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Originally published:

February 2018
Vol. 104 Issue 2

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Stories In This Edition

Province launches ALR review

You lookin’ at me

Ambrosia royalties disputed

BC municipalities tackle farmland housing

Editorial: Love and money

Back 40: It’s time for farmers to speak up

Op-Ed: More workers needed to meet local demand

Ag waste regulation needs united front

Milk production catching up to demand

FIRB appointment comes ahead of busy year

Cottage dairy diversifies with milk dispensing system

Wildfire recovery underpins growing range of programs

Cowichan goats inspire global ambitions

Worker housing issue hinges on collaboration

Growers should file early, file complete

Disaster assistance

BCAC public trust manager steps down

Sidebar: Are you smarter than a 10th grader

Koski steps in at Investment Ag

Farmers keen to make land connections

Courtenay co-op seeks community investment

Backers flock to support sheep farm

Okanagan Spirits focuses on innovation

Research supports year-round starling traps

Feedback sought on water regs

New food guide demands changes in marketing meat

Cattle production expected to rise in 2018

Cattle production expected to rise in 2018

Affordable workshops for new farmers

Dreams become udder reality

Sheep federation charting new future

Growers watching stink bug’s spread

Research: How beavers will help improve cow digestion

Fly larvae offer sustainable alternative protein

Fish help balance greenhouse growing system

Island home to Canada’s top Highland breeder

Where good food comes from

Wannabe: Waste not, want not

Woodshed: When there is good-bad, and bad-bad

Jude’s Kitchen: Red & chocolatey

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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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Cowichan goats inspire global ambitions

February 1, 2018 byAllison Finnamore

Vancouver Island start-up aims to revolutionize mastitis diagnosis

DUNCAN – British Columbia goat farmer and cheesemaker Cory Spencer, his tech-savvy neighbour Damir Wallener and agricultural communications specialist Tamara Leigh have teamed up, formed a company and spent the latter part of 2017 participating in an international business accelerator program in New York City.

The concrete jungle of one of the world’s largest cities is a long way from the pristine vales of Cowichan Valley but the work of Spencer, Wallener and Leigh over the last several months resulted in bringing EIO Diagnostics’ udder health detection system to commercialization. Their product, a diagnostic scanner – either handheld for smaller dairies or mounted for farms with more cows – checks udder health and relays images to a screen where infections can be identified. EIO Diagnostics says its multispectral imaging detects udder health sooner and cheaper than other similar products. The diagnostic system is currently undergoing testing in several commercial cow and goat dairies on Vancouver Island.

The idea for the detection system came about like many agricultural-related inventions. Spencer, who operates The Happy Goat Cheese Company with his wife Kirsten Thorarinson, worked in technology and software development prior to farming. He had a problem with his 100-head goat herd and needed a cost-effective solution – so he created one.

“I had a goat with a particularly aggressive form of mastitis where, by the time I had caught it myself … and treated it, the udder was effectively dead,” he says. “It got me thinking, how can I apply my software background into something I could use myself on the farm. How can we develop a solution that’s much less expensive than what’s commercially available and that I can use?”

He explains that the diagnostics detect the thermal signature of the infection in the udder using computer algorithms which identify the mastitis patterns.

Idea with traction

The idea for commercialization gained traction when Spencer mentioned the idea to Wallener, who lives nearby. Wallener has managed multiple start-up cycles and positive business exits, has experience in product development and has an extensive hardware/software patent history. He says he immediately saw the commercialization potential of the diagnostic scanner and that belief has solidified over the past several months as part of the team to set up EIO Diagnostics.

“When we tell the story to the people that this is going to matter the most to, they get it and they want to get involved,” Wallener says. “From the very first farmer we spoke to, their eyes lit up and they said ‘yes!’ ”

It was Wallener as CEO of the company who led the charge in the business accelerator program in New York, Food-X. The investment company partners with early stage companies across the food supply chain and fast-tracks their growth with access to start-up capital, mentorship, networking, learning and an alumni network.

For EIO Diagnostics, Wallener says Food-X’s immersion into a learning atmosphere with fellow entrepreneurs, innovative thinkers and experienced business people as mentors was exciting and motivating. It also helped keep the company on track towards its initial goals.

“When we started at Food-X, we were literally weeks old. Food-X forced me to think through really carefully on how to get from being a very young company to being a focused company,” Wallener explains, pointing out that with so many possible applications for the diagnostic equipment, the experienced Food-X mentors reminded him to be disciplined at this early stage – polish the current product before expanding. The company did, however, decide to grow the current application beyond goats to include dairy cows and sheep.

Future potential

Looking ahead, Wallener sees growth and expansion for EIO Diagnostics. He says with half a billion dairy animals around the globe, “we want to be the diagnostic tool for each and every one of them.”

EIO Diagnostics is starting with Mexico and is already working to get the diagnostic equipment set up in the barns of some of the country’s largest dairies. The company is also drawn to sub-Saharan Africa, where the United Nations expects a population explosion as the world grows to nine billion people by 2050. Wallener points out that farmers in the region face some of the toughest production challenges in the world. Spencer agrees and says EIO Diagnostics may be able to help.

“There’s a lot potential to help out developing countries that don’t have either the knowledge or the community to detect mastitis or treat mastitis,” Spencer says. The scale of farming is vastly different from developed countries, and therefore the loss of a milk-producing animal has far greater impact.

“The dairies over there are not at the production levels they are here,” he says. “If you lose one animal, you lose production capacity. Here, it’s one out of 100 animals but there, it’s one out of six. That’s a big hit in the income of that particular farmer.”

Those big ideas are exactly what draws SOSV LLC to companies like EIO Diagnostics.

Shawn Broderick, a general partner with SOSV, says the company has US$300 million in assets under management and a staff of 80 who operate accelerators in the areas of hardware, software, biology, food, robotics, medical devices, transportation, green energy and more. Broderick was present during EIO Diagnostic’s three months in New York, working to help bring its idea to reality – and beyond.

“As venture-scale investors, we want to invest in people with big ideas,” Broderick says, looking at the UN’s forecasted population growth.

“How are we going to feed those people? We’re either going to have a radically enhanced food system or we’re going to have a mass starvation and hopefully, we’re not going to the latter. Things like EIO, where they can keep cows healthy, means they get better output,” Broderick states, and increased output means feeding more people.

The distance between the Cowichan Valley, midtown Manhattan and sub-Saharan Africa is vast, but EIO Diagnostics is working to draw the geographic points closer through sound business knowledge and a practical farming diagnostic application.

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