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Originally published:

April 2019
Vol. 105 Issue 4

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Stories In This Edition

One province, one panel

Groundwater deadline extended

Happy as a pig!

Sidebar: Still waiting

Feds pour millions into tree fruit research

Sidebar: Will local procurement help?>

Editorial: Confined spaces

Back Forty: BC farmers need more than a land bank

Island Good campaign drives local sales

Poultry industry seeks to stop infighting

Good egg!

Egg farmers to receive biggest quota boost ever

New entrant focus

Decision day looms for chicken pricing appeal

Producers look to CanadaGAP for certification

Organic sector undertakes core review

Hopping to it!

Island couple named Outstanding Young Farmers

Turkey consumption continues to decline

BC potato growers enjoy a strong footing

Sudden tree fruit dieback a growing concern

Late season BC cherries in global demand

Farmers’ markets aim to be local food hubs

Field trial hopes to reduce phosphorus levels

Future looking bright for BC dairy producers

BC could benefit from US trade battles

Saputo puts its Courtenay plant out to pasture

The land of milk and salmon

Sidebar: Farming for the future

Out of the hands of BC farmers

Codes of practice need producer input

Preparation essential for wildfire response

Sidebar: Relief announced for drought, fire

Sidebar: Be FireSmart with these tips

New traceability regs to track movement

Agriculture a notable threat to species at risk

Improper pesticide use threatens access

Threat to neonics spurs scare in spud growers

Orchard presses forward with diversification

Climate-smart growing

Staying on top of soil health is key to sound farming

No small potatoes

Farm families need to have affairs in order

Rotary parlours go upscale at two FV dairies

Study compares organic, conventional diets

Advisory service foresees growing demand

Sidebar: Tree fruit cutbacks a concern

Island dairy producers hone first aid skills

Woodshed: And that’s how rumours get their teeth

Research farm showcases small projects

Jude’s Kitchen: Shooting stars of spring

 

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4 weeks 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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Codes of practice need producer input

Experts urge producers to show leadership on issues

Cattle

March 26, 2019 byBarbara Johnstone Grimmer

VICTORIA – BC SPCA hosted the first Canadian Animal Policy Symposium in Victoria on March 1, bringing together provincial policymakers and scientists from across Canada to share best practices in animal policy development.

Working collaboratively and proactively is key to crafting animal policy.

“The art of collaboration – Canadians do it really well,” summarizes UBC animal welfare professor Dan Weary. “We have a diversity in opinions, but an ability to get together in collegial discussions is a strength.”

BC agriculture minister Lana Popham opened the meeting announcing that livestock codes of practice developed by the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) would be incorporated within animal welfare regulations in BC. An order in council to this effect was signed February 28. The dairy code of practice was incorporated in 2015, but now all livestock are included.

A panel discussed how changing perspectives on animal welfare influences policymaking.

“Animals are often viewed as family members nowadays,” says BC chief veterinary officer Jane Pritchard. “There are societal advancements with different expectations for animal care, and there are more women veterinarians.”

Pritchard spoke about her personal sense of obligation to animals.

“Despite a wide-ranging career, I have always felt a responsibility as a veterinarian to bring animal welfare into the role, whether it was considered part of the position or not,” she says. “We also need to recognize the social value of animals – those that feed us, and our companions. And to consider cultural differences.”

NFACC general manager Jackie Wepruk said animal welfare policies shouldn’t be reactive.

“Moral outrage as a catalyst is not a good way to make policy,” she says. “A trigger event can open the floodgate and be an opportunity for change to happen. None of the codes were developed by moral outrage.”

The council brings together government, industry and the public in developing codes of practice, broadening the level of expertise and perspectives that shape policy. Wepruk describes the process as “diversity leading to better decision making.”

She believes social issues like animal welfare benefit from diverse viewpoints. It is a science-based approach, but the decision-making in the code process is not all science-based. The code process starts with a scientific review with input from the code committee, a report is developed then taken by the code committee to work on a consensus basis to form policy. The code process includes a robust public comment period.

“There is more buy-in with a collaborative, transparent approach,” says Weary.

Pritchard and the agriculture ministry’s senior policy analyst Terri Giacomazzi presented BC’s approach to animal welfare policy, which considers immediate and long-term actions through consultation with stakeholders. Giacomazzi highlighted the 2010 killing of sled dogs in Whistler as a classic example of moral outrage driving policy. The case triggered changes to the province’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act in 2011 and was followed by sled dog standards, set in 2012.

Pritchard spoke of the 2014 sting operation by Mercy for Animals that prompted dairy’s code of practice to be entrenched in provincial regulations in 2015.

“We have done a good job of responding to a crisis,” says Pritchard. “We want to be more preventative.”

Wepruk hopes a collective approach will prevail in shaping animal welfare policy in the future. However, she fears extreme marketing campaigns and the creation of silos as various groups seek the high ground to be “right.”

“Moral outrage has driven some policy in the past, and groups who rely on donations may advertise extreme animal welfare cases to cause change and increase their donations,” she says. “It is often based on heroes and villains, and it is hard to admit when we are wrong. Virtue signalling is through moral outrage, and I would like to see virtue signalling with people admitting they are wrong, being more open-minded, and collaborating for broader viewpoints.”

Most important, speakers feel livestock groups need to be engaged in the process.

“We haven’t created enough opportunities to allow producers to voice their own vision of where they want to go,” says Weary. “Industry needs to come up with a strong, progressive vision of where they want to be. They feel ‘hit over the head.’ They need to be engaged and they need to be leaders.”

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