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Originally published:

December 2017
Vol. 103 Issue 12

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Stories In This Edition

Body cams are out

Turkey allocation reviewed

Meet ‘n’ Greet

Producers take concerns to Victoria

Editorial: Double standard

Back Forty: Perception is in the eyes of the beholder

Viewpoint: Trade negotiations creating uncertainty

Cattlemen speak out about groundwater licensing debacle

Sweet reward

WorkSafeBC set to lower most rates

Salmon farm debate raises concern for range tenures

Sidebar: Good relationships on the range

Breweries allowed

FIRB’s quota review is taking too long

Dairy farming under the microscope

Technology key to the fortunes of dairies of all sizes

BC Tree Fruit election may prompt legal action

Disease control worries honey producers

Beekeepers risk dumping charge

Honey in the house

Crop insurnace claims up

Stockmen receive update on wildfire recovery

Property assessments set for major shift after fires

Water access for range cattle

Compensation possible in Island sheep kills

Fall at its finest

Protection program has helped ranchers

Fair boards encouraged to sign up for Premises ID

Meadow Valley meats eyes new slaughterhouse

Potential for termination of Site C cause for hope

Jack Frost nips crops on heels of hot summer

Six-digit cattle attract deep-pocketed ownership teams

Kelowna seeks input on the future of local water management

West Kelowna pursues bylaw for worker housing

Sidebar: Taking the next step

Agri-tourism regulation has little impact on farmers

Privacy, conflict of interest need good protocols

Sidebar: Field media requests with confidence

Vernon orchardists develop award winning orchard

Seed growers find support at gathering

Photo bomb

Cleaner water promises greener greenhouses

4-H BC on the move

Entrepeneurs squeeze a profit from pressed fruit

Research: Heritage turkeys add a touch of nostalgia

4-H Canada’s top scholarship awarded to BC member

Woodshed: Awkward moments abound as date night nears

Langley meadery finds the sweet spot

Entertaining tidbits

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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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Cattlemen speak out about groundwater licensing debacle

December 1, 2017 byTom Walker

KAMLOOPS – Kevin Boon, general manager of the BC Cattlemen’s Association (BCCA), is calling the Ministry of Environment (MOE) to task for its inept handling of groundwater licensing.

“It’s been a fiasco from the start. It has been utter chaos and it has been, I would say, the biggest example of bureaucratic mishandling that I have ever seen,” says Boon, his frustration evident, at the Kamloops Stockman’s Association’s recent semi- annual meeting.

Since the BC Water Sustainability Act took effect two years ago, there have been little more than 1,500 applications, for which MOE has only issued 97 actual licenses.

“There has been a real glitch in the get- along somewhere,” he said. “Some of the applications have been in for more than a year and have not yet reached the desk of those that approve it. It has been an embarrassment to be quite frank and we made that very clear to the Ministry of Environment.”

Changes to the application form have made it simpler, and FrontCounter BC has made more computers available, but Boon says the issues run deeper.

“We are not sure the applications are leaving FrontCounter and ending up on the desk of Environment,” he says. “We are hoping the problems have been resolved. They promise us they have. But in the meantime, the new government is doing a review on the application process.”

While the government is working to move the application process online, Boon says this doesn’t work for all ranchers. Some don’t have computer skills or adequate Internet service.

“We’ve certainly made them aware that this does not work well for a lot of our members,” he says. “We have pushed hard to be able to have it done by paper.”

Giving credit

Boon credits BCCA director Linda Allison, who ranches in the Similkameen Valley near Princeton, with ensuring that ranchers have submitted the majority of the  license applications the province has received to date.

“She really understands the value of water licensing and the need for all ranchers to get their groundwater licensed,” he said.

BCCA is asking the province to permanently waive application fees and to extend “first- in- time, first- in- right” privileges to late applications.

“We got a one- year waiver and we had it extended to the end of this year but it is very evident that it is still not working and it is not our fault,” Boon says. “We are also asking that they extend the first- in- time, first- in- right recognition because of the flawed process.”

Boon wonders what value BC taxpayers are getting from the process. He notes that $25 million was allocated for extra staffing to do the applications.

“If we are spending $25 million and getting 97 licenses approved in that time, I would not say that that is a very good use of our dollars,” he says. “Especially when I consider that the contribution for AgriRecovery towards fires that devastated three million acres was $20 million dollars. Where’s the best use of those funds?”

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