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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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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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Hazelnut growers get replant funding

Nurseries ready for 2019

July 29, 2018 byDavid Schmidt

CHILLIWACK – After several years of lobbying, the BC hazelnut industry finally has a replant program.

In mid-July, BC Minister of Agriculture Lana Popham announced $300,000 in funding over three years for a new BC Hazelnut Replant Program (HRP).

The long-established industry was decimated by eastern filbert blight (EFB) in the past decade, leading most Fraser Valley orchardists to rip out their infected orchards. Seeing the writing on the wall, the BC Hazelnut Growers Association started a trial of new EFB-resistant varieties in six (now five) orchards in 2011, with a second planting in 2013.

Developed in Oregon, the six varieties (Yamhill, Jefferson, Sacajawea, Eta, Theta and Gamma) are proving adaptable to BC conditions. Despite being in the shadow of highly infected orchards, most trees, particularly those planted in 2013, are doing quite well with only a few exhibiting signs of EFB.

“Hazelnut growers in BC have faced major setbacks over the past decade, but this funding will help regrow and revitalize a sector that has enormous possibilities,” Popham said. “My mandate includes Grow BC, and that includes hazelnuts.”

“Everyone’s glad to see the announcement. It gives the hazelnut industry a chance to revive and grow bigger than ever before,” says BCHGA president Neal Tebrinke.

Tebrinke admits it’s “hard to restart an industry which has collapsed.”

He believes the industry needs to generate a new grower group, noting many existing growers are older and unlikely to replant given the time it takes for a new orchard to come into full production.

The HRP recognizes that, making the incentives available to both existing growers and new entrants. The program includes both removal and renewal components. The removal component will provide up to $1,800 per acre to remove an infected orchard. The renewal component will provide $5 per tree to a maximum of $1,345 per acre to plant new EFB-resistant trees.

The first application deadline is August 31, and covers removals or plantings before December 31. Although there will likely be a few applications for removal funding, Tebrinke expects the short notice means few will be able to take advantage of the replant funding this year.

“For anyone to replant this year, they would already have had to book their trees,” he points out.

Tebrinke (Mountain View Acres in Agassiz) is one of three BC hazelnut tree propagators/suppliers. His inventory includes the six varieties in the BCHGA trial. Although he has enough trees for about 40 acres of new plantings this fall, he notes they are already committed. He is now taking orders for planting in fall 2019, and expects to be able to produce enough trees for another 50 acres of orchards.

Thom O’Dell (Nature Tech Nursery of Langley) has co-ordinated the BCHGA trial since its inception and not only offers the six varieties in the trial but also sells Dorris, Felix and York, three newer, more EFB-resistant varieties from the Oregon hazelnut breeding program. Although most trees ready for planting this fall are already committed, he says “if the trees grow as they should,” Nature Tech will have a few trees available for planting either this fall or next spring. He expects to be able to fulfil all the demands he gets for plantings next fall.

Mosterman Plants of Chilliwack is the newest entrant into hazelnut propagation and the only one licensed by the Oregon breeding program. As a result, they are offering only the newer, more resistant varieties being developed in Oregon.

“We currently offer Dorris, Felix, York, McDonald and Wepster (Oregon’s most-hyped new variety) commercial varieties and Burgundy Lace and Red Dragon ornamental varieties,” Sylvia Mosterman says, noting their licence will allow them to offer other new Oregon varieties three years after they are made available to Oregon growers.

All her trees are produced from tissue culture (as is also the case at Nature Tech), so “we can produce as many trees as needed” given sufficient lead time. For that to happen, growers planning to plant trees next fall need to place their orders by the beginning of December.

Short notice

“We know (the August 31 deadline) is short notice,” admits provincial berry and nut specialist Karina Sakalauskas. She says once the August deadline passes, the ministry will start accepting applications for plantings in the spring and fall of 2019.

Tebrinke says there is a ready market for all the hazelnuts BC is able to produce and a lot of land available for growing trees.

“There is a lot of unused or underutilized land in the Fraser Valley which could be used for hazelnuts. Our province can easily handle up to 5,000 acres of hazelnuts.”

He urges anyone interested in learning more about the industry and its potential to attend the BCHGA fall field day to be held at the province’s receiving station, Fraser Valley Hazelnuts, on South Sumas Road in Chilliwack, September 22.

A wealth of information is already available on the association’s new website, bchga.com. It will soon also include the BCMA’s new hazelnut production guide.

“We expect to have the guide available by mid-August,” Sakalauskas says. She also encourages potential growers to research Oregon’s information on growing hazelnuts, saying it is very detailed and highly adaptable to BC.

“Our production guide is based on the experience of Oregon growers,” she notes.

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