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Current Issue:

JANUARY 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 1

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Vancouver council has rejected a bid to subdivide some of its only land within the Agricultural Land Reserve. The 8-acre site at 7520 Balaclava Street is home to an unused horse paddock and the former Celtic Shipyards. Vancouver council chose not to forward the application to the Agricultural Land Commission because subdivision would create lots that were too small at a site with multiple environmental and geotechnical issues. The cultural significance of the site to the Musqueam First Nation was also a consideration. ... See MoreSee Less

3 days ago

Vancouver council has rejected a bid to subdivide some of its only land within the Agricultural Land Reserve. The 8-acre site at 7520 Balaclava Street is home to an unused horse paddock and the former Celtic Shipyards. Vancouver council chose not to forward the application to the Agricultural Land Commission because subdivision would create lots that were too small at a site with multiple environmental and geotechnical issues. The cultural significance of the site to the Musqueam First Nation was also a consideration.
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Let’s hope someone with an Ag vision buys the property..

Seasonal workers continue to benefit from BC’s acclaimed publicly funded quarantine program, which covers the cost of meals and accommodations for incoming foreign workers during their mandatory self-isolation period. To date this year, 14 incoming workers have tested positive for COVID-19, with nine remaining in isolation and five cleared to work on BC farms. "Through this program, we have been able to help preserve our province’s food supply by ensuring local food continues to be grown and harvested throughout the pandemic,” the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries told Country Life in BC. "The program is regarded as best practice by other jurisdictions and the province is continuing with the self-isolation program for 2021 without significant changes." Subscribe to Country Life in BC at buff.ly/2ReiFur ... See MoreSee Less

5 days ago

Seasonal workers continue to benefit from BC’s acclaimed publicly funded quarantine program, which covers the cost of meals and accommodations for incoming foreign workers during their mandatory self-isolation period. To date this year, 14 incoming workers have tested positive for COVID-19, with nine remaining in isolation and five cleared to work on BC farms. Through this program, we have been able to help preserve our province’s food supply by ensuring local food continues to be grown and harvested throughout the pandemic,” the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries told Country Life in BC. The program is regarded as best practice by other jurisdictions and the province is continuing with the self-isolation program for 2021 without significant changes. Subscribe to Country Life in BC at buff.ly/2ReiFur
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Federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has awarded $6 million to Vancouver-based Enterra Feed Corp. through the federal AgriInnovate program to develop a full-scale commercial facility north of Calgary for the production of insect-based feed ingredients. The new facility handles more than 130 tonnes of food waste per day and feeds it to the larvae of black soldier flies. The larvae are harvested and processed for use in feed products for poultry, pets and wild birds. The first of its kind in Canada, the facility ships products across North America as well as to the EU. Country Life in BC is the agricultural new source for BC's farmers and ranchers. ... See MoreSee Less

6 days ago

Federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has awarded $6 million to Vancouver-based Enterra Feed Corp. through the federal AgriInnovate program to develop a full-scale commercial facility north of Calgary for the production of insect-based feed ingredients. The new facility handles more than 130 tonnes of food waste per day and feeds it to the larvae of black soldier flies. The larvae are harvested and processed for use in feed products for poultry, pets and wild birds. The first of its kind in Canada, the facility ships products across North America as well as to the EU. Country Life in BC is the agricultural new source for BCs farmers and ranchers.
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Cammy Lockwood, great news for Enterra

CP Rail’s plans for a new logistics facility on 100 acres of farmland in Pitt Meadows is facing opposition from neighbours, who question the impact of the project on their community and local agriculture. Close to 100 residents questioned CP representatives in an online open house this week but received few definitive answers. The project is exempt from Agricultural Land Commission and local government approval. Results of a survey that closes today will be made public in March, with mitigation measures of the project provided this summer. Construction could begin in 2026 if federal authorities approve. Country Life in BC is the agricultural news source for BC's farmers and ranchers. buff.ly/2ReiFur ... See MoreSee Less

1 week ago

CP Rail’s plans for a new logistics facility on 100 acres of farmland in Pitt Meadows is facing opposition from neighbours, who question the impact of the project on their community and local agriculture. Close to 100 residents questioned CP representatives in an online open house this week but received few definitive answers. The project is exempt from Agricultural Land Commission and local government approval. Results of a survey that closes today will be made public in March, with mitigation measures of the project provided this summer. Construction could begin in 2026 if federal authorities approve. Country Life in BC is the agricultural news source for BCs farmers and ranchers. buff.ly/2ReiFur
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The BC Ministry of Agriculture has announced a new round of funding this week to support more community projects aimed at protecting the health and habitat of bees. The Bee BC program provides up to $5,000 to fund smaller-scale, community-based projects enhancing bee health throughout the province. Since launching in 2018, Bee BC has contributed almost $280,000 to 62 projects. The last round of 24 approved projects projects ranged from providing education in communities to planting bee-specific forage to using innovation and technology to help protect and ensure bee health in BC. The program is administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation. Check out the program guide for more information: buff.ly/3bCMzSW ... See MoreSee Less

1 week ago

The BC Ministry of Agriculture has announced a new round of funding this week to support more community projects aimed at protecting the health and habitat of bees. The Bee BC program provides up to $5,000 to fund smaller-scale, community-based projects enhancing bee health throughout the province. Since launching in 2018, Bee BC has contributed almost $280,000 to 62 projects. The last round of 24 approved projects projects ranged from providing education in communities to planting bee-specific forage to using innovation and technology to help protect and ensure bee health in BC. The program is administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation. Check out the program guide for more information: https://buff.ly/3bCMzSW
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CP Rail’s plans for extension cause concern

January 13, 2021 byPeter Mitham

Pitt Meadows could lose more than 100 acres of farmland if CP Rail gets the greenlight to expand its operations in the community.

Plans for the CP Logistics Park [cplogisticspark.ca] were unveiled in December following consultations with the municipality, Katzie First Nation and Vancouver Fraser Port Authority last summer. A public consultation on the project wraps up this week. The last of three open houses will be held tonight via videoconference and a survey of local opinion closes January 15.

“CP is proposing to construct a multi-modal, multi-commodity transload and logistics facility adjacent to its Vancouver Intermodal Facility in Pitt Meadows, to meet increased rail demand in Canada’s largest trade gateway,” the rail company says.

The project description outlines plans for 13 silos accommodating 15,600 tonnes of peas, lentils and beans (the equivalent of 147 train cars, or one unit train), an auto transload facility, and 11 tanks for holding ethanol and transportation fuels from Alberta and the US Midwest for distribution locally and overseas.

The project will occupy 101 acres south of Lougheed Highway. CP acquired the properties making up the site between 2012 and 2017. The land falls within the Agricultural Land Reserve. However, rights Ottawa granted to the company at its founding eliminate the need for it to file an exclusion application for railway expansion.

This concerns Shannon Roberts of Blooming Meadows, who operates a small-lot mixed farm with her sister near the proposed facility. She also worries about site safety, light pollution and the effect of particulate matter from site activities on her laying hens and field-grown cut flowers.

“A dirty flower is not a sellable flower,” she says, noting that hundreds of trucks will be needed to bring fill to the site, which sits on the floodplain adjacent to the Pitt River.

Preload will affect the water table in the area, which already suffers from drainage issues.

“I honestly don’t feel like I’m going to be able to farm my land,” she said. “I feel like it will be flooded.”

Similar concerns were raised when CP bought 58 acres of the site in 2012. Pitt Meadows, which is set to receive $4 million in property taxes each year from the proposed development, said at the time it was confident CP would work to mitigate drainage problems.

Agricultural Land Commission CEO Kim Grout, then director of operations for Pitt Meadows, told local media in 2012 that CP brings a long-term vision for its properties.

The commission is among the parties that intend to provide feedback on CP’s plans for the farmland.

Construction of the logistics facility is set to begin in 2026.

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