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Originally published:

MAY 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 5

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Stories In This Edition

Water licence angst

Green gold

Pandemic puts pinch on finances

Province to lift restrictions on second homes

Editorial: On the level

Back 40: Asian giant hornets aren’t welcome here

OpEd: Proposed meat regs a step in the right direction

Province plans pilot for new drought ratings

Sidebar: Universal

High snowpack limits drought

Jack Frost nips potential for huge cherry crop

Ag Briefs: Dog attacks put sheep producers on alert

Ag Briefs: Poultry scholarship established

Ag Briefs: BC Tree Fruits extends CEO contract

Letters: Build soil with carbon tax

Funding revived for local gov’t agriculture plans

Sidebar: Mission expands definition of accessory use agriculture

Record funding flowed through IAFBC last year

Lotsa tomatoes

AgSafe embraces new governance structure at AGM

ALR exclusion fails to win ag committee support

BC dairy industry sees steady demand

Dairy producers work to resolve quality issues

Tree fruit consultations off to flying start

Canada holds off Asian giant hornet restructions

Strawberry groewrs eye new varieties

Funding stopped up for raspberry replant

Beekeepers welcome technology transfer program

Island couple step up to revive local abattoir

Tech crucial to speed variety development

Research: Urban farms can contribute to food security

Building soil structure with organic compost

Locally grown asparagus fills a niche market

BC propagator awarded research grant

Understanding the methodology to farm financing

Seed bank continues legacy of seed-savers

New owners to extend Woodside Farm’s legacy

Ruckle Farm looks toward the future

Farm Story: Spring deliveries inspire the urge to get farming

Farmer-chef connections still paying off

Woodshed: Henderson between a rock and a hard place

Pandemic forces BC agricultural fairs to adapt

Jude’s Kitchen: Herbs & sprouts

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4 days ago

A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural Land Commission hosted in Langley Monday night regarding a proposal to include 305 acres controlled by the federal government in the Agricultural Land Reserve. More than 76,000 people have signed an online petition asking municipal and provincial governments to protect the land from development, and for the federal government to grant a long-term lease to the Heppells. Read more in this morning's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. conta.cc/3XYXw6k ... See MoreSee Less

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Your weekly farm news update

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The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 January 25 2023 Surrey ALR inclusion cheered A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural L
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Mike Manion Pitt Meadows City Councillor

1 month ago

Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand this season and prices remain comparable to last year. But the number of tree farms has decreased dramatically over the past five years and the province will increasingly need to look elsewhere if it wants to meet local demand. More in this week's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. ... See MoreSee Less

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Christmas trees in demand

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Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand, with high quality trees making it to market. “The market is good. We’ll probably outdo last year and last year was one of our best years…
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2 months ago

Another four poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley have tested positive for avian influenza over the weekend -- 15 in the last week alone. There are 60 farms currently under quarantine in BC, more than any other province in Canada and three times that of Alberta, which ranks second. Officials maintain the virus is being spread by dust and groundwater and not farm-to-farm transmission. No farms in the Interior have tested positive this fall. ... See MoreSee Less

Another four poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley have tested positive for avian influenza over the weekend -- 15 in the last week alone. There are 60 farms currently under quarantine in BC, more than any other province in Canada and three times that of Alberta, which ranks second. Officials maintain the virus is being spread by dust and groundwater and not farm-to-farm transmission. No farms in the Interior have tested positive this fall.
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Avian influenza virus can be killed by chlorine at no higher a concentration than is present in drinking water, so unless farms are using untreated groundwater in their barns I don't see how it could be a source of transmission. www.researchgate.net/publication/5594208_Chlorine_Inactivation_of_Highly_Pathogenic_Avian_Influen...

2 months ago

In a surprise move, Lana Popham -- hailed at the recent BC Dairy Industry Conference as a key ally of the agriculture sector -- has been replaced by Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis as part of a cabinet overhaul today by new BC premier David Eby. Popham will now oversee Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. The two ministers worked closely together following the atmospheric river events last fall. ... See MoreSee Less

In a surprise move, Lana Popham -- hailed at the recent BC Dairy Industry Conference as a key ally of the agriculture sector -- has been replaced by Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis as part of a cabinet overhaul today by new BC premier David Eby. Popham will now oversee Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. The two ministers worked closely together following the atmospheric river events last fall.Image attachment
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Goes to show how far-removed our current government is from the agricultural sector. To put someone in this position who has no farming background is a slap in the face to all of our hard-working producers.

Going to be a heck of a learning curve. Helping the agricultural community recover from the biggest natural disasters in history, handling the avian influenza outbreak that is threatening our poultry industry, dealing with a crisis in meat processing, managing ongoing threats from climate change, supporting producers who are facing unprecedented inflation in an industry with very slim margins to begin with..... to name a few of the challenges our new Minister will have to face all with one of the lowest budgets of any ministry. I wish her the best of luck but I hope she's got a lot of support around her.

Best of wishes in your new position

Congrats to Pam, cool to see a Fraser Valley based ag minister but also so sad to see Lana reassigned . I have no doubt she will do an amazing job in her new role.

Will be missed by #meiernation

Bryce Rashleigh

Nooooooo!

Lana did a shit job and now we have a minister with no farming background at all. Aren’t we lucky..

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2 months ago

The scale of this year's avian flu outbreak now rivals the massive outbreak of 2004. An additional 13 commercial farms in the Fraser Valley have tested positive in the last week. To date, 49 commercial farms and 1.2 million birds have been impacted. CFIA is struggling to keep up with depopulation of sick birds. ... See MoreSee Less

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AI outbreak rivals 2004

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The scale of this year’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza now rivals the massive outbreak of 2004 that saw farms throughout the Fraser Valley depopulated. An additional 13 commercial…
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Commercial operations need to reevaluate their stocking densities and overall health and welfare of the animals within their systems if they are ever going to have a fighting chance against this virus.

Yup cause food shortage

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Farmer-chef connections still paying off

Postponed during the pandemic, producers are still reaping benefits

Matt L’Heureux and his family raise and sell organic beef from 1,200 acres that make up Aurora View Farms in Prince George. He’s one of several livestock producers who credit the BC agriculture ministry’s Every Chef Needs a Farmer event with helping them expand their sales networks. SUBMITTED

May 1, 2021 byKate Ayers

FORT STEELE – The province’s showcase of local food producers has been on hold during the pandemic, but the first two Every Chef Needs a Farmer, Every Farmer Needs a Chef events continue to repay attendees.

Held in 2018 and 2019, the conferences attracted a total of 500 farmers, chefs and food service professionals from across the province to Vancouver for presentations, panel discussions and networking, including Tyler and Sacha McNaughton of Cutter Ranch in Fort Steele.

The couple chose to focus on direct-to-consumer sales because it was a way to ensure the quality of the product reaching consumers, and consumer connections with ranching.

“We wanted to have an outdoor-based operation … to start this first-generation farm business and get consumers back in contact with producers and know how their food is produced,” says Sacha.

In the beginning, the McNaughtons had a simple marketing strategy – leave no stone unturned. They reached out to friends, family and their direct network to generate sales. But they now supply restaurants and niche grocery stores with their products, too.

“We took the small-scale model and built it into something that has scalability and can service more consumers on a year-round basis,” says Sacha.

“As we built up the sheep, beef and pork herds, we could start servicing larger customers. … It’s old-time selling. You knock on doors, make calls and network however you can,” says Tyler.

They continue to develop new markets. Every Chef Needs a Farmer helps facilitate this process by bringing members of the entire food supply chain together. Attending the 2019 event helped the McNaughtons make valuable connections.

“We had never experienced a tradeshow like that before, with buyers and sellers in one room. We have been to industrial events that were … targeted towards higher-level industry (stakeholders) and we didn’t really fit in,” says Tyler.

Every Chef Needs a Farmer was welcoming and applicable to their business.

“We need more (collaboration of stakeholders) in this province. You get a great sense of satisfaction from growing your own products, but you also need a platform to sell them on and the industry to back them up,” Tyler explains. “To have that event for our industry, in concert with the larger-scale industry events, it is the perfect complement to further food production in this province.”

Worthwhile networking

Matt L’Heureux of Aurora View Farms Ltd. in Prince George, agrees that local support and networking are impactful.

He and his family manage 1,200 acres of certified organic land and sell organic beef. In 2018, Matt and his wife Liz gathered ideas from Every Chef Needs a Farmer and made business connections. The following year, the couple presented on the success of those connections.

As a farmer, building relationships with restaurant owners for meat sales is challenging because chefs want one cut, L’Heureux says.

“That is a hard go for us,” he says. “(But) I think people are a bit more concerned about the food supply chain since the pandemic started and there definitely is a push to eat locally. Buy BC and Every Chef Needs a Farmer help promote that (movement).”

While last year’s event was cancelled due to COVID-19 safety protocols, an event this year is possible.

“We won’t be hosting an in-person ECNF event but are currently looking into how we could host a similar and perhaps smaller event virtually,” says Andrea Hoerger, senior manager of domestic market development with the  BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.

The province is also planning its annual Buy BC: Eat Drink Local campaign this summer in partnership with the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association.

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