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Originally published:

DECEMBER 2022
Vol. 108 Issue 12

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Stories In This Edition

Ottawa dishes trade funds

I spy

New money for fruit growers

Regenerative ag tops Ag Days successes

Editorial: A winter’s tale

Back 40: Regenesis: the end of farming as we know it

Viewpoint: The challenges of BC ag industry advocacy

Senate report highlights the need for flood plans

More farms test postive for avian influenza

Ag Briefs: BC Turkey names executive director

Ag Briefs: Province rebrands short course

Ag Briefs: Growers Supply expands

Ag Briefs: Cattleliner accident

Economic outlook challenges farm margins

Farmer markets launch economic impact study

WALI delivers labour update to grapegrowers

Beekeepers abuzz about tech transfer program

New apple varieties may improve profits

UFV grows its berry research capacity

Bayer opens new canola seed production site

Island farmers identify challenges at summit

Consumer demand key to local food production

Comox Valley ag plan undergoes overhaul

Salt Spring Abattoir marks 10th anniversary

Ranchers undertake living lab project

Copper deficiency challenges BC bison productivity

Bison ranchers briefed on emergency protocols

SWBC hires a new program manager

Sidebar: How does certification benefit producers?

Better communcation markted wildfire season

Sidebar: Government extends extreme weather support

Retail partnerships add value to small farms’ production

Research: Researchers barcode bacteria to fight farting cattle

Young butchers make their mark

Farm Story: Shot nerves are the price of success this year

Reduced water use doesn’t hurt cherries

Woodshed: Kenneth explores the old Corbett farm

Family farm finds new markets by diversification

Jude’s Kitchen: Festive flatbreads, dips & spreads

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1 month ago

It’s been four years since the last tulip festival was held in Abbotsford, but this year’s event promises to be an even bigger spectacle than ever. Spanning 27 acres along Marion Road, Lakeland Flowers will display more than 70 varieties of the spring blossom, including fringe tulips and double tulips, the first of six months of flower festivals hosted by the farm. Writer Sandra Tretick spoke with Lakeland Flowers owner Nick Warmerdam this spring to find out how the floods on Sumas Prairie in 2021 have had an impact on his business plan as he transitions from wholesale cut flower grower to agri-tourism. We've posted the story to our website this month. It's a good read.

#CLBC #countrylifeinbc #tulipfestival
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Tulip grower makes the shift to agritourism

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ABBOTSFORD – On a bright sunny day in early April, Nick Warmerdam points out his office window at No. 4 and Marion roads to a spot about half a kilometre away across the Trans-Canada Highway.
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Omg 🥹 Jared Huston let’s go pls

1 month ago

Farming, like any other job.. only you punch in at age 5 and never punch out 🚜 ... See MoreSee Less

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Easton Roseboom Levi Roseboom🚜

1 month ago

The province is allocating $15 million to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. for a perennial crop replant program benefitting tree fruit, hazelnut, berry and grape growers. The program aims to cover 100% of plant removal costs and 75% of replanting costs. Funds are also available for sector development. The new program replaces a suite of sector-specific replant programs and recognizes the importance of sector adaptation in the face of market, disease and weather challenges. ... See MoreSee Less

The province is allocating $15 million to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. for a perennial crop replant program benefitting tree fruit, hazelnut, berry and grape growers. The program aims to cover 100% of plant removal costs and 75% of replanting costs. Funds are also available for sector development. The new program replaces a suite of sector-specific replant programs and recognizes the importance of sector adaptation in the face of market, disease and weather challenges.
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1 month ago

Just a week after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials revoked the last primary control zones established in the Fraser Valley to control last fall’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a new detection on April 29 at a commercial premises in Chilliwack underscored the risk of a spring wave. This is the first new detection since January 22, also in Chilliwack, and brings to 104 the number of premises affected since the current outbreak began April 13, 2022. The disease has impacted 3.7 million birds in BC over the past year. ... See MoreSee Less

Just a week after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials revoked the last primary control zones established in the Fraser Valley to control last fall’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a new detection on April 29 at a commercial premises in Chilliwack underscored the risk of a spring wave. This is the first new detection since January 22, also in Chilliwack, and brings to 104 the number of premises affected since the current outbreak began April 13, 2022. The disease has impacted 3.7 million birds in BC over the past year.
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Any other details for FVN and chillTV please? radiodon11@gmail.com

1 month ago

The province is contributing $3.2 million for upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station in Abbotsford that was overwhelmed during the November 2021 flooding on Sumas Prairie, part of a collaborative approach to flood mitigation in the region. During a press conference at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food offices in Abbotsford today, the province said a collaborative approach that includes First Nations is needed as Abbotsford pursues a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy due to the potential impacts on Indigenous lands. Agriculture's interests will be represented by technical teams within the agriculture ministry. ... See MoreSee Less

The province is contributing $3.2 million for upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station in Abbotsford that was overwhelmed during the November 2021 flooding on Sumas Prairie, part of a collaborative approach to flood mitigation in the region. During a press conference at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food offices in Abbotsford today, the province said a collaborative approach that includes First Nations is needed as Abbotsford pursues a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy due to the potential impacts on Indigenous lands. Agricultures interests will be represented by technical teams within the agriculture ministry.
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I sure hope part of that money is to educate the people in charge of the pumps and drainage system! They just relayed on computers and weren’t even physically monitoring the water levels. I’ve lived in the Fraser Valley my whole life and the old guys managing that system know how to do it. The new generation just sit behind computer screens and don’t physically watch the water levels. That system works very well when you do it right. The Fraser river levels are very important. The system is designed to drain the Sumas Canal (the part that runs thru the valley) into the Fraser. When they let it get backed up it put pressure on the dyke and the weak part burst. Simple science. And yes, the dykes need to be worked on too. Abbotsford has not been maintaining properly for years.

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Economic outlook challenges farm margins

Cost pressures remain in play for producers

Producers are being urged to have business risk management plans in place – whether to weather the latest storm or the possibility of an economic downturn. MYRNA STARK LEADER

December 1, 2022 byKate Ayers

CHILLIWACK – The Bank of Canada’s attempts to curb inflation with aggressive interest rate hikes has raised the potential for an economic downturn next year.

On November 4, the federal government published its fall economic statement, which pointed to several risks to the economic outlook. In the report’s “downside scenario,” Canada would enter a “mild recession” in the first quarter of 2023 and the real gross domestic product for the year would drop 0.9%.

“It would be good to have a government that actually had a plan to get out of the recession and we do not have a government that is in any way coming up with a plan,” says Chilliwack chicken grower Dennis Flokstra, Lower Mainland director with the BC Chicken Marketing Board.

He plans to sharpen his pencil even further next year to try to pay off as much debt as possible and cut costs, no small feat this winter given the high cost of energy needed to heat his barns.

“We run a pretty tight ship; I’m not even sure where we would give a little bit,” he says. “We still have to supply heat to the birds, and we still have to treat them as good as we can.”

The higher costs eventually get passed on to consumers, which will be affected “big time” as producers’ costs get passed along. He hopes the province will move ahead with changes to how it collects the carbon tax from growers, giving them a break up front rather than requiring them to apply for a rebate.

While Flokstra is wary of the impact interest rates may have on the industry, he’s confident farmers can ride out a potential recession.

Indeed, the outlook is positive for agriculture’s ability to handle and recover from an economic slowdown.

“Our expectation is that most farm families would weather a recessionary environment, perhaps better than some industries or people working in consumer goods or other retail-based business that are less immune to recessionary pressures,” says Royal Bank of Canada’s national director of agriculture Ryan Riese.

“The demand for farmers’ products may change, to some degree. But we are working largely with fairly inelastic products where consumers do need to eat.’

But a recession isn’t a sure thing. Farm Credit Canada vice-president and chief economist JP Gervais notes that a recession is typically defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth in GDP.

Canada could simply see zero economic growth in back-to-back quarters, for example, not negative growth. This means the situation wouldn’t be labeled a recession.

“I don’t think it’s an automatic outcome or an assured outcome that we will get a recession,” Gervais says.

If there is a recession, Gervais says “a very, very strong labour market” means consumer spending may be a minor consideration.

While higher interest rates are expected to slow down consumer purchases, wages increased 5.4% over the last year and Gervais says that could help offset the impacts of a slowing economy.

For producers, the impact of an economic downturn will depend on whether the recession happens solely in the Canadian economy or is widespread in the global economy.

“If it was just a recession in Canada, I don’t think the impacts would be significant for farmers,” Gervais says. But a global economic recession could mean lower profitability for producers who buy and sell commodities on the global market.

“If we look at most of the commodities grown on Canadian farms, a lot of those commodities are tied to some extent, and in a lot of cases, to a really large extent, to world demand,” Gervais says.

Poultry and dairy are influenced by domestic factors because of supply management, but beef, pork, grains and oilseeds, and fruits and vegetables are all tied to the global market.

“So, if the world economy slows, demand for these commodities is going to weaken. Weaker demand means lower prices,” Gervais says.

In addition to an uncertain economic climate, producers continue to face unpredictability in terms of fertilizer price and availability due to the war in Ukraine.

Wages will continue to climb, too, Gervais predicts. BC’s minimum wage increased to $15.65 per hour on June 1, and the province’s average annual inflation rate will guide any increase announced in 2023.

To help weather the storm of uncertainty, producers should have business risk management plans.

These plans consider how interest rates, inflation and commodity and input prices, for example, impact bottom line and financial risk, Gervais says.

But producers do not need to navigate these waters alone.

“Anytime something like this happens, it’s a good reminder to put the pen to paper and sit down with those other people who are integral to your operation and map out where you want to go with your future,” says Riese.

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