberries are not being imported into the US in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury or a threat of serious injury to the domestic industry.

Growers, the BC Blueberry Council and the province have welcomed the decision.

“Now our members can focus on the growing year ahead, instead of being concerned with trade penalties,” says Jack Bates, chair of the BC Blueberry Council and a grower in Delta.

The council had budgeted significant funds for the challenge, which could have cost the Canadian industry upwards of $1.3 million if the USITC had determined imports were hurting US growers.

“The decision is highly welcomed. The farmers in BC were worried over the proposed tariff. It is a huge sigh of relief for us. This proposed tariff could have resulted in an adverse impact on the blueberry industry in BC. It’s a positive sign,” said Gurprit Brar, a farmer in Langley.

“We are relieved with the decision. The blueberry industry is already facing a lot of issues and if the tariff were imposed on Canadian berries, it would have forced the farmers to leave the industry,” said Harpal Singh, an Abbotsford grower.

Blueberries are grown on more than 27,100 acres across BC by approximately 800 growers.

Several segments of the US industry were also opposed to an investigation, with a group of 30 growers, packers, importers and retailers forming the Blueberry Coalition for Progress and Health to oppose limitations on trade, including import limits.

The united front is one Abbotsford grower Rajpal Singh believes could benefit the issue in future.

“The industry needs to be more united to face any such issues in future” he says.

 

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