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Originally published:

January 2018
Vol. 104 Issue 1

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Stories In This Edition

Peace will be flooded

Groundwater fee postponed

Standing strong

Sidebar: New year, new treaty

No quick fix for contaminated acquifer

Editorial: Watershed moment

Back 40: To better times ahead: hope is in our DNA

OpEd: BC agriculture needs its foreign workers

Dairy production meeting quota increases

Holstein Breeders celebrate progressive year

National unity a concern for dairy farmers

Producers waiting on FIRB review

Challenges, changes face young farmers

Outstanding effort

Steele steps down as fruit growers’ president

Sidebar: BCFGA adopts new bylaws

Lettuce build

BC to bear brunt of food price increases in 2018

Risk assessment research gets funding boost

New year, new start

Profitability should be to the goal of marketing

Sidebar: Seven deadly sins of (just about any) marketing

Abbotsford hosts AgRefresh open houses

Labour elusive for nursery sector

Ag show celebrates 20 years and growing

Hort course the backbone of show

Sidebar: Public trust workshops

Dairy, innovation expos part of show

Expo starts with tours of diverse dairy operations

Forestry, forage co-exist at demonstration site

Opportunities for Cariboo grass-fed beef

Sustainable success

Sidebar: First grad for ranching program

OYF winners show a willingness to innovate

Research: Space program elevates pot

research to new high

Food recovery benefits livestock farmers

Sidebar: Alternative connections

New objectives come with new WestGen barn

Surrey business group recognizes ag leaders

Greenhouse safety protocols save the day

Goat farmers get behind new dairy association

Sidebar: Dairy goat owners learn from one another

Scrapie eradication possible with certification program

National EFP program still a work in progress

Cutting-edge technology could hold key to varroa mites

Sidebar: What is RNAi?

Community gaming grants open February 1

Wannabe Farmer: Overcoming obstacles

Sweet smell of success on just eight acres

Sidebar: Strength in numbers

Sidebar: Award-winning shift in business

Woodshed Chronicles: Henderson figures any

idiot can drive a tractor

Jude’s Kitchen: Pretty edible

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6 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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Goat farmers get behind new dairy association

January 1, 2018 byMyrna Stark Leader

United front needed as market for niche milk product grows

CHILLIWACK – Western Canada’s growing appetite for goat milk is sparking plans for a commercial dairy goat association.

The proposal was discussed at the annual meeting of representatives from the 14 farms across BC and Alberta that supply Happy Days Dairies Ltd. in Chilliwack, November 11.

Together, the farms milk more than 6,000 goats. The milk is processed at Happy Days plants in Chilliwack, Salmon Arm and Ponoka, Alberta. The annual meetings give producers a chance to discuss pricing, common challenges, see each other’s farms and contine learning from experts and each other.

“In 2008, we were facing a large over-production that [Happy Days] couldn’t finance on its own,” says Happy Days founder Donat Koller. “This triggered the first meeting with myself and all the farmers to find a solution to the problem and, ever since, we meet once a year to discuss issues.”

Koller says that as business operations became smoother, the meetings added an educational component to help producers build upon what had been accomplished.

Run by Koller, Happy Days began milking 70 goats in 1993 and processing the milk itself. Today, it’s the largest goat milk processor in Western Canada, processing 3.6 million litres in 2017 and on track for 3.8 million litres in 2018.

Goat milk has been increasing in popularity because it’s easier to digest for the lactose-intolerant and changing demographics mean Canada is home to more people who grew up with goats and are used to consuming the milk.

United front

The idea of a commercial dairy goat association for producers in BC and Alberta makes sense for the developing sector, says Merel Voth, who with her husband Barrie operates Hillside Dreams Goat Dairy near Salmon Arm.

The couple have raised dairy goats for four years and see a bright future for the sector. Barrie is an advocate of classification for dairy goats, which he believes is fundamental when establishing a well-rounded breeding program.

Similarly, a commercial dairy goat association would present a more credible image of producers as a unified group.

“They are all external indicators of strength,” explains Merel of the two initiatives.

Merel, 33, is a mother of two and a part-time social worker in addition to managing the farm. She birthed the association idea partly inspired by leadership at the October Women In Agriculture Conference in Niagara. Before the Happy Days meeting, she gauged interest by sending out a two-minute online survey. Responses were supportive.

“We have Alberta Goat and different goat associations but those groups tend to be geared toward hobby and lifestyle goat farmers,” she says. “They are not necessarily relevant to commercial dairy. We have different issues and different needs. I think it’s time for us to get up to par with others in the ag industry. If we want to have a united voice and we want to make an impact on the industry, we’re going to have to start hustling a bit.”

Once an association is formally constituted, Voth envisions a two-day annual meeting starting in 2018. The first day would be an association meeting with a business meeting on day two. She has secured $5,000 through the Growing Forward program under the BC Strategic Outreach Initiative Funding Program. The new association would be open to all commercial dairy goat farms in BC and Alberta.

The new association would also host webinars, a distance learning technology Voth is familiar with from her social work. The first is set for January 10. It will feature a two-hour session with Chris Clark, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, regarding disease management and biosecurity in relation to milking.

Broad support

Voth’s efforts have support from other producers.

“We’ve all been in meetings where everyone thinks it’s a tremendous idea but you still need one person to take the initiative to do it,” says Gerald Klok, a 150-dairy goat farmer and cash cropper from north of Lethbridge. “It’s nice to see Merel putting the effort into it because sometimes – we all know how farmers are – sometimes, we just need that little extra push.”

Koller has long encouraged producers to organize but as the processor, he couldn’t be the lead.

“I am very grateful that Merel started the process now. It always needs someone to go ahead. An association will give us a voice and might help get funding,” he says. “Eastern Canada dominates the goat industry and a western association will make us more involved.”

Tom Lesher, who with his wife Karen, milks 250 goats in Lacombe, Alberta in addition to operating a 3,000 head cattle feedlot, said the prospect of regular education sessions for producers is encouraging.

“If we get this set up, it will be an online forum where we can more readily interact with each other giving feedback and getting it as well. We just don’t have the experience that others have in eastern Canada or Holland or Israel where they have more goats,” he says. “We’re just learning.”

While she’s hopeful about the association, Voth is also realistic.

“Some people approached us to say they really want to move this forward. Other people said, ‘Oh, that’s a great idea,’ but it will be really interesting by the time we actually form an association with directors to see how many people are willing to step forward and do a job,” she says.

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