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Originally published:

AUGUST 2020
Vol. 105 Issue 8

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Stories In This Edition

Master of Vine

Second farm locked down

COVID-19 darkens sales outlook

Initiative takes aim at invasive Asian hornets

Editorial: Relax, rethnk, reset

Back 40: A fire prevention and response plan is crucial

OpEd: Food priorities need to focus on the basics

BC berries face mixed outlook this season

Pandemic puts the squeeze on blueberry growers

U-picks popular as consumers seek outdoor activities

Cosures underscore need for licensing reform

Small-lot farmers  call for greater infrastructure

Ag Briefs: Milk production adjusted to meet demand

Ag Briefs: Former minister of agriculture Ed Conroy dies

Ag Briefs: Paton introduces artisan food bill in legislature

Ag Briefs: Milk board takes out recall insurance

Vancouver Island hazelnut plans focus on growth

Hazelnut replant program enters home stretch

Agrologists unveil new designation

Woodjam Ranch honoured for sustainability

Outlook cautiously optimistic for fall run

Sidebar: Set-aside program easing backlog

Research: Managing crop residue to increase soil health

Inaugural viticulturist of the year chosen

Shuswap couple sees future in elderberries

Research farm grows in the Garden City

New crops could join greenhouse association

Garlic time

Farm Story: Summertime road trips

4-H auctions steer toward online formula

Woodshed: Kenneth takes social distancing up a level

Consumers are responding to transparency

Rain-be-gone

Jude’s Kitchen: Outdoor appies while keeping your distance

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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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Closures underscore need for licensing reform

Growing demand for local food demands a larger abattoir licensing vision

Lori Gillis has processed her final chicken at The Cluck Stops Here, another casualty of abattoir owners not being able to find new owners for their businesses as they reach retirement age. PHOTO / MYRNA STARK LEADER

August 1, 2020 byPeter Mitham

COOMBS – A year ago, Lori Gillis was sounding the alarm about the coming wave of retirements that threatened to drastically reduce meat processing capacity on Vancouver Island. She was 66, and had nearly 23 years’ experience under her belt.

“All the butchers – red and poultry – we’re all in the same sort of age group,” says Gillis, who runs The Cluck Stops Here, a licensed Class A poultry plant in Coombs. “We can’t last forever and no one is coming up behind us.”

She thought she might have another 18 months, or until the end of 2021 at the very latest, but then a long-time employee resigned, citing arthritis. Shortly afterwards, while working her garden, Gillis’ own hands stiffened and refused to cooperate with her.

“My hands can’t do it anymore,” she said. “But the demand is huge.”

Despite growing demand for her services from small-scale producers, which only seems to have increased in the wake of COVID-19 and greater interest in local food, she decided to close. She called the clients she could, and in July was handling the last few birds for the clients she couldn’t reach.

“It’s just tidying up now,” she said.

Al’s Feathers Be Gone in Port Alberni is taking on most of her clients, but Gillis says shops like hers filled an important niche. Her closure follows that of Plecas Meats in Nanaimo this spring, leaving 10 Class A abattoirs on Vancouver Island – five each  for red meat and poultry.

Changing times

Changing times mean the rules need to change to ensure the services of the smaller abattoirs that provided custom slaughter won’t be lost. Gillis says this requires more than an expansion of Class D licences, a move the province made in June to boost processing capacity in the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District as well as two other areas.

Class D abattoirs are geared to provide fresh meat on a regional basis but lack inspection, which limits distribution to within their home region. This supports local processing but caps the extent to which it can grow. Processors looking to expand need to have inspection services to facilitate access to larger markets, not just within their region.

Moreover, the demand for local slaughter capacity is outstripping the ability of smaller processors to accommodate it. A larger plant, such as Island Farmhouse Poultry in Duncan, has limited capacity to handle custom slaughter.

“The equipment that they use in an industrial plant is very fast,” says Gillis. “[But] it doesn’t hold the home-grown birds, which are much larger. … The little plants are so needed.”

Without a viable solution, she expects underground processing will increase. BC Ministry of Agriculture compliance and enforcement staff have opened 188 files related to the Meat Inspection Regulation since 2014. The files led to 21 illegal operations being shut down and at least six new abattoirs licensed as a result of compliance and enforcement activities.

Gillis herself was an underground operator before licensing in 2010.

“We had no trouble with going into the meat inspection system. It was just a smooth transition; we basically were operating like that anyway,” she says.

Incentives

The threat of fines – a last resort, says the province – and incentives to upgrade plants helped bring many operators into compliance at the time.

“They offered all kinds of government grants to help you switch over. That was a very good incentive – first the fine, and I didn’t want to lose my farm, and then the incentive to upgrade the buildings,” she says.

But now that the new licensing system has become established, it has to adapt to reflect current realities.

Changing times

“Times have changed,” she says. “There’s a whole switch in society in how we’re viewing food and our lives. … There seems to be a huge increase in people growing their own chickens. You could say, in a hard way, the system is archaic.”

One scenario she sees is a closer relationship between farmers and processors. She suggests a processing co-op where growers would contract with an abattoir operator for services. The need for closer relationships throughout the value chain is an idea supported by other industry groups, including the BC Association of Abattoirs.

Gillis also sees the need for training that addresses both the technical aspects of butchering animals, but also animal welfare and consumer concerns.

“We need something better than the D and the E licences,” she says. “[Farmers] will always butcher their meat; regulation is not going to stop them. … There should be a course for them, a certificate, and a yearly meeting.”

But training is in short supply.

Olds College in Alberta offers slaughter courses and occasional workshops focused on slaughter for personal use (the ministry says these are not a concern), but no formal, accredited training program in BC.

A series of workshops hosted by the BC Ministry of Agriculture and BC Breeder and Feeder Association last year focused on animal welfare/humane handling and slaughter hygiene at 10 locations throughout BC.

BC Association of Abattoirs executive director Nova Woodbury was one of the trainers – independent of her association work – and says the association supports training for all members of the slaughter industry

“BCAA is supportive of training of absolutely everybody who is involved with the slaughter of animals,” she says. “The better we are all at it, the better it is for the animals and the consumers.”

She looks forward to provincial training initiatives resuming as the province continues to reopen following the pandemic.

Catching her breath

Gillis, for her part, is taking a break from raising her own birds right now as she catches her breath, but she’s concerned about what awaits her next year. She’ll be just like any other small-lot producer at that point.

“We have the barn, we have the feeders and all that, but I’m going to need a place to take my birds to,” she exclaims. “So I’m quite curious. … It’s going to be interesting because I’m on the other end of the spectrum now.”

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