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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 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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Distillery shows resilience as it adapts to market

COVID-19 creates opportunity for Forbidden Spirits’ alcohol

May 1, 2020 byMyrna Stark Leader

KELOWNA – A retired accountant from Vancouver has given a mature orchard a new lease on life with a vodka that’s finding a niche in local and international markets.

Blair Wilson and his wife moved to southeast Kelowna about 10 years ago after several business ventures in Vancouver and a career in federal politics, including sitting as the Green Party of Canada’s first-ever MP. The couple settled on a 20-acre parcel that came with 6,000 Ambrosia and about 300 Spartan apple trees. Not one to relax, Wilson took up farming. The fruit was sold to BC Tree Fruits Co-op.

“I never realized how hard being a farmer is until then,” says Wilson, a self-proclaimed entrepreneur.

When he saw the returns he was getting for the fruit, he decided there must be another opportunity. He explored making cider but the cost of canning was prohibitive. Instead, he settled on vodka production after chatting with a copper still manufacturer at a whiskey conference in Seattle.

He hired a chemist to figure out the right components for a winning recipe, including a proprietary yeast. Wilson’s apples plus apple concentrate from Kelowna’s Sun-Rype juice plant now underpin two premium apple vodkas: Rebel, which is distilled 25 times, and Forbidden Spirits, distilled 50 times. Added distillations remove impurities and create a smoother-tasting end product.

“Typical vodkas tend to be distilled between three and 10 times,” he explains.

It takes about 25 pounds of apples make one 750-ml bottle of Rebel.

Wilson opened a production facility and tasting room in 2019 and recently received a lounge licence for a 75-seat outdoor patio. Additional tanks were added this spring to accommodate orders he’d been working hard to negotiate from the European Union and China.

“When you have a great-tasting, quality product that’s made in Canada, foreigners are willing to buy. They love the Canadian reputation of being safe and producing things that are safe, clean, and good for you, and that’s helped with marketing,” he says.

But exports demand attention to details quite different from the local market.

“Each country and even each port sometimes has different rules about importing alcohol,” says Wilson. “Navigating the continually shifting sands of economic politics and trade, like Brexit, also takes persistence and agility.”

On the plus side, he says a free trade agreement with Europe means products from Canada don’t face the 25% tariff that US products do. China’s palate for alcohol is also changing from sweeter to dryer, creating opportunities there as well. This spring, Wilson and his wife were booked to be part of a trade mission to South Korea organized by the BC government but it was cancelled due to COVID-19.

That’s not the only change in plans the distillery has faced this spring.

In April, Forbidden Spirits retooled its processing to meet an emerging demand brought about by COVID-19 for industrial-grade alcohol for hand sanitizer, joining the likes of Okanagan Spirits, Wise Acre Distillery and others across the province.

Wilson says the speed of the approval process for the switch amazed him. He put his application in with the federal government to produce alcohol for sanitizer one day and received a phone call from them the next.

“We have all the paperwork done and the licences and continue to work to source bottles, which is the common challenge. I’ve managed to find some in Kentucky,” he says.

Provincial regulations allow production through July 15.

With the new business model, including sanitizer give-away days for the public, Wilson hopes to at least break even without the usual tasting room traffic and overseas sales, both on hold due to COVID-19.

With an estimated daily production of 1,000 litres of sanitizer, he looks forward to rehiring staff laid off in early March when normal business halted. He’s thankful the federal government is providing a 75% subsidy for small business wages to help him make payroll and help cover interim carrying and operating costs during the crisis.

While they are still selling vodka locally, foreign orders are on hold, but there is vodka in tanks ready when the crisis passes.

Wilson is also working to put together a Canadian Craft Spirit Association, a national group that will lobby for changes to the $3.51 federal excise tax per bottle that craft distillers have to pay when producing limited quantities using local Canadian agriculture products.

 

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