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Originally published:

AUGUST 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 8

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Stories In This Edition

Heat Wave

Night moves

Record temps kill poultry

High heat, low moisture vexes ranchers

Editorial: Unprecedented

Back forty: Summer means being prepared for wildfires

Viewpoint: Overheated markets make farming harder

Province allows secondary homes in the ALR

National farm building code set for update

Grain producers refocus on advocacy, research

Ag Briefs: BC Blueberry Council gets new chair

Ag Briefs: Islands Trust defers policy statement

Ag Briefs: BCAC’s consumer research yields four key findings

Provincial meat licensing overhaul effective October

Farm fresh

New tech could build a better cattle fence

Buchler recognized for practices, generosity

First certified sustainable wine makes debut

Ag targetted to reduce emissions in Clean Air Plan

Helping cattle keep their cool in the heat

Free recycling of ag plastics for northern BC

Pesiticide colleciton returns to the southern interior

Indigienous farms plow new ground with funding

It’s easy being green

Flower farm meets growing demand

New resources support small-lot pork producers

BC going full boar against feral pigs

Cannabis grower has the ‘happiest worms’

AEMCoP updates take effect

Forging new successes with the family farm

Cutworm study looks at damage below ground

Beet growers see red over leaf miner

Armyworm pressure low

Research: Research explores scrapie resistance in goats

Sidebar: Scrapie eradication tips

Woodshed: Graduation plans sworn to secrecy

Cherry grower diversifies as orchard declines

Jude’s Kitchen: Eats for a hot summer day

Farm Story: Reaping more by sowing elss makes perfect sense

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4 weeks ago

It’s been four years since the last tulip festival was held in Abbotsford, but this year’s event promises to be an even bigger spectacle than ever. Spanning 27 acres along Marion Road, Lakeland Flowers will display more than 70 varieties of the spring blossom, including fringe tulips and double tulips, the first of six months of flower festivals hosted by the farm. Writer Sandra Tretick spoke with Lakeland Flowers owner Nick Warmerdam this spring to find out how the floods on Sumas Prairie in 2021 have had an impact on his business plan as he transitions from wholesale cut flower grower to agri-tourism. We've posted the story to our website this month. It's a good read.

#CLBC #countrylifeinbc #tulipfestival
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Tulip grower makes the shift to agritourism

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ABBOTSFORD – On a bright sunny day in early April, Nick Warmerdam points out his office window at No. 4 and Marion roads to a spot about half a kilometre away across the Trans-Canada Highway.
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Omg 🥹 Jared Huston let’s go pls

1 month ago

Farming, like any other job.. only you punch in at age 5 and never punch out 🚜 ... See MoreSee Less

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Easton Roseboom Levi Roseboom🚜

1 month ago

The province is allocating $15 million to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. for a perennial crop replant program benefitting tree fruit, hazelnut, berry and grape growers. The program aims to cover 100% of plant removal costs and 75% of replanting costs. Funds are also available for sector development. The new program replaces a suite of sector-specific replant programs and recognizes the importance of sector adaptation in the face of market, disease and weather challenges. ... See MoreSee Less

The province is allocating $15 million to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. for a perennial crop replant program benefitting tree fruit, hazelnut, berry and grape growers. The program aims to cover 100% of plant removal costs and 75% of replanting costs. Funds are also available for sector development. The new program replaces a suite of sector-specific replant programs and recognizes the importance of sector adaptation in the face of market, disease and weather challenges.
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1 month ago

Just a week after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials revoked the last primary control zones established in the Fraser Valley to control last fall’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a new detection on April 29 at a commercial premises in Chilliwack underscored the risk of a spring wave. This is the first new detection since January 22, also in Chilliwack, and brings to 104 the number of premises affected since the current outbreak began April 13, 2022. The disease has impacted 3.7 million birds in BC over the past year. ... See MoreSee Less

Just a week after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials revoked the last primary control zones established in the Fraser Valley to control last fall’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a new detection on April 29 at a commercial premises in Chilliwack underscored the risk of a spring wave. This is the first new detection since January 22, also in Chilliwack, and brings to 104 the number of premises affected since the current outbreak began April 13, 2022. The disease has impacted 3.7 million birds in BC over the past year.
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Any other details for FVN and chillTV please? radiodon11@gmail.com

1 month ago

The province is contributing $3.2 million for upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station in Abbotsford that was overwhelmed during the November 2021 flooding on Sumas Prairie, part of a collaborative approach to flood mitigation in the region. During a press conference at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food offices in Abbotsford today, the province said a collaborative approach that includes First Nations is needed as Abbotsford pursues a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy due to the potential impacts on Indigenous lands. Agriculture's interests will be represented by technical teams within the agriculture ministry. ... See MoreSee Less

The province is contributing $3.2 million for upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station in Abbotsford that was overwhelmed during the November 2021 flooding on Sumas Prairie, part of a collaborative approach to flood mitigation in the region. During a press conference at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food offices in Abbotsford today, the province said a collaborative approach that includes First Nations is needed as Abbotsford pursues a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy due to the potential impacts on Indigenous lands. Agricultures interests will be represented by technical teams within the agriculture ministry.
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I sure hope part of that money is to educate the people in charge of the pumps and drainage system! They just relayed on computers and weren’t even physically monitoring the water levels. I’ve lived in the Fraser Valley my whole life and the old guys managing that system know how to do it. The new generation just sit behind computer screens and don’t physically watch the water levels. That system works very well when you do it right. The Fraser river levels are very important. The system is designed to drain the Sumas Canal (the part that runs thru the valley) into the Fraser. When they let it get backed up it put pressure on the dyke and the weak part burst. Simple science. And yes, the dykes need to be worked on too. Abbotsford has not been maintaining properly for years.

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Helping cattle keep their cool in the heat

Dairy farmers share how they beat the heat in their operations

As extreme temperatures are predicted to become the norm, BC dairy producers are considering their options to reduce heat stress among their cows. FILE

August 1, 2021 byKate Ayers

CHILLIWACK – The unprecedented heat this summer has producers and consumers alike wondering what life will be like in the future as climate projections anticipate further temperature increases across the province.

The Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium at the University of Victoria says Chilliwack could average as many as 29 days over 30°C each year, up from eight today. This will help boost the average annual temperature in the Fraser Valley by up to 4.3°C by 2050.

Temperatures will not only increase, the range will also grow as temperature extremes become part of the new normal. The eastern Fraser Valley will be among the areas most impacted, with a temperature spread of about 12°C to 15°C, compared to a historical range of around 9°C and 11°C.

Livestock and poultry in the Fraser Valley are especially vulnerable to extreme heat events. The area is home to 50% of the province’s dairy operations and nearly 40% of BC’s poultry and egg producers.

Since the optimal ambient temperature range for dairy production is between 0°C and 20°C, higher temperatures will negatively impact productivity and cattle health. Some adverse effects of heat in animals include higher respiration rates, increased sweating and water consumption, lower feed intake, reduced fertility, lower butterfat content and lower milk production, a BC Agriculture & Food Climate Action Initiative (CAI) report says.

A research team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that heat stress can cost farmers upwards of several hundred dollars per cow per year.

The potential impacts of higher temperatures on animal health and productivity are prompting producers to future-proof their barns.

Some approaches include raising the ceiling height to allow for more airflow, investing in larger and more powerful fans, and using evaporative and conductive cooling techniques.

Bill and Jenny Van Reeuwyk of Summershade Farms Ltd. in Abbotsford were prepared for June’s heatwave, but their cattle were still impacted by the heat.

“In the new barn we put up four or five years ago, it’s completely open with huge fans and we’re going to put misters in there after what happened this year,” says Jenny.

The cattle’s milk production dropped and they were less active but the Van Reeuwyks were fortunate to not have lost any animals to the heat.

Indeed, ventilation plays a significant role in keeping cattle cool. Barns with large curtains help maximize air flow and improve the effectiveness of evaporative cooling over the animals, the BC Climate Change and Agriculture Initiatives report says. Natural ventilation, circulation fans and exhaust ventilation are most commonly used in the dairy sector.

“We put up a new barn just a few years ago and built it with very large side curtains. It’s wide open on the sides so the wind can flow right through. That really helps keep the cattle cool,” says Mark Ricka, a dairy producer in Chilliwack. “We have fans placed everywhere in the barn so there are no dead spots of air.”

Ricka also installed fans in each robotic milking room so the cattle always have air moving overhead. His 200 milking cows also fared okay during the heatwave, but feed intake dropped a bit and they stood more than normal.

Enderby dairy farmer Rene Miedema, who has been involved in interpreting the Climate Action Initiative report as a member of the Dairy Industry Research and Education Committee (DIREC), uses natural ventilation and fans to keep his 110 milking cows as comfortable as possible in the summer heat.

In his 12-year-old barn, they installed “large curtains so that we can open up the barn. We are lucky the barn is oriented east to west, so we have a lot of natural air flow,” he says. “Our summers in the Okanagan are fairly warm so we added two 72-inch variable-speed fans. They have made a tremendous difference. Our barn does remarkably well until 35-36°C, which is good, but I don’t think anybody was ready for 40-45°C.”

In addition, evaporative cooling is an effective way to cool cattle in dairy barns. Sprinklers and misters are the most common and effective tools in areas with low humidity.

“We put up a soaker rail. When the cows come up to eat, there are nozzles that point down and spray the cows’ backs while they’re in the feed alley,” Ricka says. “It’s not a mist. It’s more of a soak with a garden hose. It cools them down because they get wet and then the fans move air overhead.”

Conductive cooling is another strategy farmers can use to cool their herds. Waterbeds, for example, can be used under bedding to remove excess heat from cattle. Piping under the bedding area is another option, which circulates cold water.

Radiant barriers and breeding initiatives are other approaches to manage heat.

“We put solar panels on our barn and I noticed the next summer they acted as a radiant barrier. It was a happy accident, because they definitely lowered the temperature in the barn,” Miedema says.

The needs of each operation are unique, and the efficacy of tools will vary from farm to farm. Producers should consider operation size, location and costs of additional equipment required, water consumption and the amount of operation and maintenance that are required to implement each mitigation strategy.

“I think after this heat wave, a lot of farmers will look at misters if they can manage it. We have a lot of tools, I’m just not sure what tools are available to manage over 40°C,” Miedema says.

“Everyone was quite shocked with that heat. When I was walking through the barn, my fans were going full bore and it was like walking through a blast furnace. There is going to be a lot of talking amongst farmers. I will connect with farmers with misters to see how they made out in the heat. That’s the next logical step for me and then after that, I don’t know.”

Fortunately, research is ongoing to gather more information and evaluate the applicability of different technologies in the dairy sector as the effects of a changing climate make themselves felt across the province.

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