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Originally published:

FEBRUARY 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 2

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Stories In This Edition

CPR on ALR Track

Sea of greens

Farm properties rising

Genomics lab expands service to local growers

Editorial: Put farmers first

Back 40: Knowing when to pull back on extensions

Viewpoint: A watershed moment for BC farms

Egg producer questions support for local eggs

Milk consumption up among young minorities

Nutrient recovery system in third phase

North Saanich approves Sandown proprosal

Tsartlip acquire Woodwyn Farm with provincial help

Woodwynn Farm was first known as Mawuec

Pandemic was profitable for nursery growers

Researcher brings experience to sweet role

Consultant delivered practical advice

Tributes pour in for Island farmer Colin Springford

On-farm abattoir approved for Alberni Valley

Plans for a provincial weather network move forward

Feedlots under pressure with kill instability

If you go out in the woods today …

Round bale bounty

CFIA services get a funding boost

Help available for farm business succession

Sidebar: Considering all the options

Diversification helps farms prepare for challenges

Creston advocacy group continues push for food hub

Frind matches his love of data with grape production

Greenhouse sets example for others to follow

On-farm food networks wire farms for success

OK irrigation systems have a long history

Pemberton family farms beer with deep roots

When life gives you lemons

Personal money strategy as important as farm stragegy

Farm Story: Winter brings the distractions of technology

Well-designed vegetable coolers make for hot sales

Woodshed: Janice Newberry sets the record straight

Research: Plants can recognize attacking herbivores

Jude’s Kitchen: Super simple

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7 days 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

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Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

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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...
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2 weeks 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

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

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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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Genomics lab expands service to local growers

Horticulture, livestock sectors benefit from high-level research

The expansion of Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Applied Genomics Centre in Surrey this spring will support researchers like hops breeder Mathias Schuetz in their work with local growers. PHOTO / KPU

February 2, 2021 byPeter Mitham

SURREY – The expansion of a life sciences lab at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey this spring will deliver a boost to cutting-edge agricultural research in the Fraser Valley.

KPU’s existing Applied Genomics Centre offers 750 square feet of space for various research projects focused on genetics, including a hops development program.

“One thing we found is that if you look across British Columbia, there’s not a lot of universities that are focused on agriculture. Most are focused on human health, for good reason,” says centre director Paul Adams, who identified the farm sector as a distinctive niche.

While a lot of companies could benefit from a better knowledge of livestock and crop genetics, Adams says most lack access to the tools and facilities needed to conduct high-level research.

“They just don’t have access, especially small [and] medium companies,” he says. “[We’re] helping them do research and development.”

Current projects include work with WestGen to identify bacteria responsible for mastitis in dairy cattle and develop a test individual farms can use. The lab also works with Bovitech and Semex to improve the health of cattle embryos beginning at the genetic level.

On the horticulture side, the lab has partnered with Van Belle Nursery Inc. in Abbotsford to conduct DNA fingerprinting of local hydrangeas. It is also working to analyze new hop selections as part of a breeding program for the local industry.

“The lab at KPU is a big help for us in the sense that they are able to provide us with all the chemical analysis,” says Peter Voogt of Green Flora Greenhouses Ltd. in Abbotsford, who runs trials of new selections and supplies hop growers with plants. “If we would have to farm all that out to a professional lab, it would be very costly.”

The expansion will add to the lab’s capabilities, while new funding promises to support staff salaries.

KPU allocated funding last year that will give researchers 2,400 square feet of space. The lab is also one of 16 projects shortlisted for a federal grant that could provide approximately $5 million in operating funds over the next five years. Together with $2 million worth of equipment grants from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and BC Knowledge Development Fund as well as $500,000 in industry funding, the lab will be in a stronger position to serve local growers.

“That will allow us to take what we’re doing and make it bigger and continue to build that out over the next five years,” says Adams.

KPU plant biologist Mathias Schuetz says the lab could cut the time needed to develop new hop varieties by about half. While it can take eight years of field trials to develop a promising new hop variety, the centre makes a three-year timeline realistic.

The first crosses were made in 2018 and 15 selections were planted out in 2019 in partnership with Green Flora, which has a half-acre dedicated to trials. The top performers were replanted in 2020 at Green Flora and Myrtle Meadows in Pemberton. Twenty of each selection were planted, providing enough hops for analysis. Those trials are set to continue this year.

The analysis takes place at the KPU lab.

“Their goal is to come up with new varieties that give unique flavours,” says Adams. “In the process of creating these new hops, they also want to create ones that grow better in our environment, that are less susceptible to some of the local diseases that are unique here to British Columbia. … We’re involved using genetics as well as chemical analysis to guide this process.”

Developing locally adapted hop varieties is important because most new varieties are the result of private breeding programs. Those programs typically patent the new varieties, limiting access.

This has prompted interest among BC growers in varieties the local industry can call its own and potentially offer for export. While some local researchers have investigated the potential of domesticating feral varieties, Schuetz is focusing on genetics obtained from the US Department of Agriculture’s breeding program. It’s publicly funded and makes its repository of genetic material available to researchers.

“We decided, let’s make a breeding program here,” says Schuetz. “Let’s build something here for our local industry, something that is value-added, that was developed here.”

Both government and industry, led by the BC Hop Growers Association, have rallied around the vision.

The research has already held plenty of surprises for Schuetz. While mildew resistance as well as oil content, aroma and flavour intensity are all important traits, one of the seedlings produced from the early crosses exhibited dwarfing characteristics. This is of interest to Schuetz because it could lead to the development of alternative production systems.

“We have big tall trellising systems,” he says. “Maybe there’d be a market for a dwarf variety that didn’t affect yield, [was] easier [to] harvest, less infrastructure costs.”

A successful selection also has to appeal brewers and consumers.

“It has to be something that brewers can use. It has to be something that allows them to make a unique beer style, or has a value-add to them,” says Schuetz. “They have to be easily growable, and have good yields and make financial sense for the farmer, and also have to be good for the consumer.”

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