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Originally published:

August 2018
Vol. 104 Issue 8

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Stories In This Edition

Shaved, showered and shampooed

New regs rolled out for pot growers

Egg farm decommissioned

Richmond cranberry grower honoured

Editorial: Ground for reform

Back Forty: Facing a tenuous future of feeding the world

OpEd: Wildlife federation’s audit request full of holes

Armyworm posing little risk this season

Letters: Dairy feeling price pressures

Abbotsford waits for clarity on ALR guidelines

Chicken quote to increase 20% by 2020

Dairy incentive days this fall

Aquilini seeks exclusion for former nursery

Business risks looms large at national meeting

Maple Ridge denies exclusion bid for dairy

Fire damage won’t delay blueberry shipments

Good weather marks return to normal conditions

Cherries set for near-record crop this season

Laser system has potential for bird control in crops

Hazelnut growers get replant funding

Gulf Islands farmers want rules respected

Young Agrarians push small-scale premium

Value pinned on local ecosystem services

Cash crunch threatens BC berry growers

Hop sector brewing a bright future

IPM for SWD a tall order, says crop consultant

Audit request takes aim at cattle ranchers

Forage action plan nears completion

Site C fund directors get to work

Abattoir recommendations delayed till fall

Research: Smart flowers have the tools to attract clever bees

Science should underpin colony management

Abbotsford tour puts spotlight on innovation

Summer fun at Stock Show

Business smarts needed for farm success

Wannabe: Signs of hope’s fulfilment

New day for Century Growers

Woodshed: Role playing turns up heat for Deborah

Seasonal pastime

Community is key crop for Kelowna farmers

Jude’s Kitchen: Crisp and cool entertaining

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4 days 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 weeks 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.

3 weeks 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?

3 weeks 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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4 weeks ago

A second BC flock has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the province reported this evening, April 25. The small backyard flock of chicken and ducks near Kelowna has fewer than 100 birds and is relatively isolated. This is the second backyard flock to be suspected of high-path avian influenza in the past week. The other, on Vancouver Island, was found to be AI-free. Amanda Brittain, chief information officer with the BC Poultry Association’s emergency operations centre, says the latest case is of minimal concern to industry because there are no commercial flocks within 12km of the premises. ... See MoreSee Less

A second BC flock has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the province reported this evening, April 25. The small backyard flock of chicken and ducks near Kelowna has fewer than 100 birds and is relatively isolated. This is the second backyard flock to be suspected of high-path avian influenza in the past week. The other, on Vancouver Island, was found to be AI-free. Amanda Brittain, chief information officer with the BC Poultry Association’s emergency operations centre, says the latest case is of minimal concern to industry because there are no commercial flocks within 12km of the premises.
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Gulf Islands farmers want rules respected

Local government committees often overstep ALC

July 29, 2018 byBarbara Johnstone Grimmer

PENDER ISLAND – Bylaws passed by local government shouldn’t pre-empt decisions by the Agricultural Land Commission, the commission’s chair and CEO told a recent meeting of the Islands Trust council.

While it may seem to be stating what’s clearly written in section 46 of the Agricultural Land Commission Act, the question is at the heart of a storm brewing on several Gulf Islands.

Speaking during a public delegation session at the Islands Trust council meeting June 20, Pender Island resident Michael Sketch pointed out that Islands Trust and its local trust committees (LTCs) has regularly interpreted the ALC’s conditional approval of applications as full legal approval.

“Despite the ALC Act and its precedence over LTC bylaws, Islands Trust bylaws have been drafted and adopted which are not consistent with the ALC Act, regulation or orders of the ALC,” says Sketch. “Conditional approval for non-farm uses have been interpreted by Islands Trust staff as approval in law, whether or not the conditions of approval have been met.”

Sketch recalled how former ALC chair Richard Bullock addressed the Islands Trust council on Salt Spring in 2012 regarding the issue.

“He showed passionate support for the ALR, intending to persuade Islands Trust decision-makers,” says Sketch. “Less than two months later, North Pender LTC forwarded a non-farm use application to the ALC for a waste transfer facility on ALR land.”

The parcel had changed hands months earlier, with old industrial zoning on ALR land already in place but with no ALC permission in law, according to Sketch. The zoning was intended only to provide road access across an ALR portion to a non-ALR oceanside fuel facility which had ceased operations decades ago.

“Six years later, all non-farm uses on that property, either applied for or incorrectly given by Islands Trust, have been refused by the ALC,” says Sketch. “Islands Trust staff now recommend that the LTC continue allowing one of those refused uses, in part for reason of a legally incorrect historical precedent.”

This situation is not unique to Pender. Nearly a third of the islands governed by the Islands Trust have seen trust staff recommend the reading of bylaws which, if adopted, would be inconsistent with ALC legislation or an order of the ALC.

Sketch is not alone in his assessment of the situation. Gabriola Island resident Jacinthe Eastwick has also spoken out about Islands Trust bylaw readings on North Pender, Gabriola, Salt Spring and Galiano that are inconsistent with the ALC Act, a regulation or order of the ALC.

Despite public protest leading to the eventual reversals of bylaws on three islands, Galiano adopted official community plan (OCP) amendments in 2017 which approved community as a non-farm use within the ALR, inconsistent with an ALC order.

“Islands Trust staff said the Galiano land had been excluded from the ALR, but it wasn’t,” says Sketch. “Extraordinarily, both trust executive and the Minister [of Municipal Affairs and Housing] approved an OCP amendment which allowed community housing on land which remains in the ALR with no ALC permission in law.”

During the June 20 meeting, held on Saturna Island, current ALC chair Jennifer Dyson and ALC CEO Kim Grout presented statistics on ALR applications and agricultural land use in the trust’s area, and answered trustees’ questions. The public were not allowed to ask the chair of the ALC questions directly, but rather had to submit them to a trustee to be asked. ALC representatives did not attend the public delegation session where Sketch questioned the apparent disconnect between the ALC and Islands Trust.

Dyson’s and Grout’s presentation indicated that ALR land was less than 2% of the Islands Trust’s 520,000 hectares (1.3 million acres), with small parcels less likely to be farmed than larger parcels. Natural vegetation covers up to 60% of the ALR.

Since the formation of the ALR, there have been 385 completed applications to the ALC in the Islands Trust area: 18% for exclusion, 11% for inclusion, 42% subdivision applications and 29% for non-farm use.

Both the Islands Trust and the ALC were formed by the NDP government of the 1970s as unique agencies intended to “preserve and protect” land.

 

 

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