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Originally published:

FEBRUARY 2020
Vol. 106 Issue 2

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Stories In This Edition

Perfect pruning

Open ears

Tough talk on animal activists

Peace, Cariboo top 2019 farm and ranch sales

Duckin’ a snow storm

Editorial: Change of heart

Back 40: Retirement is inevitable but less so for farmers

Viewpoint: Leading a decade of growth in organics

Banding together to attract domestic workers

Ag council helps avert seasonal worker delays

Dairy producers urged to polish public image

Snow day

New certification program launched for plant exporters

New executive director for COABC appointed

Ag Briefs: BC dairies push back on Class 7 proposal

Ag Briefs: Agri Innovation projects announced

Ag Briefs: Province selects Ruckle managers

Partnerships facilitate Langley learning farm

Feed BC program good in theory but has limitations

Opportunities and challenges

Halal demand rising in Western Canada

Trespass incident boosts public awareness

Sheep killings raise concerns in Lower Mainland

Pruning priorities different for FV grapegrowers

Farm plans offer new opportunities for rnachers

Number crunchers

Ranchers, foresters learn to share the road

Raise your claves so buyers play with a full deck

Boosting calf health starts before birth

Reseeding part of range restoration

Capacity crowd at Interior soils conference

Global blueberry growers look at substrate potential

Saving the peatlands

Blueberry breeding focuses on quality, exports

Research promises to help control SWD

Novel cherry trellising system saves money

Research: The effects of separating cows and calves

Farm News: Buckling down for winter conference season

Black walnuts are an option for water-logged land

Researcher provides deworming tips for sheep

Wasabi a hot option for wellness products

Technology key to tree fruit industry’s future

New broiler barn boosts comfort for birds

Woodshed Chronicles: Junkyard Frank’s plan is played to perfection

Give your marriage a relationship check-up

Bursary fund welcomes applications

Apple of your eye

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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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Farm plans offer new opportunities for ranchers

NOLA education day sheds light on EFPs, calf health, ecosystems

February 1, 2020 byTom Walker

VERNON – Winter weather chilled the turnout for the annual North Okanagan Livestock Association educational seminar in Vernon on January 15.

Just half the 80 people registered made it to the event.

“Some of our sponsors were not even able to make it,” says NOLA president Lani French. “The -20 temperatures and the poor road conditions kept people at home.”

Nevertheless, the show went on.

A networking lunch was followed by a screening of the film “Guardians of the Grasslands,” a short documentary on the vital role of cattle in conserving the ecosystem of the Prairies. The region’s grasslands are one of the most endangered ecosystems on earth, even more so than the Amazon rainforest. The film explains the importance of grazing, originally by bison and now by cattle, in sustaining the landscape’s health. It also explained the massive carbon sequestration role the grasslands provide.

While the film was shot in Alberta as a joint project between Ducks Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, French says the message also applies to BC grasslands.

“It’s a powerful film,” she says, tearing up.

Calf survival

Jeanette Perry from White Valley Veterinary Services in Lumby spoke about improving calf survival at birth, drawing on her experience teaching cattle medicine in Australia.

“Birth is a make or break time for cattle,” says Perry. “More than half of calf deaths occur in the first 24 hours.”

Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) regional advisor Pete Spencer gave an update on the program.

“Winter is the best time to get your environmental farm plan done,” he says. “Come April 1, when the program funding opens up, things get pretty crazy.”

Spencer is looking for new and interesting projects to fund this year. He notes there are 60 different areas the program supports.

“You can qualify for up to $70,000 cost-shared funding to improve your ranch sustainability,” he says.

Changes to the criteria for irrigation funding kept Spencer busy this past year.

“They have really opened up the requirements under irrigation,” says Spencer, noting that more commodities will be able to apply this year. “They have changed the awarding of project funding to a merit-based system.”

Applications are assessed on how using less water helps the environment.

“If you are saving water from the Kettle River, for example, you will be considered before someone who gets their water from a purveyor,” he explains.

Pivot irrigation systems have been a popular projects with program participants.

“Even though they are expensive, they save water,” says Spencer. “Pivots are a benefit, particularly when water is becoming more expensive and even running out in some areas.”

He adds that he is looking to work with BC Agriculture and Food Climate Action Initiative staff to develop a cost-benefit analysis for installing pivot systems.

Spencer points out that EFP pays producers for management plan development, including irrigation and nutrient management plans.

AEM Code support

EFP has a new work plan to support the Code of Practice for Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM Code) introduced last year, Spencer says. There is a basic amount of monitoring that is required for all operations that apply nutrients. Three high-risk locations require additional measures – areas with high rainfall, areas over vulnerable aquifers and phosphorus-affected areas.

“I don’t think the new regs are actually all that bad,” says Spencer. “I promote soil sampling anyway and the AEM Code says it must be done every three years.”

A summary document prepared by the BC Cattlemen’s Association is an excellent resource, Spencer notes. (It is available for viewing and download at [http://bit.do/BCCA-AEMCoP].)

The new dam safety plans the province requires can be costly if the dam is of significant size and potential consequence. Spencer recalls a rancher group that applied for EFP funding to assist with the development of a dam safety plan for their jointly owned dam.

“They shared the cost and, with funding, it was nearly free for them,” he says.

Shawn Wilson, a third-generation producer from Alberta, discussed some of the challenges in cattle industry markets as well as tips for a producer to increase the value of their animals at sale time.

“The best way to illustrate the cattle market is to look at a picture of a roller coaster,” says Wilson. “You need to know what works for your ranch program and have a plan.”

French notes there will not be an education seminar in 2021. NOLA will be focusing its energies on hosting the BC Cattlemen’s convention in Vernon.

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