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Originally published:

MAY 2020
Vol. 106 Issue 5

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Stories In This Edition

Rapid response

Worker health crisis

Spring melt floods Cariboo

Foreign Labour an essential service for fruit growers

Editorial: Watershed moments

Back Forty: COVID-19 will be a reality check for many

Viewpoint: Register now, question later to keep water rights

COVID-19 has varied impact on poultry sector

Social distancing

Honey producers keep focus on research

Beekeepers stung about import issues

Sidebar: Advocating for technology transfer

Farmland values facing headwinds

IAFBC defers major decisions

BCAC focuses on public trust with lower budget

AgSafe governance set for a shake-up

COVID-19 leads to oversupply of dairy

BC Fairs positive as large events banned

Peace growers facing multiple challenges

Co-op considers four-way fix at crossroads

Surprise audits to double

Co-op focuses on cutting costs, increasing sales

Volatility from plant shutdowns could hit BC

Island farmers renew request for local abattoir

Meat processing capacity stable despite closures

Direct marketing saves producers’ bacon

Small producers ride the online sales wave

Farm equipment dealers keep sale smoving

Strawberry growers pin survival on levies

Sidebar: Blueberry and raspberry AGMs postponed

Raspberry growers target fresh market, quality

Apple soda breaks ground in saturated market

Chilliwack family cracks open direct sales

EFB-resistant trees not out of the woods

Distillery shows resilience as it adapts to market

Home gardeners overwhelm seed companies

Sidebar: Commercial seed supply affected

Research: Viruses pursue unique strategies to evolve

Moisture sensors are not created equal

Woodshed: Kenneth gives new meaning to social isoluation

Farmers’ markets go online as channels shift

Farm Story: Pandemic forces a hard pivot to stay in the game

Cheesemaker adapts to coronavirus restrictions

Jude’s Kitchen: Stay-healty food in uneasy times

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Vancouver council has rejected a bid to subdivide some of its only land within the Agricultural Land Reserve. The 8-acre site at 7520 Balaclava Street is home to an unused horse paddock and the former Celtic Shipyards. Vancouver council chose not to forward the application to the Agricultural Land Commission because subdivision would create lots that were too small at a site with multiple environmental and geotechnical issues. The cultural significance of the site to the Musqueam First Nation was also a consideration. ... See MoreSee Less

2 days ago

Vancouver council has rejected a bid to subdivide some of its only land within the Agricultural Land Reserve. The 8-acre site at 7520 Balaclava Street is home to an unused horse paddock and the former Celtic Shipyards. Vancouver council chose not to forward the application to the Agricultural Land Commission because subdivision would create lots that were too small at a site with multiple environmental and geotechnical issues. The cultural significance of the site to the Musqueam First Nation was also a consideration.
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Let’s hope someone with an Ag vision buys the property..

Seasonal workers continue to benefit from BC’s acclaimed publicly funded quarantine program, which covers the cost of meals and accommodations for incoming foreign workers during their mandatory self-isolation period. To date this year, 14 incoming workers have tested positive for COVID-19, with nine remaining in isolation and five cleared to work on BC farms. "Through this program, we have been able to help preserve our province’s food supply by ensuring local food continues to be grown and harvested throughout the pandemic,” the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries told Country Life in BC. "The program is regarded as best practice by other jurisdictions and the province is continuing with the self-isolation program for 2021 without significant changes." Subscribe to Country Life in BC at buff.ly/2ReiFur ... See MoreSee Less

5 days ago

Seasonal workers continue to benefit from BC’s acclaimed publicly funded quarantine program, which covers the cost of meals and accommodations for incoming foreign workers during their mandatory self-isolation period. To date this year, 14 incoming workers have tested positive for COVID-19, with nine remaining in isolation and five cleared to work on BC farms. Through this program, we have been able to help preserve our province’s food supply by ensuring local food continues to be grown and harvested throughout the pandemic,” the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries told Country Life in BC. The program is regarded as best practice by other jurisdictions and the province is continuing with the self-isolation program for 2021 without significant changes. Subscribe to Country Life in BC at buff.ly/2ReiFur
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Federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has awarded $6 million to Vancouver-based Enterra Feed Corp. through the federal AgriInnovate program to develop a full-scale commercial facility north of Calgary for the production of insect-based feed ingredients. The new facility handles more than 130 tonnes of food waste per day and feeds it to the larvae of black soldier flies. The larvae are harvested and processed for use in feed products for poultry, pets and wild birds. The first of its kind in Canada, the facility ships products across North America as well as to the EU. Country Life in BC is the agricultural new source for BC's farmers and ranchers. ... See MoreSee Less

6 days ago

Federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has awarded $6 million to Vancouver-based Enterra Feed Corp. through the federal AgriInnovate program to develop a full-scale commercial facility north of Calgary for the production of insect-based feed ingredients. The new facility handles more than 130 tonnes of food waste per day and feeds it to the larvae of black soldier flies. The larvae are harvested and processed for use in feed products for poultry, pets and wild birds. The first of its kind in Canada, the facility ships products across North America as well as to the EU. Country Life in BC is the agricultural new source for BCs farmers and ranchers.
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Cammy Lockwood, great news for Enterra

CP Rail’s plans for a new logistics facility on 100 acres of farmland in Pitt Meadows is facing opposition from neighbours, who question the impact of the project on their community and local agriculture. Close to 100 residents questioned CP representatives in an online open house this week but received few definitive answers. The project is exempt from Agricultural Land Commission and local government approval. Results of a survey that closes today will be made public in March, with mitigation measures of the project provided this summer. Construction could begin in 2026 if federal authorities approve. Country Life in BC is the agricultural news source for BC's farmers and ranchers. buff.ly/2ReiFur ... See MoreSee Less

1 week ago

CP Rail’s plans for a new logistics facility on 100 acres of farmland in Pitt Meadows is facing opposition from neighbours, who question the impact of the project on their community and local agriculture. Close to 100 residents questioned CP representatives in an online open house this week but received few definitive answers. The project is exempt from Agricultural Land Commission and local government approval. Results of a survey that closes today will be made public in March, with mitigation measures of the project provided this summer. Construction could begin in 2026 if federal authorities approve. Country Life in BC is the agricultural news source for BCs farmers and ranchers. buff.ly/2ReiFur
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The BC Ministry of Agriculture has announced a new round of funding this week to support more community projects aimed at protecting the health and habitat of bees. The Bee BC program provides up to $5,000 to fund smaller-scale, community-based projects enhancing bee health throughout the province. Since launching in 2018, Bee BC has contributed almost $280,000 to 62 projects. The last round of 24 approved projects projects ranged from providing education in communities to planting bee-specific forage to using innovation and technology to help protect and ensure bee health in BC. The program is administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation. Check out the program guide for more information: buff.ly/3bCMzSW ... See MoreSee Less

1 week ago

The BC Ministry of Agriculture has announced a new round of funding this week to support more community projects aimed at protecting the health and habitat of bees. The Bee BC program provides up to $5,000 to fund smaller-scale, community-based projects enhancing bee health throughout the province. Since launching in 2018, Bee BC has contributed almost $280,000 to 62 projects. The last round of 24 approved projects projects ranged from providing education in communities to planting bee-specific forage to using innovation and technology to help protect and ensure bee health in BC. The program is administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation. Check out the program guide for more information: https://buff.ly/3bCMzSW
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Island farmers renew request for local abattoir

Demand for local meat, shutdowns spur new push

The closure of Plecas Meats in Nanaimo means one less abattoir option among already too few for Vancouver Island farmers. Rod Plecas, left, with Susan Toth and butcher Brad Lester, retired at the end of March, closing the doors on the plant his dad started back in 1962. The last slaughter day was March 16. PHOTO / BOB COLLINS

May 1, 2020 byTom Walker

PORT ALBERNI – The Alberni Farmers’ Institute is renewing a request to have the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD) designated a Class D and E licensing area under BC’s Meat Inspection Regulation.

“The regional district first made a formal application to the government back in 2017,” says Lisa Aylard, president of the Alberni Farmers’ Institute. “They sent a follow-up request last September during the province’s consultation with regional districts about Class D slaughter licences as part of their on-going contact with the government over this issue. But no decision has been made.”

ACRD lacks an A or B-class processing plant for red meat. The recent closure of Plecas Meats in Nanaimo means the closest provincially licensed abattoir to Port Alberni is 103 km away in Courtenay. The next closest is in Duncan, 134 km away.

Aylard says the COVID-19 crisis has just made the situation worse.

“Travelling that far is not acceptable for health and safety reasons,” she says. “We are seeing an increase in consumers wanting to purchase local meat during this time and producers in our region are facing an unfair economic hurdle to have to travel away and back to provide meat for those customers.”

Paying someone else to process animals means less profit for small farmers.

“We have lost a lot of local agriculture because of this,” says Aylard. “There used to be a lot of people in the valley who had one or two cows.”

While the number of animals in the area doesn’t warrant a Class A facility, she says a Class D plant could go a long way to encourage more meat production.

Affordable land in the Alberni Valley is attracting new farmers.

“We have these young people in our farmers’ institute that are all gung-ho and then they get hit with these regulations [against on-farm slaughter,” says Aylard.

Increased demand

The lack of a local abattoir was highlighted as a barrier to development of the regional livestock industry in the ACRD agriculture plan drafted in 2011. A feasibility study for a Class A plant for red meat in 2016 highlighted many benefits but the community said it was not feasible due to a lack of funding, management and inadequate production volume.

But demand remains, and has even increased.

“The lack of access to red meat slaughter services has been a key roadblock to sustaining livestock production within our region,” the ACRD told BC agriculture minister Lana Popham last September. ”Our producers are suffering due to the competitive disadvantage of having to transport out of the region and the lack of access to services.”

“What we need is the ability to do on-farm slaughter the way farmers always have,” says Aylard. “When the regulations changed after BSE, it took away our control and our ability to make economic development on local farms.”

She is not opposed to a change to provincial inspection for remote facilities.

“If they can do long-distance support for remote medical surgery, I’m sure we can put something in place for animal processing,” she says.

The lack of government response to the issue is frustrating.

“The wheels on the bus are turning awfully slowly,” says Aylard.

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