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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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9 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

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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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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

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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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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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