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Originally published:

JUNE 2022
Vol. 108 Issue 6

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Stories In This Edition

Bird flu in FV

Birds of a feather

BC farm count shrinks

Fast turnaround nabs new grower high praise

Editorial: Growing old quickly

Back 40: War puts perspective on delayed spring in BC

Op-ed: Panel frames a vision for the future of BC ag

Cool spring has delayed crops province-wide

Sidebar: Low termperatures impact fruit

Nicola Valley secures funding for new abattoir

Ranchers feel margin squeeze

IAFBC expands its reach despite challenging year

Good job

Growers must focus on quality to grow market

Task force works to implement UNDRIP goals

Packers say they’ll work together to fix industry

New president aims to motivate farmers institutes

Irrigation shouldn’t be an afterthought

Project provides peace of mind for Oliver growers

Seaweed shows promise as feed additive

Forage field days showcase new tools, concepts

Sidebar: Pest management plot

Women offer ‘cutting-edge’ skills

Irrigation planning critical for hazelnuts

Nip and tuck

Off-season sales boosted by new vending machine

New pest jeopardizes strawberry production

Big expansion plans for Terrace poultry farm

BCAITC celebrates 30 years

Farm Story: There’s always one field that’s “special”

Shape-shifting dahlias drawing in growers

Woodshed Chronicles: Rescue comes for Kenneth

Jude’s Kitchen: Cake to celebrate summer and dads

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2 days ago

BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

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BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

#BCAg
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Congratulations!!!

Congratulations!

Congratulations

Congratulations <3

Congratulations to Duncan, Jane, and all the rest of the Barnett family!

Congratulations Jane and Ducan! Sandra Andresen Hawkins

Congratulation Duncan & Jane!!

Congratulations Jane & Duncan 🥳

Congratulations Jane Trott Barnett and Duncan!!!

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3 days ago

Grapegrower Colleen Ingram, who was recognized earlier this year as the 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association. “Given the devastation we have had over the last three years, I feel like this award should be given to the entire industry,” she says. Her story appears in the June edition of Country Life in BC, and we've also posted to our website.

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Industry champion named BC’s best grape grower

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KELOWNA – Colleen Ingram’s enthusiasm for collaboration within the BC wine industry is so great that when she was named 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association, she wanted to sh...
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1 month ago

From orchard manager to government specialist and now executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association, Adrian Arts brings a rare blend of hands-on farming experience and organizational leadership to an industry poised for renewal. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment for BC fruit growers, with Arts expressing enthusiasm about continuing the momentum built by his predecessor and working alongside a board that signals a generational shift in agricultural advocacy.

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Arts leads BCFGA forward

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A combination of organizational management and practical farming experience has primed the new executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association to lead the industry forward.
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1 month ago

A public consultation is now underway on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board. Key issues for dairy producers include transportation costs, rules governing shipments and limitations on supporting processing initiatives. Stakeholders have until May 31 to comment.

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Milk board undertakes review

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A public consultation on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board is underway as part of a triennial review required by the British Columbia Milk Marketing Board Regulation.
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1 month ago

BC wool shipments drop sharply in 2023, according to StatsCan data released in mid-April. Local producers shipped just 5,200kg at 37¢/kg, down from 18,600kg at $1.08/kg in 2022. While many farmers now use wool on-farm or dispose of it due to low market value, innovative producers like Emily McIvor point to untapped opportunities. Read more in our Farm News Update from Country Life in BC.

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BC wool value, volume drop

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BC sheep producers shipped less wool for less in 2023, reversing strong growth a year earlier. BC producers shipped 5,200 kilograms of raw wool in 2023, according to Statistics Canada data released on...
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Irrigation shouldn’t be an afterthought

Plan to start early and run late to maximize crop potential

Irrigation designer Andrew Bennett explains the wheel line irrigation system at Mehmal Farms near Grand Forks during a field day hosted by Kootenay and Boundary Farm Advisors. BRIAN LAWRENCE

June 1, 2022 byBrian Lawrence

GRAND FORKS – When cool weather lingers through spring and when it arrives in the fall, irrigation is the furthest thing from the minds of many growers.

That shouldn’t be the case, says irrigation designer Andrew Bennett.

“It’s been a cold April – nobody’s thinking about irrigation,” he says. “[But] start early, and make sure you’re going into winter moist.”

Bennett and Bruce Naka, both irrigation designers and consultants certified by the Irrigation Industry Association of BC, visited Windermere, Skookumchuk, Creston and Grand Forks from April 25-29 as part of a series of field days hosted by Kootenay and Boundary Farm Advisors

They toured a farm each morning to assess its irrigation system, then presented their findings and general advice to the farmers and guests in the afternoon.

“These field days are all about the fundamental principles: Apply the right amount of water at the right time, evenly to all the roots and microbes, and save yourself time while you’re doing it,” says Bennett, who has his own five-acre farm in Rossland. “This way, our crops are stress-free, grow to their greatest potential, and we don’t cause problems like nutrient leaching, soil erosion and working harder than we have to.”

“I enjoy going out and meeting people from the agriculture community, as well as learning their story about their farms and being able to, maybe in a small way, help them to improve their farm through irrigation system improvements,” says Naka, who started working for his father’s irrigation supply business in the mid-1970s.

Century-old licence

Their final stop on April 29 took them to the Mehmal Farm, a family operation east of Grand Forks that dates back to 1914, when Leanna Mehmal’s grandfather had the farm’s water licence transferred into his name.

“We’re the second people to farm the land,” she says.

The Mehmal family has 200 head of cattle and 200 irrigated acres dedicated to corn silage, alfalfa, barley and timothy. Naka and Bennett’s initial presentation and discussion took place on a nearby 16-acre parcel, later moving to their Kettle River intake on the main part of the farm.

The parcel is irrigated by wheel lines, with wheels set 120 feet apart and fed by four-inch pipe. The line, designed prior to the Mehmals operating on that land, has sprinkler heads spaced 38 feet apart instead of the usual 40 feet, possibly planned with the weather in mind — not surprising to the dozen or so onlookers gathered on a blustery day.

“Somebody was really sharp on this one,” says Naka. “If it was done for a reason, it might be because of the wind. … If there’s a strong wind, it impacts the ability of the head to throw.”

“Sprinklers water much more heavily near the head, so spreading them too wide leads to really wet and really dry patches,” says Bennett.

“Head-to-head” overlap creates more even irrigation, a method he also recommended during the April 28 visit to Creston’s Cartwheel Farm, a market garden.

At the outside edge of a wheel line, where there are no overlapping sprinklers, the application rate is lower, but the Mehmal farm’s line has a double head at the end, making up for the lower amount of water.

“‘Nozzle up’ on the ends,” says Naka.

The line did, however, have noticeable leaks, which could represent a loss of four or five gallons per minute, a challenge in a system that is typically 65% efficient. With no other farms running irrigation during the presentation, the line’s pressure was about 70 psi, when it should be in the 40-50 psi range – pressure that’s too high leads to water loss through misting, and pressure too low results in crop damage from heavy drops of water.

As he had at Skookumchuk’s B-E Ranch on April 26, Bennett recommended replacing brass impact sprinklers with plastic rotators, which offer more uniform distribution and have lower maintenance costs. They’re sturdy, too; one of his clients has cows that enjoyed rubbing on the old brass nozzles, but still appreciate plastic.

“They can rub on them all day,” the farmer told Bennett, although “they might not get as good a scratch.”

“The cows might not be as happy,” says Bennett, but “the worst that can happen is they unscrew them.”

On the main part of the farm, just east of the 16-acre parcel, the Mehmals also use irrigation guns, which, as with the wheel lines, are labour-intensive.

“We need technologies to automate water use on oddly-shaped Interior BC fields where centre pivots are impractical,” says Bennett. “Ideas range from basic automatic valves on wheel moves and hand lines to fancy GPS-guided systems.”

Accurate and sufficient watering is particularly important as farmers deal with the effects of climate change. Last year, many crops were already stressed going into the extreme heat that settled over the province at the end of June and into July.

“We’re looking at a hot year,” says Naka. “In the Okanagan [in 2021], we had three or four districts make commercial growers use 20% less water.”

“What we are going to see with climate change is that we need to water more frequently,” says Bennett. “Many people only have four or five days of decent water storage in the soil.”

Government soil surveys are a helpful tool, showing the type of soil – such as sand or loam – in a general area, which directly affects water storage. At each farm, Bennett tested soil at various depths, sifting through 4mm and 2mm screens.

“Anything that can’t go through the screen can’t hold water,” says Bennett. “It can’t count toward water storage.”

Soil moisture sensors work

At Noble Farms, a 14-acre commercial cherry orchard south of Creston visited April 27, trees were already in need of water, with dry soil 18 inches down – a problem that soil moisture sensors could help with.

“You want to, every single day, be adding enough to keep it at the top,” says Bennett.

Owned by retired engineer Dev Singh, the farm uses drip irrigation, which presents its own challenges, but can be 90% efficient under ideal conditions. This system, designed by a previous owner, is manual, which may lead to human error, a challenge they also found at Windermere’s Winderberry Farm on April 25.

“Automation saves time and waters plants better – for every farm, it’s almost always worth the investment,” says Bennett.

Most systems should also have air relief valves at high points, allowing lines to fill quicker and eliminating water hammer.

“As the valve shuts off, the water hammers back,” says Naka. “If you have 100 pounds [of water in the pipe], 244 pounds hammers back. If you have too small a pipe, there will be more breaks.”

The more flexible polyethylene pipe, rather than PVC, can help in that regard, one of the reasons Bennett uses only polyethylene hose with time-saving cam locks, rather than screw-type hose connectors, on his farm.

“Getting water and soil relationships right is fundamental to every farm, so I get charged helping people think about them in ways that are simple, accurate and, most importantly, practical,” says Bennett.

An expert isn’t required to determine a farm or garden’s soil composition and water depth, but the process isn’t a tidy one.

“There are no substitutes for digging holes, getting dirty and making an afternoon of it,” says Bennett.

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