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Originally published:

MARCH 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 3

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Stories In This Edition

Province to make Premises ID law

A wee bit of green

No extension for groundwater

Pandemic trends a moving target as spring comes

Editorial: Safe and secure

Back 40: Making the most of a simple pleasure

Viewpoint: Regenerative agriculture is the way of the future

SlaughterRight training launched by ministry

Ottawa to bankroll foreign worker quarantine

Ag advocates honoured at virtual gala

Coping with adversity requires an open mind

Blueberry growers dodge US trade complaint

Open for business

Codling moth control strategy shows promise for SWD

Cherry growers continue to focus on export markets

Ministry prepares to lend support to tree fruit co-op

Delta farm entrepreneur built strong relationships

Dairy picks new entrant short list

Early advocate for farmworkers’ rights remembered

Markets consider allowing Alberta vendors

Ranchers plead with province to address elk issue

Sidebar: Fencing program protects hay

Falkland beef plant finetuning operations

District A sets ambitious agenda

Don’t underestimate scope of farmers institutes

Everlasting

Strict pandemic plan keeps workers safe

Growers face up to labour challenges

Time to tap

Sidebar: Housing key for SAWP workers

Tulip festival to bloom again in Spallumcheen

Hazelnut growers face increased disease, pest threats

Resources go online

Hope prevails as hazelnuts target expansion

Research: Wildfires influence pollinator offspring

Raspberry growers see improved IQF pricing

Raspberry researchers select for hardiness

Direct farm marketers prepared for new season

Sudden dieback now showing up in cherries

Viewpoint: Consumers need more than a Buy Local campaign

New framework to measure AITC outcomes

Farm News: Wishful thinkign for the winter that wasn’t

Ewe know it’s spring

Juiced up over local produce options

Peer groups help foster innovation, support

Sidebar: How to start

Sisters create website to help small producers

Woodshed: Divorce proceedings take off with a dog fight

Gardener pens book about mason bees

Jude’s Kitchen: Spring is coming

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1 day 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 weeks 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 weeks 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?

3 weeks 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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4 weeks ago

A second BC flock has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the province reported this evening, April 25. The small backyard flock of chicken and ducks near Kelowna has fewer than 100 birds and is relatively isolated. This is the second backyard flock to be suspected of high-path avian influenza in the past week. The other, on Vancouver Island, was found to be AI-free. Amanda Brittain, chief information officer with the BC Poultry Association’s emergency operations centre, says the latest case is of minimal concern to industry because there are no commercial flocks within 12km of the premises. ... See MoreSee Less

A second BC flock has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the province reported this evening, April 25. The small backyard flock of chicken and ducks near Kelowna has fewer than 100 birds and is relatively isolated. This is the second backyard flock to be suspected of high-path avian influenza in the past week. The other, on Vancouver Island, was found to be AI-free. Amanda Brittain, chief information officer with the BC Poultry Association’s emergency operations centre, says the latest case is of minimal concern to industry because there are no commercial flocks within 12km of the premises.
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Don’t underestimate scope of farmers institutes

Former District A leader urges institutes to exercise their rights under the act

Even though sales are slower during the winter months, Doug Haggerty keeps growing sprouts at his Oliver farm. He sells them and fresh multi-coloured carrots to high-end restaurants and delivers to Kelowna once a week. His business is called Fester's Peppers. MYRNA STARK LEADER

March 1, 2021 byRonda Payne

LANGLEY – BC farmers institutes have a direct line to government under the province’s Farmers and Women’s Institute Act, originally enacted in 1938.

Knowing what’s in the act is important if today’s institutes want to have a greater impact, says Janet Thony, who addressed the second annual general meeting of the Langley Farmers Institute on January 25.

Thony, president of the Coombs Farmers Institute and past president of the District A Farmers Institute, highlighted the three most important clauses in the act.

“Clause number three tells us what we do as an FI. It’s not just about agriculture,” she says, noting there are five objectives listed. “The first four support agriculture; the fifth option is the wildcard.”

Under the fifth clause, an institute may be formed “to promote home economics, public health, child welfare, education and better schools.”

“It allows us then legally to work on items that maybe otherwise we would not think we can,” she says. “We’ve taken that to heart and recognized that it allows us to get involved on all kinds of levels.”

For example, the Cobble Hill Farmers Institute runs a seniors lunch program, hosts social events and holds youth-focused seasonal events in addition to owning a community hall, fair grounds and running a successful fall fair.

“If folks perceive you to be relevant, inclusive, you have a practical application, you’re keen problem-solvers and you maintain a fun, kind atmosphere, then they will be drawn to participate,” says Thony.

Ensuring involvement and interest for the Coombs group has come through social media, attending events and traditional items like business cards, brochures and banners.

“We took a booth at the fall fair eight years ago. So many people didn’t know what an FI was,” she says. “We signed up 10 members that weekend and we educated a huge number of people.”

A lack of rigid rules defining membership in the Coombs Farmers Institute is something she feels has also helped it succeed.

“Every member that we’ve got has a connection of their own individuality to agriculture,” she explains. “That’s why we vet them personally prior, but just in a general polite conversation. They probably don’t even know they are being vetted. Everyone is growing food on some level.”

This differs from the Langley Farmers Institute, which has a mix of voting members who have farm status and non-voting members who don’t. Thony says this is a model used by other institutes. She cautions against narrow definitions for membership.

“There’s farming elitism and it exists,” she says. “It’s incredibly dangerous and it does hurt us all. There’s nothing in the act that says who can belong and who can’t.”

She says institutes that narrowed their eligibility criteria too far died from attrition. There is room for members who may not have a farm,” she explains, “but need help, that need mentorship, need advice, need support and education.”

Farmers institutes use clause 26 to speak directly to the ministry. Individual institutes have a representative on a district institute, then each district has representation on the provincial advisory board.

“There is no other agricultural advocacy group that has that,” she says, noting that representatives are also exempt from registering with the province as lobbyists.

“That, in my opinion, is where the power in FIs comes from. They can’t tell us to just go away… that we’re just a special interest group.”

The third clause Thony mentioned was 21, which enables government to give institutes allowances.

“It’s unfortunately been ignored by government for decades. I’ve asked the question, when did the grants to institutes stop, and I haven’t received the answer,” she says.

While government funding would be helpful, Thony gave recommendations that will improve the chance of success for institutes like Langley, which are looking for ideas to excel.

Reducing volunteer burnout is important to Thony and she says eliminating monthly meetings makes a difference. Coombs has only two meetings a year: a March AGM and a November recap meeting.

“We have standing committees, we have an executive board,” she says. “We do a ton of communicating, of course, by email and phone.”

While burnout isn’t currently an issue for the Langley institute, COVID-19 and other events in 2020 led to transitions.

Megan Dykeman successfully ran as MLA for Langley East, resulting in her departure as president. She was succeeded by Barb Pearson of Early Bird Family Farm.

“We got ourselves back together and feel that we are working at a great pace here to try to bring representation to the Langley area,” says Pearson.

She and John Caldarella of Caldarella Family Tree Farm will be part of the Langley Township farm task force and the institute will also be included in the township’s agricultural advisory and economic enhancement committee.

“We are going to have a voice directly to the township,” Pearson says.

Thony notes that involvement in local politics is important.

“If we don’t take the time to engage in stakeholder engagement opportunities that the government offers us, we’re the ones that have dropped the ball,” she says.

Above all, she suggests institutes focus on being visible and, if events are hosted, they should be fun, offer a key benefit and attract a variety of people.

“Develop signature events that are of interest to a broad spectrum of people,” she

says.

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