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Originally published:

MAY 2020
Vol. 106 Issue 5

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Stories In This Edition

Rapid response

Worker health crisis

Spring melt floods Cariboo

Foreign Labour an essential service for fruit growers

Editorial: Watershed moments

Back Forty: COVID-19 will be a reality check for many

Viewpoint: Register now, question later to keep water rights

COVID-19 has varied impact on poultry sector

Social distancing

Honey producers keep focus on research

Beekeepers stung about import issues

Sidebar: Advocating for technology transfer

Farmland values facing headwinds

IAFBC defers major decisions

BCAC focuses on public trust with lower budget

AgSafe governance set for a shake-up

COVID-19 leads to oversupply of dairy

BC Fairs positive as large events banned

Peace growers facing multiple challenges

Co-op considers four-way fix at crossroads

Surprise audits to double

Co-op focuses on cutting costs, increasing sales

Volatility from plant shutdowns could hit BC

Island farmers renew request for local abattoir

Meat processing capacity stable despite closures

Direct marketing saves producers’ bacon

Small producers ride the online sales wave

Farm equipment dealers keep sale smoving

Strawberry growers pin survival on levies

Sidebar: Blueberry and raspberry AGMs postponed

Raspberry growers target fresh market, quality

Apple soda breaks ground in saturated market

Chilliwack family cracks open direct sales

EFB-resistant trees not out of the woods

Distillery shows resilience as it adapts to market

Home gardeners overwhelm seed companies

Sidebar: Commercial seed supply affected

Research: Viruses pursue unique strategies to evolve

Moisture sensors are not created equal

Woodshed: Kenneth gives new meaning to social isoluation

Farmers’ markets go online as channels shift

Farm Story: Pandemic forces a hard pivot to stay in the game

Cheesemaker adapts to coronavirus restrictions

Jude’s Kitchen: Stay-healty food in uneasy times

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1 week ago

The Great Spallumcheen Farm & Food Festival and North Okanagan Plowing Match is happening this Sunday, September 24 from 10-3 at Fieldstone Organics, 4851 Schubert Rd, Armstrong. The outdoor festival features tastings and a market brimming with local food and beverage vendors, a horse and tractor plowing competition and vintage farm equipment displays. ... See MoreSee Less

The Great Spallumcheen Farm & Food Festival and North Okanagan Plowing Match is happening this Sunday, September 24 from 10-3 at Fieldstone Organics, 4851 Schubert Rd, Armstrong. The outdoor festival features tastings and a market brimming with local food and beverage vendors, a horse and tractor plowing competition and vintage farm equipment displays.
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Patti 😊

2 weeks ago

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2 weeks ago

The top five issues the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity identified in a recent survey were the cost of food, inflation, the cost of energy, keeping healthy food affordable and the Canadian economy. “We are seeing that environmental concerns are not in the top 10,” says Amy Peck, manager of the Canadian Cattle Association’s public and stakeholder engagement program. “If you are concerned about being able to afford to feed your family, the environment becomes less important.” ... See MoreSee Less

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Ranchers get the backstory on public perception

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VERNON – Ranchers might be concerned about how the public sees their industry, but a producer-funded team at the Canadian Cattle Association has their back. Amy Peck, manager of the Canadian Cattle...
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2 weeks ago

BC Tree Fruit Co-op has sold its Lake Country packing house as part of its long-term plan to consolidate operations. The sale, to an undisclosed buyer, closed on August 31, 2023 for $15.8 million. ... See MoreSee Less

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Lake Country packing house sold

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BC Tree Fruit Co-op has sold its Lake Country packing house as part of its long-term plan to consolidate operations. The sale, to an undisclosed buyer, closed on August 31, 2023 for $15.8 million.
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Who bought it ffs ?

Ted Nedjelski Karen Turner

One of my first jobs was apple grading in a packing plant in Vernon

Vivian, is this where you worked?

I’d hear the company that owns the big Cannabis company that owns the green houses all around this packing plant was buying up everything around to expand. Wonder if it’s them that got it.

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2 weeks ago

The federal government has committed $1.81 million over the next three years to support the BC Poultry Association's preparation for direct participation in responses to future outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the province. “The persistence of the virus in wildlife and recurrence of outbreaks globally, presents additional risks during the migratory bird season in North America later in 2023,” the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Vancouver advised in July. For more, visit www.countrylifeinbc.com/ai-risk-rises-with-fall/ ... See MoreSee Less

The federal government has committed $1.81 million over the next three years to support the BC Poultry Associations preparation  for direct participation in responses to future outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the province. “The persistence of the virus in wildlife and recurrence of outbreaks globally, presents additional risks during the migratory bird season in North America later in 2023,” the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Vancouver advised in July. For more, visit https://www.countrylifeinbc.com/ai-risk-rises-with-fall/
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COVID-19 leads to oversupply of dairy

Organic market sees upturn

Enderby dairy farmer Michael Haak says it’s incredibly hard to see the milk his cows produce go down the drain. PHOTO / JACKIE PEARAse

May 1, 2020 byJackie Pearase

VANCOUVER – A series of unfortunate events has resulted in a slight downturn for the conventional dairy sector.

On March 19, the BC Milk Marketing Board implemented a series of incentive days for dairy producers in March, April and May after fluid milk sales at grocery stores increased 40% as consumers rushed to stock up in the face of COVID-19.

But the board cancelled the incentive days for April and May on March 31 as demand for cream fell off due to the widespread closure of restaurants and coffee shops. Starbucks, for example, announced March 20 it was closing most of its restaurants in Canada for at least two weeks; they remained closed at press time.

“That demand at grocery stores quickly came backwards. Not all the way back but it came back significantly. And on top of that, the [foodservice] sector essentially shut down,” explains BC Dairy Association general manager Jeremy Dunn.

With BC cows continuing to produce as much milk as before COVID-19 – and wildly altered buying patterns and resulting supply chain issues presenting unique challenges for the sector – producers were told to begin disposing milk on April 3.

“We’re only in a situation where about 3% of the daily milk production (in BC) is being disposed of on farms,” Dunn says. “We know the supply chain is adjusting rapidly. We are hopeful this will be a short-term situation.”

Down the drain

Enderby dairy farmer Michael Haak produces 3,000 litres of milk each day and the directive resulted in four days of hard work going down the drain.

“I was asked by our milk board to dispose of 12,000 litres,” he says. “It’s incredibly hard seeing a product we work so hard to produce not make it into the hands of British Columbians.”

Prior to milk being dumped, an industry-wide partnership led by the BCMMB allowed 10,000 four-litre jugs (40,000 litres) of milk to be donated to Food Banks BC on April 7.

Vedder Transport hauled the milk to dairy processor Saputo, which processed it, and distribution partners Sysco Canada, Associated Grocers and Save-on-Foods made sure Food Banks BC received it.

“When we have those abilities to adjust and we have excess milk and we have excess processing capacity, we’ll work to get that milk into food banks,” Dunn explains. “The last thing a farmer wants to do is to have to dispose of the milk on his farm.”

Additionally, the BCDA and the Mainland Milk Producers Association collectively donated $175,000 to Food Banks BC to purchase food staples that are in short supply.

Dunn says supply chain issues may have resulted in slower delivery times but he has been very vocal about the fact that there is no shortage of milk, meaning buying limits in stores aren’t there because there isn’t enough milk being produced.

“We communicated to government, we communicated through the Dairy Farmers of Canada, the Retail Council of Canada, the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers saying there’s lots of milk. Please take the signs down,” he said.

Most stores had taken down limits by Easter weekend as the supply chain began adjusting, resulting in an uptick in retail sales. As a result, the milk board rescinded the disposal order on April 14.

“There’s still an excess of cream, which has been repurposed for animal feed or into clean energy through an anaerobic digester,” notes Dunn.

COVID-19 has also resulted in staffing issues for at least one processor. Another on Vancouver Island had to switch from glass to cartons after stores’ refusal to take returns resulted in a shortage of the bottles, Dunn adds.

While conventional milk is tackling its issues, the organic milk sector is going strong.

The specialty product is more reliant on fluid milk sales so reduced foodservice demand has little had impact on sales. In fact, a 3% sleeve which allows producers to ship more milk without buying quota on March 31 continues, something Mara organic dairy farmer Quentin Bruns doesn’t think will last long.

“I kind of thought that during times of tight money that people would view organic milk as a luxury item and I thought we would be the ones to be hit,” he notes. ”I’m surprised by demand increase but not convinced it will stay strong over time.”

Dunn says the rapidly changing situation is being monitored closely across the world.

“It’s a national challenge; it’s an international challenge, really,” he says. “There’s milk being disposed of on farms in Wisconsin, throughout the United States and other countries in the world, including New Zealand. So this is not unique to British Columbia or even to Canada.”

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