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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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1 day ago

The Great Spallumcheen Farm & Food Festival and North Okanagan Plowing Match is happening this Sunday, September 24 from 10-3 at Fieldstone Organics, 4851 Schubert Rd, Armstrong. The outdoor festival features tastings and a market brimming with local food and beverage vendors, a horse and tractor plowing competition and vintage farm equipment displays. ... See MoreSee Less

The Great Spallumcheen Farm & Food Festival and North Okanagan Plowing Match is happening this Sunday, September 24 from 10-3 at Fieldstone Organics, 4851 Schubert Rd, Armstrong. The outdoor festival features tastings and a market brimming with local food and beverage vendors, a horse and tractor plowing competition and vintage farm equipment displays.
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Patti 😊

3 days ago

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3 days ago

The top five issues the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity identified in a recent survey were the cost of food, inflation, the cost of energy, keeping healthy food affordable and the Canadian economy. “We are seeing that environmental concerns are not in the top 10,” says Amy Peck, manager of the Canadian Cattle Association’s public and stakeholder engagement program. “If you are concerned about being able to afford to feed your family, the environment becomes less important.” ... See MoreSee Less

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Ranchers get the backstory on public perception

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VERNON – Ranchers might be concerned about how the public sees their industry, but a producer-funded team at the Canadian Cattle Association has their back. Amy Peck, manager of the Canadian Cattle...
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4 days ago

BC Tree Fruit Co-op has sold its Lake Country packing house as part of its long-term plan to consolidate operations. The sale, to an undisclosed buyer, closed on August 31, 2023 for $15.8 million. ... See MoreSee Less

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Lake Country packing house sold

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BC Tree Fruit Co-op has sold its Lake Country packing house as part of its long-term plan to consolidate operations. The sale, to an undisclosed buyer, closed on August 31, 2023 for $15.8 million.
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Who bought it ffs ?

Ted Nedjelski Karen Turner

One of my first jobs was apple grading in a packing plant in Vernon

Vivian, is this where you worked?

I’d hear the company that owns the big Cannabis company that owns the green houses all around this packing plant was buying up everything around to expand. Wonder if it’s them that got it.

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5 days ago

The federal government has committed $1.81 million over the next three years to support the BC Poultry Association's preparation for direct participation in responses to future outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the province. “The persistence of the virus in wildlife and recurrence of outbreaks globally, presents additional risks during the migratory bird season in North America later in 2023,” the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Vancouver advised in July. For more, visit www.countrylifeinbc.com/ai-risk-rises-with-fall/ ... See MoreSee Less

The federal government has committed $1.81 million over the next three years to support the BC Poultry Associations preparation  for direct participation in responses to future outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the province. “The persistence of the virus in wildlife and recurrence of outbreaks globally, presents additional risks during the migratory bird season in North America later in 2023,” the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Vancouver advised in July. For more, visit https://www.countrylifeinbc.com/ai-risk-rises-with-fall/
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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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