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Originally published:

October 2017
Vol. 103 Issue 10

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Stories In This Edition

Ranchers land $20 million in wildfire relief

Hot Potato

Wineries hold breath after fires

Sidebar: Disaster Insurance

Buggy season

Editorial: Facing change

Back 40: Finally a weed agriculture could get high on

Op-ed: Co-operatives have potential for BC farmers

Well registration continues to lag expectations

Pumpkin time

Tax critics rail against “stealth attack” on farmers

Potato growers test new varieties in late, dry season

Agriculture low priority

Food policy consultation visits Vancouver

Peace harvest underway after late start

Hazelnuts rebounding with new varieties, demand

Agriculture in good shape, but risks exist

New zone for hobby farms

Drought conditions spread across province as autumn begins

Nursery takes lean approach to waste

Precision technology builds a northern blueberry patch

Robots help solve dairy staffing issues

Centrifuge helps farms tackle nutrient concerns

Ag tech start-up aims to minimize manure waste

Timed insemination can boost conception

Yee haw

Ranchers take stock of cattle

Metal ear tags phased out

Dairy association incubates artisan cheese association

Me oui!

Show them we care

Keeping track of Fraser Valley pests

Cranberry field day eyes new varieties

Kootenay MP weighs in on agriculture, dams and marijuana

Summerland growers cultivate best practices for cannabis

Islanders weigh benefits of new composting facility

Kootenay’s largest apiary has new owners

“Serious wine” the result of five decades’ work

Crop management covered at lecture series

Viticulture tech program responds to industry need

Research: Pollinator response to insecticides come under scrutiny

Auction proceeds benefit education, 4-H programs

Viewpoint: Getting to know BC’s agri-culture

Day at the Farm educates, entertains despite rain

Fair experience

4-H expulsion raises questions

Woodshed Chronicles: Henderon finds little sympathy for his pain

Jude’s Kitchen: Harvest roots & all

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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

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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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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

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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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Buggy season

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October 1, 2017 byDavid Schmidt

ABBOTSFORD – 2017 has been “corn Armageddon” for local growers, says BC Ministry of Agriculture entomologist Tracy Hueppelsheuser.

Hueppelsheuser spoke to growers during the Pacific Forage Bag corn variety trials field day at Rosegate Dairy Farm in Abbotsford, September 15. Because the field days are primarily promotional events seed dealers use to show off their existing, new and prospective corn varieties, BCMA staff rarely attend. For them to speak at the trials is even more rare.

But this is a most unusual year, says PFG co-owner Alexis Arthur. Rather than go into great detail about each of the trialled varieties, “what we want to talk about are bugs and worms.”

They are everywhere, says Matt De Jong of Ag Solutions. After providing custom-cropping services for central Fraser Valley farmers through Rosegate for close to a decade, De Jong and his new partner, Derek Bailey, separated the business from Rosegate this year.  

De Jong, who looks after over 1,500 acres of corn and another 1,000 plus acres of grass, says armyworm exists in “just about every field. It just depends on how bad it is.”

The infestation of true armyworm and Western corn rootworm caught just about everyone by surprise. Corn augmented with preventative traits can control or even prevent damage from the pests but is not commonly planted in BC. In fact, Arthur included few “multi-trait” varieties in her trial because they haven’t been big sellers here.

“We haven’t had the worms so we haven’t been recommending the more expensive multi-trait varieties to our growers,” she says.

That will change.

“Now, some of those traits will work for us,” she states, saying growers will need to become “more discerning.” Just about all forage corn in BC is grown from Roundup Ready seed but growers will now have to consider using “G2”, “G3” or “G8” seed, which all have added traits. G2 seed will fight off corn borer, corn earworm and armyworm, while G3 and G8 seed also include protection against corn rootworm.

“The variety you plant is one of the management options you have,” Hueppelsheuser told growers, adding other management tools include crop rotation and/or spraying insecticides like Force.

“With preventative action, you won’t see as many beetles,” she said.

To help guide growers’ decisions, BCMA has embarked on an intensive monitoring and trapping program.

“We’re trying to get a sense of the hot zones in the Fraser Valley,” Hueppelsheuser said, noting there are many more worms in the central and eastern Fraser Valley than in Delta and Surrey.

She urges growers to practice crop rotation, saying fields which have been in corn three or more years in a row are most susceptible.

Late planting is another risk factor. Beetles lay their eggs in early June and “baby corn plants are a smorgasbord for them.”

That was certainly the case this year as relentless spring rains prevented early planting. De Jong notes planting was not only “three to four weeks later” but condensed into a smaller window.

“We normally plant for four weeks, but this year we planted all our corn in the last week of May and first week of June.”

The late start was followed by this year’s long, hot, dry summer. Although that meant higher heat units, De Jong notes “we’re still behind normal.” It also means farmers without irrigation are going to see much smaller crops.

“You can pick out the irrigated fields,” he says, predicting yields for farmers without irrigation will be down “10% or more.”

“This wasn’t a year to put in 2,500 heat unit corn,” Arthur adds. She admits lower heat unit corn also has lower yields but if the higher heat unit corn hasn’t fully matured before it’s harvested, “you don’t get the starch and protein so it’s not as valuable.”

And many farmers are choosing to harvest early. They want to minimize armyworm and corn rootworm damage and/or get the crop in before fall rains make the fields too muddy.

Some of the damage may not be visible until it’s too late. Hueppelsheuser notes the Western corn rootworm eats the brace roots, causing the corn to be unstable.

“Corn is already falling over and there will be more if we get wind.”

Although farmers were urged to “scout, scout, scout,” they must do so at the right time. The worms are nocturnal so the best time to see them is at night. That also affects spraying. Since contact insecticides are most effective, spraying is also best done in the late evening.

“Yesterday, I started spraying at 9:30 pm,” De Jong told the crowd.

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