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Originally published:

OCTOBER 2023
Vol. 109 Issue 10

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Stories In This Edition

Reprieve for water users

BCTF packinghouses on the block

Rest easy

Flower co-op celebrates 60 years

Editorial: Give us this day

Back 40: The heat is on, and hard choices are needed

Viewpoint: International journalists see the best of BC

Westwold ranchers speak out against irrigation ban

Communication critical to solve water issues

Ag Briefs: Canada loses New Zealand trade challenge

Ag Briefs: Cherry promotion promising

Reliance on foreign workers under scrutiny

IAFBC keeps growing its business

Poultry growers on edige as fall bird migrations start

ALR policy review shows room for improvement

Western corn rootworm detected in OK

On-farm slaughter expands limited options

Building a business around community

Outstanding in her field

Weather ideal for grain harvest

New project offers value-added opportunities

Autonomous seeders move forward

BC hosts national Christmas tree conference

BC fairs hit hard by post-COVID volunteer shortage

Sidebar: Fairs resume post-COVID with new challenges

Panel dishes “the real dirt on farming”

Farm Story: Good corn, like good farming, isn’t cheap

Longer trial, strong results

Tidy orchards ensure clean hazelnut harvest

DFWT blueberry rest program expands east

Ditching the plastic mulch

Compost tease: learning through trial and error

Woodshed: Kenneth bets the water dowzer double or nothing

Quesnel youth awarded 4-H scholarship

Harvest thanks

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2 days ago

BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

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BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

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Congratulations!!!

Congratulations!

Congratulations

Congratulations <3

Congratulations to Duncan, Jane, and all the rest of the Barnett family!

Congratulations Jane and Ducan! Sandra Andresen Hawkins

Congratulation Duncan & Jane!!

Congratulations Jane & Duncan 🥳

Congratulations Jane Trott Barnett and Duncan!!!

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3 days ago

Grapegrower Colleen Ingram, who was recognized earlier this year as the 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association. “Given the devastation we have had over the last three years, I feel like this award should be given to the entire industry,” she says. Her story appears in the June edition of Country Life in BC, and we've also posted to our website.

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Industry champion named BC’s best grape grower

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KELOWNA – Colleen Ingram’s enthusiasm for collaboration within the BC wine industry is so great that when she was named 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association, she wanted to sh...
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1 month ago

From orchard manager to government specialist and now executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association, Adrian Arts brings a rare blend of hands-on farming experience and organizational leadership to an industry poised for renewal. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment for BC fruit growers, with Arts expressing enthusiasm about continuing the momentum built by his predecessor and working alongside a board that signals a generational shift in agricultural advocacy.

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Arts leads BCFGA forward

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A combination of organizational management and practical farming experience has primed the new executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association to lead the industry forward.
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1 month ago

A public consultation is now underway on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board. Key issues for dairy producers include transportation costs, rules governing shipments and limitations on supporting processing initiatives. Stakeholders have until May 31 to comment.

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Milk board undertakes review

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A public consultation on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board is underway as part of a triennial review required by the British Columbia Milk Marketing Board Regulation.
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1 month ago

BC wool shipments drop sharply in 2023, according to StatsCan data released in mid-April. Local producers shipped just 5,200kg at 37¢/kg, down from 18,600kg at $1.08/kg in 2022. While many farmers now use wool on-farm or dispose of it due to low market value, innovative producers like Emily McIvor point to untapped opportunities. Read more in our Farm News Update from Country Life in BC.

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BC wool value, volume drop

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BC sheep producers shipped less wool for less in 2023, reversing strong growth a year earlier. BC producers shipped 5,200 kilograms of raw wool in 2023, according to Statistics Canada data released on...
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Building a business around community

The Speckled Sow a ‘godsend’ for livestock producers

Brittany and Matthew Giesbrecht dreamed of going into business for themselves. Their entrepreneurial spirit led them to open a butchery that is helping not only themselves but their neighbours as well. SUBMITTED

October 1, 2023 byKate Ayers

VANDERHOOF – A cut-and-wrap business that started as a side hustle to process animals on their farm has morphed into a licensed meat processing facility for Matthew and Brittany Giesbrecht and a critical service for local farmers and hunters.

“It’s a godsend,” says Korey Martens of Broken Horn Farm east of Vanderhoof. “Before these guys got started, there was an abattoir here in town but to have [animals] government-inspected was up to a year wait.”

The Speckled Sow Butchery and Market changed that for Martens, whose family raises beef cattle, pigs and chickens on 80 acres about 20 kilometres outside Vanderhoof. They provide the Giesbrechts with beef and pork for their farmstand.

The Giesbrechts grew up in the area hunting and farming, and were acutely aware of the lack of meat processing facilities in BC, especially in the north. Their background, paired with their entrepreneurial spirit, set them up well for their new venture.

“My husband’s a heavy-duty mechanic and I was a school bus driver, and we both knew that we wanted to … work for ourselves,” Brittany Giesbrecht says. “We both grew up very avid hunters and I grew up on a farm doing 4-H and all that stuff. So, we we’ve been around the butchering and the slaughtering end of things our whole lives.”

Fortuitously, a butcher in town was retiring so, in 2017, the couple decided to buy the equipment and process their own animals without the worry of securing slaughter dates elsewhere.

“Then we started kind of putting two and two together where we were like, hey, we want to start a business for ourselves; maybe it would be really good to start reaching out to the community and friends and family and maybe seeing if they need stuff processed as well,” Giesbrecht says.

As new homeowners at the time, the potential for some extra income was inviting, too.

“It kind of snowballed from there. We decided to take the plunge and build a shop on our property,” Giesbrecht says.

The couple ended up quitting their other jobs , purchased equipment and began booking slaughter dates in July 2022. They started off with custom cut-and-wrap but knew that slaughter was also a bottleneck in northern BC. In August, the couple obtained a Farmgate Plus licence for cattle, hogs, sheep and lambs. The licence allows them to slaughter up to 25 animal units annually and sell products provincially.

According to the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the province has 163 provincially licensed meat processing facilities, including 55 facilities with an Abattoir licence, 101 with a Farmgate Plus licence and seven with a Farmgate licence.

The Giesbrechts have a farm market on site, where people can buy local goods as fudge, flowers, bread and eggs, along with beef, pork, chicken and lamb that they’ve sourced from local producers.

As self-taught business owners and meatcutters, starting up a processing facility was a steep learning curve. But as the couple found their groove – and immense support in the community – they’ve been happy to support local producers and hunters year-round.

Indeed, the couple are passionate about giving back to their community. They judged the swine classes at the Vanderhoof 4-H show and auction on August 12 following the cancellation of the 2023 Vanderhoof Fall Fair due to wildfire concerns in the region.

“Every single one of these kids have done an amazing job and should be very very proud of themselves,” the Giesbrechts say in a Facebook post. “Our job was very difficult with the amount of amazing animals we had to judge. We hope we were able to spread a little bit of knowledge from a butcher’s perspective and that each of the kids had as much fun as we did!”

After the show, they bought about 40 project animals, including hogs, lambs and a few beef cattle. The beef were processed by the Country Locker in Vanderhoof and Chilako Meats in Prince George.

“I have a real soft spot for those two. They were at the

4-H auction this weekend and they were buying things up,” Martens says. “They’re in the community, supporting kids … they got huge hearts. … And they’re supplying a much-needed business here that we’re excited to be part of, for sure.”

As a result of their presence in Vanderhoof, the Giesbrechts were one of this year’s Business Impact Award winners as part of the 20th annual Small Business BC Awards.

“We were really shocked. Definitely, like if it wasn’t for our community, and all of the support, we would be nothing. We take our hats off to our community and Vanderhoof and surrounding areas because they have cheered us on right from the get-go and we’ve had such an amazing response from them,” Giesbrecht says. “When we won, it kind of made us feel like, wow, we’re actually putting good into the world and we’re doing something that people really appreciate. It was really humbling.”

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