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Originally published:

JANUARY 2022
Vol. 108 Issue 1

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Stories In This Edition

Flood recovery begins

Outstanding

Insurance under scrutiny

Donations pouring in for flood relief

Editorial: Regenerating agriculture

Back 40: What is normal, anyways?

Op Ed: Looking ahead with a  common purpose

Interior ranches feel forgotten

Hefty fines levied in chicken abuse case

Ag Briefs: Blueberry council chair tenders resignation

Ag Briefs: BC Chicken picks Siemens

Ag Briefs: Outstanding service acknowledged

Ag Briefs: Water quality grants available

BC couple win national OYF competition

High grain prices welcome, but harvest falls flat

Dairy sector looks to the future in virtual meetings

Berry growers face years of lower yields

Ambrosia council takes growers to court over levies

Rising food prices unlikely to benefit farmers

Supply chain disruptions put focus on local food

Preview: Agriculture show returns to Tradex

Water management in focus at short course

Kootenay growers target winter deliveries

Sidebar: Welcome development

New growers bitten by the farming bug

Farmers face new challenges as water recedes

Denman Island initiatives review of farm regulations

Helping load the wagon

Bees shouldn’t become collateral damage

Beekeepers urged to grow their own

Research: BC scientists ready to assess flood-affected soils

BC tech companies give ag waste a new life

Sidebar: Manure recycled into bedding

Milk marketing board chooses new entrants

Drought management requires new strategies

Farm Story: Instagrammable garlic? We’d rather less fuss

New initiative supports local food, business

Woodshed: Ashley’s ready and the party’s about to begin

Self-care can help women focus on their goals

Jude’s Kitchen:

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3 days ago

The province has extended the Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security Program deadline from June 1 to Aug. 31. The program helps farmers cover uninsured expenses caused by damages in the November 2021 floods, including cleanup, repair and restoration of land, barns and animal shelters, and water and waste systems; returning flood-affected land and buildings to a safe state for agricultural production; repairing uninsurable essential farm infrastructure; repairing structures such as livestock-containment fences; renting temporary production facilities; installing drainage ditches and land-stabilization materials; animal welfare activities such as replacing feed, transporting livestock, veterinary care and mortality disposal; and
replacing perennial plants not grown for sale. Program criteria and application forms are available online: buff.ly/3sVRF4G
... See MoreSee Less

The province has extended the Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security Program deadline from June 1 to Aug. 31. The program helps farmers cover uninsured expenses caused by damages in the November 2021 floods, including cleanup, repair and restoration of land, barns and animal shelters, and water and waste systems; returning flood-affected land and buildings to a safe state for agricultural production;  repairing uninsurable essential farm infrastructure; repairing structures such as livestock-containment fences; renting temporary production facilities; installing drainage ditches and land-stabilization materials; animal welfare activities such as replacing feed, transporting livestock, veterinary care and mortality disposal; and
replacing perennial plants not grown for sale. Program criteria and application forms are available online: https://buff.ly/3sVRF4G
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1 week 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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3 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?

4 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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High grain prices welcome, but harvest falls flat

Weather cuts yields for the fourth straight year

Peace River grain growers were hammered by weather events this past growing season and harvested far less than expected. FILE PHOTO

January 1, 2022 byPeter Mitham

DAWSON CREEK – This year’s high commodity prices should be good news for Peace River growers but  extreme heat cut yields and left some producers with as little as 30% of a normal crop.

“The heat dome in southern BC also hit us up north. We broke records and our crops dried right out, and there was far below average taken off this year,” says Malcolm Odermatt, president of the BC Grain Producers Association. “We have exceptional prices, but unfortunately we just have no crop to sell.”

Odermatt, who farms in Baldonnel, east of Fort St. John, harvested less than 40% of what he expected.

“For us, typically we fill 22 bins and we filled eight this year,” he says.

Canola was down by a third while his barley came in at less than 25% of average.

BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries says producers have filed 382 notices of loss for grain. Its preliminary estimates indicate that yields are about 30% to 50% of average.

Odermatt says crop insurance is helpful but may not fully cover the losses, thanks to the idiosyncrasies of grain contracts.

“This year, we’ve seen historically high grain prices and lots of farmers went out there and contracted 50% of their expected yields, or maybe 75% – it all depends on their financials and the amount of risk they want to take on,” he explains. “Then we had an absolute wreck of a crop.”

Growers encouraged by high prices this spring and who signed contracts will now have to buy out those contracts at the much higher prices seen this fall. The difference could be as much as 50%.

But insurance is based on crop values in February and doesn’t escalate in step with market prices. This means insured growers will receive payments that are much lower than what they’ll have to pay to buy out their contracts.

“It kind of stinks to get a payout by crop insurance for $12 [a tonne] and (if) you actually had the canola, it would be worth $23,” says Odermatt. “But on the flip side, the price could go down and it would be a higher price because they locked in in February. So it could go both ways.”

This year’s small crop marks the fourth year of weather-related challenges for the region’s grain growers.

Snow in September 2018 put an early end to the season’s harvest, which was already late owing to the impact of wildfire smoke and other issues that year. A decent crop in 2019 was nixed when autumn rains prevented it from drying out on the stalk and farmers couldn’t access fields to harvest it for drying.

Poor weather the following spring meant large tracts of land went unplanted, and rain played havoc with what did get seeded, resulting in one of the worst harvests the region has seen.

But there is good news.

Recent funding for high-efficiency grain dryers will help growers improve grain quality.

Odermatt says this year’s high temperatures resulted in uneven ripening in many fields. So much of his barley was green that he ended up drying it.

“The heat really messed with the plants’ growth cycle, so we had two different stages of crop out there – we had really ripe barley, then we had super green barley,” he says. “We were trying to get both crops off when they’re at two very different stages – about a month apart.”

In December, the BC Peace Agricultural Compensation Fund awarded $147,000 to three farms for grain drying and cleaning equipment.

Odermatt says the grants benefit the industry as a whole because several farms can use the equipment to dry grain from harvest through to  January.

“Even though one producer might get the money and set up the dryer, other producers can utilize it and just pay a fee for drying,” he says. “It’s far cheaper than taking it to the elevator, so it does open up marketing opportunities.”

 

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