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Originally published:

OCTOBER 2019
Vol. 105 Issue 10

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Stories In This Edition

ALC cracks down

Pat Jasper …

Bill will rein in activists

BC considers making premises ID mandatory

Bin there, done that

Unsung heroes

The Back Forty: It’s time government changed its narrative

Viewpoint: Banning plastic bags ignores reality

New round of changes coming to land reserve

Hullcar farmers file first NMP plans under new code

Classy champion

Most farmers support Daylight Savings Time

South Vancouver food hub to connect farmers

Egg-splaining

Dunn leaps to dairy sector

UBCO study looks at context for climate change

City Beet harvests profits from urban gardens

Forage trial presents options for producers

Growers step up to continue corn silage trials

Density key to efficient, healthy silage storage

Weather affecting corn trials

Bumper crop pushes down blueberry prices

Valley has protential to be an agritech hub

Ministry working on land use inventory

Join initiatives a priority for feeders

Best of the best

Canadian beef herd sinks to 30-year low

Familiar challenges face fourth-generation rancher

No-till seeding showcased at field day

Market Musings: Grass-fed cattle come to market with big gains

Blight-resistant trees focus of hazelnut field day

Replant, pest support for hazelnut growers

Bright berries

New packing line can handle BC’s pear crop

Mission Hilll aims to be fully organic by 2021

Research: Clean cud promotes dental health in ruminants

Remote market supports growth of local growers

Farm groups exploring food hub opportunities

Zoom! Zoom!

Chilliwack farms hopping with insects

Livestock still a main attraction at annual fair

PNE agriculture auction keeps on giving

4-H skills still key despite changes in farming

Thousands converge on Westham Island

Woodshed: Vacation time invites all kinds of cover-ups

Kootenay grower shoots forward with microgreens

Jude’s Kitchen: Harvest local

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1 month ago

The province has extended the Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security Program deadline from June 1 to Aug. 31. The program helps farmers cover uninsured expenses caused by damages in the November 2021 floods, including cleanup, repair and restoration of land, barns and animal shelters, and water and waste systems; returning flood-affected land and buildings to a safe state for agricultural production; repairing uninsurable essential farm infrastructure; repairing structures such as livestock-containment fences; renting temporary production facilities; installing drainage ditches and land-stabilization materials; animal welfare activities such as replacing feed, transporting livestock, veterinary care and mortality disposal; and
replacing perennial plants not grown for sale. Program criteria and application forms are available online: buff.ly/3sVRF4G
... See MoreSee Less

The province has extended the Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security Program deadline from June 1 to Aug. 31. The program helps farmers cover uninsured expenses caused by damages in the November 2021 floods, including cleanup, repair and restoration of land, barns and animal shelters, and water and waste systems; returning flood-affected land and buildings to a safe state for agricultural production;  repairing uninsurable essential farm infrastructure; repairing structures such as livestock-containment fences; renting temporary production facilities; installing drainage ditches and land-stabilization materials; animal welfare activities such as replacing feed, transporting livestock, veterinary care and mortality disposal; and
replacing perennial plants not grown for sale. Program criteria and application forms are available online: https://buff.ly/3sVRF4G
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1 month ago

A turkey farm in West Abbotsford is the second commercial poultry flock to tested positive for avian influenza since the initial case was reported in Enderby on April 13. CFIA announced the case May 19, but has yet to define the control zone. Ray Nickel of the BC Poultry Association says more than 50 farms are in the vicinity of the infected premises, meaning control measures — including movement controls — will have a significant impact on the industry. The supply of birds moving into the country from US hatcheries will also be affected, compounding the host of supply chain issues growers have been dealing with over the past year. A story in our June issue will provide further details. ... See MoreSee Less

A turkey farm in West Abbotsford is the second commercial poultry flock to tested positive for avian influenza since the initial case was reported in Enderby on April 13. CFIA announced the case May 19, but has yet to define the control zone. Ray Nickel of the BC Poultry Association says more than 50 farms are in the vicinity of the infected premises, meaning control measures — including movement controls — will have a significant impact on the industry. The supply of birds moving into the country from US hatcheries will also be affected, compounding the host of supply chain issues growers have been dealing with over the past year. A story in our June issue will provide further details.
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2 months ago

The province has extended the order requiring regulated commercial poultry operations to keep their birds indoors through June 13. Originally set to expire this Friday, the order was extended after a careful review by the province's deputy chief veterinarian. Poultry at seven premises, all but one of them backyard flocks, have tested positive for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza since April 13. The order allows small-scale producers to continue pasturing their birds outdoors provided biosecurity protocols developed by the Small-Scale Meat producers Association are followed. ... See MoreSee Less

The province has extended the order requiring regulated commercial poultry operations to keep their birds indoors through June 13. Originally set to expire this Friday, the order was extended after a careful review by the provinces deputy chief veterinarian. Poultry at seven premises, all but one of them backyard flocks, have tested positive for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza since April 13. The order allows small-scale producers to continue pasturing their birds outdoors provided biosecurity protocols developed by the Small-Scale Meat producers Association are followed.
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Sounds like 2 weeks to flatten the curve turning into 2 years.

USDA doing avian vax research, May 11 bio-docs to UN incl section on H5N8 w/wild bird spread. Found link to apparent pre-release on May 11 Geller Report. Good luck farmers.

2 months ago

Two more small flocks in BC have tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza. The latest cases are in Richmond and Kelowna. CFIA is in the process of determining a control zone around the property in Richmond, the first report in the Fraser Valley of the H5N1 strain of the virus among poultry. Speaking to Country Life in BC this week, federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said CFIA staff are working diligently to address outbreaks, and she encourages small flock owners to do the same. While commercial farms have tightened biosecurity measures, owners of small flocks have greater freedom. “Some smaller ones don’t necessarily have these measures in place,” Bibeau says. “They should also be extremely careful, because if we have a case in a backyard flock ... it could have an impact on bigger commercial installations.” ... See MoreSee Less

Two more small flocks in BC have tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza. The latest cases are in Richmond and Kelowna. CFIA is in the process of determining a control zone around the property in Richmond, the first report in the Fraser Valley of the H5N1 strain of the virus among poultry. Speaking to Country Life in BC this week, federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said CFIA staff are working diligently to address outbreaks, and she encourages small flock owners to do the same. While commercial farms have tightened biosecurity measures, owners of small flocks have greater freedom. “Some smaller ones don’t necessarily have these measures in place,” Bibeau says. “They should also be extremely careful, because if we have a case in a backyard flock ... it could have an impact on bigger commercial installations.”
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Killing our food chain. How do we know they are actually carrying a virus, look what's taking place with covid, is it real.

Ik kan niet zo goed Engels maar als ik het goed begrijp is bij jullie ook vogelgriep maar nog niet bij jullie

Any idea when this episode or bird flu might be over?

2 months ago

Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC welcomed its first new members in 20 years at its AGM on April 27. The BC Blueberry Council, BC Cherry Association, BC Cranberry Marketing Commission, BC Food & Beverage Association, BC Meats and Organic BC were approved as members, bringing the IAFBC’s membership to 15 farm and food organizations. IAFBC is also growing in responsibility, managing a record $8.3 million in funding from six funding agencies and developing new programs to support the agriculture sector including Farmland Advantage and Agricultural Climate Solutions. ... See MoreSee Less

Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC welcomed its first new members in 20 years at its AGM on April 27. The BC Blueberry Council, BC Cherry Association, BC Cranberry Marketing Commission, BC Food & Beverage Association, BC Meats and Organic BC were approved as members, bringing the IAFBC’s membership to 15 farm and food organizations. IAFBC is also growing in responsibility, managing a record $8.3 million in funding from six funding agencies and developing new programs to support the agriculture sector including Farmland Advantage and Agricultural Climate Solutions.
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City Beet harvests profits from urban gardens

Venture has doubled in size since 2016

October 2, 2019 byPeter Mitham

VANCOUVER—It’s a sunny afternoon in the Lower Mainland as Maddy Clerk and Elana Evans of City Beet Farm harvest tomatoes for the weekly produce boxes they’re assembling for delivery the following day. The two run a successful community-supported agriculture (CSA) program, and there’s enough produce for them to also participate in a biweekly market and supply local restaurants.

Direct marketing is big business for many small-scale farms, but City Beet is smaller than most. With just a half-acre of production spread across 15 properties, it’s taking a novel approach to farming as one of the more than a dozen urban farms in Vancouver.

Given the high cost of land in BC, the two partner with landowners in residential neighbourhoods for space, paying them with a share of production or a 50% discount on the CSA subscription (or $275).

“A big aspect is the land-access issue,” says Clerk of the approach. “A really big part of it was being able to farm and work for ourselves at such a young age and get our feet wet in farming.”

“This was a way to try our own thing, and it felt accessible to us as people with little savings and not much capital behind us,” says Evans.

Vancouver adopted an urban farming bylaw in 2016 that recognized it as a permitted activity within city limits. (Some operations had previously been forced to shut down by neighbours’ complaints.) Being within the city also gives City Beet access to a willing market as well as services such as tool rental businesses and garden supply shops geared to small-scale producers.

“We don’t necessarily need to own all our equipment,” says Clerk. “For us, that makes a lot of sense.”

The operation’s small scale also means there’s room to learn. While managing 15 separate properties brings challenges, those pale in comparison to having to manage a 60-acre property.

“You can learn the skills of a small-scale farm in a place that feels comfortable, then take those skills and potentially move them elsewhere,” says Evans.

Pest pressure is also low, something she attributes to being in a highly developed urban environment rather than in a rural setting where the risk of alternative pest hosts might be higher. Wireworm exists on some properties, and aphids can be a problem, but there hasn’t been anything significant.

“We don’t have anything I would say is detrimental,” says Evans. “Part of it may be that we’re in such an urban context where there is so much diversity and there’s not a lot of agriculture.”

The lack of farming in the city also means that when people see what they’re doing, they initially think they’re ambitious gardeners. Conversations open doors to a fresh perception of what food production could be in an urban context.

“One of the big opportunities we have is to bridge the gap,” says Evans. “There’s by no means a world in which this type of agriculture is going to feed the city, but if this kind of agriculture can make the people that live in those condos think about where their food is coming from and what goes into growing food, I think there’s a whole education piece.”

This year marks the seventh season for the business, which was started in 2013 by Katie Ralphs and Ruth Warren. The pair saw an opportunity to work with landowners to turn yards into small-scale market gardens just as the urban farming movement began to gain traction. One of the city’s first urban farms, it became a model locally and elsewhere of urban agriculture’s promise.

The pair sold it to Clerk and Evans in 2016, new graduates who were passionate about local food production and wanted to work outdoors. (Ralphs now farms on Vancouver Island.)

Both had been tree-planters in university, and Evans studied soil sciences at UBC. Clerk had a commerce degree and is now a Chartered Professional Accountant. Both in their early 20s at the time, neither had previously been involved in farming.

“We walked around the neighbourhood and loved what they did and Maddy said, ‘Let’s buy it.’ So then one thing kind of led to another and in six months we were farming,” recalls Evans. “Initially, it was like a whirlwind, and I don’t know that I had really thought that much about why I was going to do it, other than I knew I wanted to work with the land.”

Valuation of the business was based on its annual income as well as goodwill built up with homeowners and subscribers to the CSA. A small loan was taken to finance the purchase.

“We essentially bought an existing CSA program and the relationships with the homeowners, and all the work that’s gone into rebuilding the soil on the sites. Like an existing farm, essentially,” says Clerk. “I guess we could have gone to work for another farmer and gotten experience that way, but for me, I’m definitely an entrepreneurial spirit, so being able to have a small business was exciting.”

The two have non-farm jobs in the winter; Evans handles various contract roles while Clerk is a financial analyst with an adventure-wear company. The work allows them to carry the small loan secured to buy the business. It’s almost paid off, and the farm itself is profitable (“a very modest income,” Clerk emphasizes), with CSA subscriptions having increased to 82 from 50 in 2016.

But it’s also nearing capacity.

“We get emails on a weekly basis saying, ‘I have this property. I want it turned over. How can I be part of what you do?’” says Evans. “We cannot take on any more now that our labour is totally maxed out, but I think there’s room for multiple other businesses to exist, like ours or similar to ours, in this city.”

Regarding their own futures, they’re not ready to sell. In fact, they recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to raise $18,000 towards a solar-powered trailer that triples as a wash station, cooler and pop-up market stall.

“We’re just really focused on doing what we’re doing well and letting things happen naturally,” says Clerk. “Maybe we don’t want to be urban farmers forever, but it’s a really excellent starting point.”

“I stay because it’s the work I really love to do,” adds Evans. “I don’t think I’ll stay in the city for 10 more years doing it, but I want to farm for 20 or 30 more years.”

 

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