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Originally published:

AUGUST 2020
Vol. 105 Issue 8

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Stories In This Edition

Master of Vine

Second farm locked down

COVID-19 darkens sales outlook

Initiative takes aim at invasive Asian hornets

Editorial: Relax, rethnk, reset

Back 40: A fire prevention and response plan is crucial

OpEd: Food priorities need to focus on the basics

BC berries face mixed outlook this season

Pandemic puts the squeeze on blueberry growers

U-picks popular as consumers seek outdoor activities

Cosures underscore need for licensing reform

Small-lot farmers  call for greater infrastructure

Ag Briefs: Milk production adjusted to meet demand

Ag Briefs: Former minister of agriculture Ed Conroy dies

Ag Briefs: Paton introduces artisan food bill in legislature

Ag Briefs: Milk board takes out recall insurance

Vancouver Island hazelnut plans focus on growth

Hazelnut replant program enters home stretch

Agrologists unveil new designation

Woodjam Ranch honoured for sustainability

Outlook cautiously optimistic for fall run

Sidebar: Set-aside program easing backlog

Research: Managing crop residue to increase soil health

Inaugural viticulturist of the year chosen

Shuswap couple sees future in elderberries

Research farm grows in the Garden City

New crops could join greenhouse association

Garlic time

Farm Story: Summertime road trips

4-H auctions steer toward online formula

Woodshed: Kenneth takes social distancing up a level

Consumers are responding to transparency

Rain-be-gone

Jude’s Kitchen: Outdoor appies while keeping your distance

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1 month ago

The province has extended the Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security Program deadline from June 1 to Aug. 31. The program helps farmers cover uninsured expenses caused by damages in the November 2021 floods, including cleanup, repair and restoration of land, barns and animal shelters, and water and waste systems; returning flood-affected land and buildings to a safe state for agricultural production; repairing uninsurable essential farm infrastructure; repairing structures such as livestock-containment fences; renting temporary production facilities; installing drainage ditches and land-stabilization materials; animal welfare activities such as replacing feed, transporting livestock, veterinary care and mortality disposal; and
replacing perennial plants not grown for sale. Program criteria and application forms are available online: buff.ly/3sVRF4G
... See MoreSee Less

The province has extended the Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security Program deadline from June 1 to Aug. 31. The program helps farmers cover uninsured expenses caused by damages in the November 2021 floods, including cleanup, repair and restoration of land, barns and animal shelters, and water and waste systems; returning flood-affected land and buildings to a safe state for agricultural production;  repairing uninsurable essential farm infrastructure; repairing structures such as livestock-containment fences; renting temporary production facilities; installing drainage ditches and land-stabilization materials; animal welfare activities such as replacing feed, transporting livestock, veterinary care and mortality disposal; and
replacing perennial plants not grown for sale. Program criteria and application forms are available online: https://buff.ly/3sVRF4G
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1 month 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 months 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 months 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?

2 months 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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Food priorities need to focus on the basics

Shorter, local supply chains make for resilient food systems

The BC Ministry of Agriculture needs to double extension services, with agrologists, agri-tech experts and other advisors who will get to know farmers and processors on site and connect them with useful resources. Photo / File

August 1, 2020 byKathleen Gibson

People working on sustainability have been talking for years about a tipping point. This may well be the year we’ve reached it.

A mortal threat to human health – COVID-19 – has disrupted the global status quo and will condition everything we do from now on, at least until we have an effective treatment or vaccine. The pandemic joins with the widening effects of climate change and significant social inequality. We can’t go back to the way things were.

Amid the challenges and uncertainties, few matters are more immediate or important than food. The pandemic spotlight has picked out significant weaknesses in long, complex, just-in-time supply chains where food passes through many hands. A few very large companies own key links in those chains, and we’ve realized how dangerously fragile big and concentrated operations are. We have also realized that the many hands that make the chains work are essential, and require appropriate compensation, good working and living conditions and access to health care.

The good news is that food providers and the people of BC are demonstrating adaptability and resilience. And there are many hands and minds willing to help and think our way forward.

The farmers, fishers, food businesses and organizations in BC are engaged. When our restaurants closed and everyone began to cook more at home, retail markets adapted and farmers shifted their planting, marketing plans and sales channels. Smaller processors picked up some of the slack from the big players. Distributors helped re-route product from farms to consumers. Farm and food businesses added or improved online capabilities. To the people immediately involved it probably felt – and may still feel – like daily scrambling, but food has kept growing and moving, and that is a significant achievement.

Missing the mark

In this context, the BC government’s 2019-20 Economic Plan, Emerging Economy Task Force Report and Food Security Task Force Report – conceived pre-pandemic and promoting the theme of BC becoming a world leader in agri-tech and innovation – miss the mark. More relevant are pandemic-informed reports such as the European Commission’s From Farm to Fork, the Green Technology Education Centre’s Rebuilding BC: A Portfolio of Possibilities or the First Nations Health Authority’s Planning for Food Security: a Toolkit for the COVID-19 Pandemic.

There is general agreement that putting more emphasis on closer, shorter supply chains is a good idea because they provide resilience against shocks and stressors. There is also a focus on reducing waste along the chain, which can include the development of new products. If we want robust BC supply chains, here are some suggestions for how a few key organizations could take action:

  • BC Ministry of Agriculture: Double extension services, with agrologists, agri-tech experts and other advisors who will get to know farmers and processors on site and connect them with useful resources.
  • Universities and colleges: Provide resources that help solve supply chain problems. Pick an area, build relationships, stay with it. A livestock example is the Niche Meat Processors Assistance Network, an information and problem-solving hub operated by extension personnel at Oregon State University.
  • Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC: Lean into the possibilities of (re)developing products from existing supply chains and repurposing waste. Livestock examples include fleece, wool and hides.
  • Food policy councils and local governments: Provide coordination, something no supply chain can do without. This goes to facilitation, contract development and management, logistics, scheduling and more. Unpaid coordinators tend to burn out, and then supply chains crack or break.
  • The Premier: Find a way to insert food into the mandate of every ministry. This can support and reinforce agriculture’s efforts. The BC Ministry of Health’s definition of food security as a “key determinant of health” has proven beneficial. The education minister could make food a key topic for food literacy and citizenship.

Overall, the key resilience variable and hallmark of sustainable food systems is diversity: in seeds, crops, livestock breeds, land and water use practices, business models, not to mention points of view at the table.

These remarks are based on a post-tipping point assumption that our food providers are now in survival mode and we need to reinforce basics. No shiny things, no promises here about making BC a world leader.

Technology has many important and useful roles, but it should be understood as a means to an end, not an end in itself. Provincial reports such as those cited above mistakenly emphasize technical solutions for what is really an enormous adaptive challenge. While these reports were being published, farmers, fishers and food businesses were improvising and innovating like never before. When it comes to charting a path forward, the pandemic has reminded us to listen to them – when they come up for air.

Kathleen Gibson is a policy analyst and founding member of the Capital Region Food and Agriculture Initiatives Roundtable (CR-FAIR), the BC Food Systems Network and Food Secure Canada. Between 2005 and 2012, she assisted with industry’s adaptation to the Meat Inspection Regulation and introduction of BC’s graduated slaughter licensing system.

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