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Originally published:

September 2017
Vol. 103 Issue 9

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Stories In This Edition

Bleak

Rising from the ashes

Foreign ownership on radar

Local knowledge & premise ID earn creditibility

Political overhaul targets major issues

Back to the future

Back Forty: Support can’t come soon enough

Viewpoint: Smartphones dial up new green revolution

Govt orders review of contaminated acquifer

Ag waste regs coming

Perfect attendance

BC-Washington collaborate on water mgmt

BC leads in organic consumption

Bracing for second flight of armyworm

Budget funding starts flowoing for genomics work

The “S” Team

Ag ministers sign new funding framework

Supply management takes hit

Delta land swap yields benefits

Consolidation strengthens ALR exclusion bid

Salt Spring facility gets big boost from local donor

Corn rootworm infesting FV crops

Kelowna farmers’ market gives new location a try

Compensetion sought for Clinton backburn

Fall promises volatility in cattle markets

Cattle feeders face certain uncertainties

Shave Shower Shampoo

Strong showing for Hereford Bonanza

Grain research helps address shifting conditions

FV, N OK dairies win at Chilliwack

Research: Breeding cows to beat the heat

Kootenay program aims to revive extension expertise

Beet trials target “seed sovereignty”

New hop debuts

Washington lab holds opportunities for grain growers

Sheep dog trials make comeback

Bear kills cause grief for Island sheep producers

Get it in writing

Celebrating 100 years: Eaglet FI

Managing risks, seizing opportunities

Naturally rich soil, low inputs support Kelowna garden

In celebration of thse who buy local

Woodshed: Ashley exercises power of persuasion

Jude’s Kitchen: Back-to-it Bites

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4 days 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

1 month 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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2 months ago

The scale of this year's avian flu outbreak now rivals the massive outbreak of 2004. An additional 13 commercial farms in the Fraser Valley have tested positive in the last week. To date, 49 commercial farms and 1.2 million birds have been impacted. CFIA is struggling to keep up with depopulation of sick birds. ... See MoreSee Less

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AI outbreak rivals 2004

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The scale of this year’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza now rivals the massive outbreak of 2004 that saw farms throughout the Fraser Valley depopulated. An additional 13 commercial…
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Commercial operations need to reevaluate their stocking densities and overall health and welfare of the animals within their systems if they are ever going to have a fighting chance against this virus.

Yup cause food shortage

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Corn rootworm infesting Fraser Valley crops

September 1, 2017 byRonda Payne

ABBOTSFORD – BC farmers have been spared from the damaging effects of corn rootworm. That is, until last year, when the beetles were first discovered in sweet corn in the Fraser Valley.

BC Ministry of Agriculture entomologist Tracey Hueppelsheuser says damage from the pest can be substantial. Both the larvae and adult beetles cause damage.

“They call it the billion- dollar bug in the Midwest, so it’s significant,” she says.

Damage has been seen primarily in the central Fraser Valley on both sides of the river but Hueppelsheuser and others continue to be watchful throughout the province.

“[The beetles] have mandibles and they actually like pollen so they do seek out flowers and pollinating plant parts. They like silks of corn and they can actually prevent the cob fill in corn as a result of their feeding,” she notes.

“The other thing the beetles do is feed on the leaf tissues and they eat the top surface of the leaves, so all the green tissue, and then they just leave the outer bottom layer of the corn leaf,” she says. “The leaves start to look bleached and white.”

Dairy farmer Sid Stoker of Fraser Edge Farms in Deroche has the beetle in his forage corn but, fortunately, not in massive quantities.

“The guy who does my custom planting … he said, ‘we’re just checking the field to see who has it and who doesn’t,’” Stoker says. “All we had was the beetles. Didn’t see worms; it’s past that stage.”

He does have some of the bleaching in his field.

Hueppelsheuser notes beetles were first spotted in fields this summer on July 24. The pests’ appearance ramped up quickly after that. Some growers were able to spray but she feels late planting put the corn at greater risk.

“The first sprays went on in early August and would have been just one application in a few select fields,” she says. “Some corn would have been too tall to get the sprayer in.”

Hueppelsheuser says Sevin (carbaryl) is approved for corn rootworm.

“More significant damage is from the larvae, which occurs in June and July,” she says. “So we’re seeing the beetles now and it’s really obvious … but the larvae damage is now going to be something significant.”

Eggs of the beetle overwinter, then as they hatch in early to mid-June, they feed on corn roots, destroying the brace roots. This causes corn to tip, possibly grow upright after tipping, or look like it has been hit by drought. Fields have looked patchy, Hueppelsheuser says, depending upon where the greatest quantities of the pest are.

“Some growers are just trying to keep their corn watered and as vigorous as possible even though they know their roots have been compromised,” she says. “I think people are probably going to have to consider cutting their fields a bit earlier.”

The task will be to prevent potentially increased damage next season. The primary method of control is crop rotation.

“Corn is the primary host, though there can be some survival on some grass species … this beetle just really needs corn to survive,” Hueppelsheuser says.

“An excellent way to manage the corn rootworm is to not give them corn back in that field next year … The really weak link in this insect is that it’s really reliant on corn. Rotation is the number one and best tool for control of corn rootworm.”

If rotation is planned, a crop needs to be found to ensure tonnage for cows without corn. If rotation is impossible, traited corn is another option.

“The corn hybrids that they choose to grow [in the midwest] are ones that have the Bt genetics, so they make the corn toxic to the larvae,” she says. “I’ve talked to the corn seed dealers and they have pulled a little bit of the seed to growers who experienced challenges with corn rootworm last year and I’ve seen some of those fields and they look great. They’re clearly resistant to the beetles.”

She feels growers who experienced corn rootworm need to consider the hybrid varieties of corn seed.

“We probably will [rotate] for that reason,” Stoker says. “We’ll be looking into [traited corn] – at least there’s that option.”

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