• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Country Life In BC Logo

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915

  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Search

Primary Sidebar

Originally published:

JULY 2019
Vol. 105 Issue 7

Subscribe Now!

Sign up for free weekly FARM NEWS UPDATES

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Country Life in BC, 36 Dale Road, Enderby, BC, V0E1V4. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
Your information will not be
shared or sold ever

Stories In This Edition

Breakfast on the Farm

Province blinks on ALR

Berry grower hit with fines

BC hop industry matures despite challenges

Smaller than small

Back 40: The ups (and downs) of sustainable agriculture

Viewpoint: Debate over cannabis underscores challenges

Dry weather ushers in provincewide drought

Giant bee-killing hornet identified in Vancouver

Weather ideal for early start to strawberries

Fresh BC strawberries …

FIRB sides with K&M on annualized production

Pricing remains on ongoing issue for poultry sector

Tree fruit competitiveness funds start to flow

Farmers institute members discuss ALR changes

Dairy association seeks general manager

Sitting down on the job

Online platform gives food a second chance

Armyworm comes back for a second helping

Cannabis genes key to long-term success

Twenty years of ambassadors reunite

Policy shifts top ranchers’ list of concerns

Winner! Winner!

Clifton Ranch aims for better beef, habitat

Sidebar: Ranch operations

Treaties create uncertainty for range users

Market Musings: Summertime slowdown

Do you know a horse …

Grazing targets fire prevention, suppression

Kestrel nestbox project will help control starlings

Sterile moth program heads south of the border

Young farmers served a heaving helping of surf ‘n turf

Research: Welfare, reproduction a complex relationship

Variety trials showcase fresh options

Sweet potato has promise for BC growers

Headway made on organic SWD controls

My turn!

The fine art of raising commercial poultry

Winfield couple banks on organic growth

Woodshed: Plans hatch while Kenneth plays golf

Breakfast on the Farm has lessons for everyone

Jude’s Kitchen: Healthy choices

More Headlines

Follow us on Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

8 hours ago

Farmland Advantage is receiving a $445,000 grant from the federal government. The program, the “brainchild” of Invermere cattle rancher Dave Zehnder, provides compensation to farmers for their conservation efforts to protect BC’s grasslands, riparian areas and wildlife habitat. The funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada under the Species at Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands (SARPAL) and Priority Places programs, will be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas appeared in our March 2022 edition and you can view it at ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

buff.ly

INVERMERE – Farmers and ranchers in the Columbia Valley will continue to see rewards for taking action to conserve and enhance important riparian areas on their farms. The Windermere District Farmer...
View Comments
  • Likes: 0
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

5 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

Link thumbnail

Your weekly farm news update

web-extract.constantcontact.com

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
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

Mike Manion Pitt Meadows City Councillor

2 months 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

Link thumbnail

Christmas trees in demand

buff.ly

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…
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

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.
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 3
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

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
View Comments
  • Likes: 10
  • Shares: 8
  • Comments: 8

Comment on Facebook

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..

View more comments

Subscribe | Advertise

FIRB sides with K&M on annualized production

Board apologizes for lengthy delay in its decision following 2018 appeal

June 30, 2019 byDavid Schmidt

ABBOTSFORD—The BC Farm Industry Review Board has approved K&M Farms’ application to continue its practice of annualizing its production of pasture-reared chicken.

Annualized production means that instead of growing an equal amount of chicken each production cycle – five a year for roasters or seven for broilers – a grower’s yearly quota is grown in just three cycles.

K&M started its pasture-reared poultry business in Abbotsford in 2001. By 2005, its production had increased enough to warrant being named and regulated as a new entrant producer by the BC Chicken Marketing Board. However, the farm continued to produce its annual allocation (about 31,800 kgs) in just three cycles.

In 2017, the BCCMB offered all new entrant growers, including K&M, the opportunity to increase their quota to about 20,000 kgs per cycle (about 130,000 kgs per year). Additionally, a buy-one, get-one offer could further increase it to as much as 40,000 kgs per cycle.

K&M took advantage of the offer, agreeing both to build a new barn for the additional production and to produce it on the conventional seven-cycle basis. However, it insisted on maintaining its existing pasture-reared production on an annualized basis. The BCCMB rejected this, saying it would result in over and underproduction, which could lead to penalties from the Chicken Farmers of Canada. K&M appealed the board’s decision to FIRB, saying its pasture-reared poultry represents a tiny fraction of BC’s overall production and has not resulted in penalties in the past.

Although FIRB was critical of both sides, saying “both parties have been blind to each other’s objectives,” they sided with K&M, agreeing that K&M’s pasture-reared chicken is filling a niche in the BC market and unlikely to unduly impact the province’s production commitments.

It therefore approved K&M’s annualized production of pasture-reared chicken for 2018 and 2019 and demanded the board consider “a fulsome SAFETI (strategic, accountable, fair, effective, transparent and inclusive) analysis” of future requests by K&M to annualize its pasture-reared poultry production.

In a rare move, FIRB apologized for the long delay in making its decision. K&M filed its appeal in March 2018 but FIRB released its decision in mid-May 2019.

“The (FIRB) panel needs to acknowledge the role our delay in issuing these reasons has caused. The uncertainty around K&M’s production could and should have been resolved months ago.”

The acknowledgement is noteworthy since the three-person panel included both FIRB chair Peter Donkers and vice-chair Al Sakalauskas and could signal an intent to speed up decisions in future appeals.

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

FIRB poised to set live BC chicken prices – again

Previous Post: « Clifton Ranch aims for better beef, habitat
Next Post: BC hop industry matures despite challenges »

Reader Interactions

Copyright © 2023 Country Life in BC · All Rights Reserved