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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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BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

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BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

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Congratulations!!!

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Congratulations Duncan and Jane Trott Barnett Well deserved recognition

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Congratulations to Duncan, Jane, and all the rest of the Barnett family!

Congratulations Duncan and Jane!!

Congratulations Jane and Ducan! Sandra Andresen Hawkins

Congratulations Jane & Duncan 🥳

Congratulation Duncan & Jane!!

Congratulations Jane Trott Barnett and Duncan!!!

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1 month ago

Grapegrower Colleen Ingram, who was recognized earlier this year as the 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association. “Given the devastation we have had over the last three years, I feel like this award should be given to the entire industry,” she says. Her story appears in the June edition of Country Life in BC, and we've also posted to our website.

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Industry champion named BC’s best grape grower

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KELOWNA – Colleen Ingram’s enthusiasm for collaboration within the BC wine industry is so great that when she was named 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association, she wanted to sh...
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2 months ago

From orchard manager to government specialist and now executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association, Adrian Arts brings a rare blend of hands-on farming experience and organizational leadership to an industry poised for renewal. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment for BC fruit growers, with Arts expressing enthusiasm about continuing the momentum built by his predecessor and working alongside a board that signals a generational shift in agricultural advocacy.

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Arts leads BCFGA forward

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A combination of organizational management and practical farming experience has primed the new executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association to lead the industry forward.
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2 months ago

A public consultation is now underway on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board. Key issues for dairy producers include transportation costs, rules governing shipments and limitations on supporting processing initiatives. Stakeholders have until May 31 to comment.

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Milk board undertakes review

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A public consultation on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board is underway as part of a triennial review required by the British Columbia Milk Marketing Board Regulation.
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Greenhouse sets example for others to follow

Salmo venture helps extend season for market gardeners

Cali Olleck and son Atlin Carson stand in a sea of kale and other hardy greens growing in the family's Salmo greenhouse at Salix & Sedge, a market garden that has extended its season by tapping into the natural gas line running across its property. PHOTO SALIX & SEDGE

February 1, 2021 byTom Walker

SALMO – It’s -8°C and snowing in the central Kootenay town of Salmo, but inside the greenhouse at Salix and Sedge Farm, lettuce and arugula are growing in the soil.

“It’s not really growing, it’s more like being in a refrigerator,” clarifies Brendan Parsons who with his partner Cali Olleck owns the farm. “The low winter light and the temperature just above zero keep the plants alive, but mostly dormant, and we are able to harvest fresh lettuce through the winter.”

Parsons and Olleck are just finishing up their first complete year of running the greenhouse, built as an addition to their five-year old market garden. Rather than cram all their production into six months like other market gardeners, a greenhouse was a way to broaden their production window.

“We were looking to balance our workload over the course of the year and extend our season,” says Parsons. “We began by growing storage crops that we could sell during the winter and create some additional cash flow, and the greenhouse is a way to extend that and give us some work during the winter.”

The greenhouse also allows them to produce high-value crops out of season, a key element of their business plan.

Those greens were sown in September, and although the greenhouse gives the couple the technology to hold them through February, they were sold out by Christmas. Come March, they will be seeding tomatoes and cucumbers with an intercropping of greens.

“We will start harvesting the cucumbers in early May and the tomatoes will be ready in June,” says Parsons.

That’s early by any standard. By comparison, the cherry tomatoes they grew outside last year under high tunnels weren’t ready until August.

Parsons says the greenhouse revenue has allowed them to ease out of their off-farm jobs (Parsons worked as a carpenter, and Olleck was in forestry) and have a bit more time for their three-year old son as well as the skiing and climbing that drew them to the area in the first place.

“I was living in Nelson and Cali was going to school in Castlegar and we were looking to farm, but still stay attached to the outdoor community here,” he says.

The two are new farmers. Olleck completed a year at Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s farm school in Richmond and Parsons did a gardening program at Linnaea Farm on Cortes Island prior to starting Salix and Sedge.

“But it would have been good to have spent time on a commercial farm to learn the business side of things,” says Parsons.

The farm initially had chickens, pigs and bees, but they have focused on vegetables over the last three years.

Their 20-acre property is tucked away on the west side of the Salmo River just outside of town. The name reflects the surrounding ecosystem. Salix is a genus of willow in the area and sedge is the primary perennial weed the farm has to deal with.

“Our soil is wonderful Salmo River bottom, but we have a lot of wetlands on our property,” explains Parsons. “We have been able to lease a neighbouring property that has the same great soil, but better drainage where we have our garden and greenhouse.”

The property sits on a natural gas mainline.

“The gas line was an important part of our decision to build the greenhouse, but I think that using propane would be a similar cost,” says Brendan.

The 120×35-foot greenhouse was manufactured in Quebec and engineered to withstand the snow load in Salmo. Two layers of polyethylene with air in between provide cover and some insulation.

“It sheds the snow really well, but I have to clear the snow from around the base with a blower attachment for my tractor,” explains Parsons. “We get so much [snow] here that it would impact the wall of the house if I didn’t clear it.”

Salmo itself is a small community, but it’s in a strategic location, being a half-hour drive from the three main towns in the central Kootenays. Their certified organic produce is available at grocers in Castlegar, Nelson and Trail, and at their farm stand.

“We don’t have a retail outlet in Salmo, but we are so close to town that people can ride their bikes or even walk to our farm store and we have enough of a range of vegetables to make it worth their trip,” says Parsons. “The local community has been really supportive of our farm, and more so this year. We have been able to sell out everything that we have grown.”

The greenhouse has been a steep learning curve.

“It’s only been our first year and I imagine that in five years we will look back and realize we have come a long way,” says Parsons.

Plant nutrition, pest and disease management as well as responding to shifting temperatures have all been new challenges. An outbreak of spider mites shortened their cucumber season.

“We need to develop a better IPM plan this year,” says Parsons, noting the lack of other greenhouses in the area to share ideas.

But that could change. Kootenay & Boundary Farm Advisors organized an early November tour of Salix and Sedge for 12 attendees who had a “commercial interest” in greenhouse production.

“They had some very in-depth discussion of the greenhouse business,” says KBFA coordinator Rachael Roussin.

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