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Originally published:

DECEMBER 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 12

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Stories In This Edition

Catastrophic flooding

Wash out

Editorial: Rebuilding food security

Back 40: A farmer’s journey doesn’t always pay for itself

Viewpoint:

Dairy industry takes swift action on animal abuse

Producers urged to make emergency plans

Province sets agenda for tree fruit future

Ag Briefs: Province moves to shut down mink farms

Ag Briefs: Interior Opportunities

Ag Briefs: BCAC meetings bear fruit

Ag Briefs: Trade focus

North Okanagan ranchers brief on key issues

Sidebar: Strong retail, disappointing feeder prices

Frustration over ‘timber-centric’ range bill

Livestock protection program up for review

Honey producers get technology transfer program

Chicken squadron

Quality over quantity for blueberry pollination

New slaughter regs helpful but not enough

Sidebar: Changes welcome

Sheep producers have tough year

The old heave-ho

Grant revives Pacific field corn trials

Cannabis grower eyes mushroom production

New poinsettia varieties trialed in Abbotsford

Nursery sales stay brisk through pandemic

Job satisfaction has deep roots

Newcomers revitalize Lake Country orchard

Cariboo research looks to extend growing season

Full circle operation upcycles food waste

BC company specializes in bio control

Farm Story: Idyllic worlds have very little idleness in them

Blueberry farming is stress-busting for new chair

Research: To till or not to till? That’s actually not the question

Christmas tree growers face a grim future

Woodshed: An awkward encounter; a clever diversion

A century of dairy farming in Pitt Meadows

Jude’s Kitchen: Celebrate! Celebrate

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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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Christmas tree growers face a grim future

Climate change proving to be a Grinch

little pessimistic, I guess, but I can see the future of the Christmas trees declining over the next decade.” Art Loewen of Pine Meadows Tree Farms in Chilliwack has been growing Christmas trees since 1970. RONDA PAYNE

December 1, 2021 byRonda Payne

CHILLIWACK – BC residents should be able to find their annual Christmas tree this year, but the annual pilgrimage to the tree lot stands to become more challenging.

Art Loewen, founder of Pine Meadows Tree Farms in Chilliwack, is a past president of the Canadian Christmas Trees Association and has been growing trees since 1970. He’s one of nearly 400 Christmas tree growers in the province, down from more than 500 in 2011.

“We’re really hoping we’re going to have enough for anyone who needs a Christmas tree, but we’re cutting back on wholesale to do that,” he says of the lot at his farm. “We are holding back probably 1,000 from wholesale that will be sold here.”

Loewen’s son Tim now runs the family business, which is mostly in nursery trees, while Loewen remains very much involved with the Christmas tree side of things. He stays up to speed on what’s happening in the industry and despite his ingenuity and efforts, says the industry is in decline.

The unprecedented heat wave that rolled across the province this past June is one of a number of factors contributing to the woes.

“We’ll see next spring if they recover,” Loewen says. “Fortunately, we’ve been growing fewer and fewer Fraser firs over the years.”

Up to half the Fraser firs at Loewen’s farm were damaged by the heat, which exceeded 40°C. This compares to just 5% of other varieties, much of which was limited to the tips. Pruning removed minor damage for these varieties, but Loewen expects he’ll end up destroying about 10% of his younger Fraser firs, which suffered most. Many seedlings planted over the past two seasons died, however.

The losses will impact tree availability this year and into the future.

In Enderby, Bud Collis of Christmas Ranch Tree Farm experienced similar issues on his two-acre farm. He expects at least half of his Fraser firs will survive, but he was already low on trees. Strong demand last year cut into his plantings as families showed up to cut their own trees – one of the few allowed outings during the restrictions in place to curb COVID-19 last year.

“I think it was people wanting to get outside with their kids and came to the

u-cut,” he says. “A lot of trees were cut out of there last year.”

It left him short of stock going into this season, so a friend is supplying him with cut trees to supplement his own production. He will have a limited number of u-cut trees available as well as evergreen swags and handcrafted birch items.

“I’ve been selling Fraser fir for 20 years and never had a problem,” he says, blaming the heat for this year’s shortage.

Dry seasons

In Duncan, Robert Russell with Sahtlam Tree Farm says drought has been an increasing issue for both the hard-hit Fraser firs and other varieties.

“For the last four years, I’ve lost seedlings with the droughts that we’ve had,” he says. “So basically, I’ve always planted in the spring. But last year, I planted in the fall and even those trees that went through one of our coastal winters, even they succumbed to the long drought and the situation that occurred in late June.”

He says that Fraser firs about three years old and older were more likely to survive, but younger trees were significantly damaged. On the plus side, higher prices this year will offset the losses. According to Statistics Canada, the farmgate value of BC trees has quadrupled since 2016, and are now worth $13.4 million to growers.

Unfortunately, drought makes for a lower-quality tree.

“The people will be paying more for not quite as good of a product,” he says.

High land prices have made it difficult to attract new entrants as older farmers retire. Russell knows of at least two farms on Vancouver Island that have shut down or are about do so. Russell, now 83, plans to wind down his own wholesale business as a lifestyle choice and will focus exclusively on u-cut in a couple of years.

“The money in a Christmas tree is so low, the next generation isn’t continuing,” says Loewen. “The price of land in BC … is too high to make it worth your while.”

He says even cole crops are more valuable. His son is thinking about inter-planting garlic with young Christmas tree seedlings to increase the return from the land.

Loewen’s pessimism resonates with Russell, who says a combination of more severe weather and basic economics makes it tough for BC growers to continue, even with indigenous species like the Fraser fir.

“It’s going to be harder on the next generation or two to continue in the trees,” he says Russell. “I’m a little pessimistic, I guess, but I can see the future of the Christmas trees declining over the next decade.”

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