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Originally published:

AUGUST 2019
Vol. 105 Issue 8

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Stories In This Edition

Province allows family on farms

Teamwork!

Rain hammers cherry crop

Sidebar: A brief history

Chilcotin ranchers’ hope for hay crop washed away

Editorial: Dog days

Back Forty: Keeping the kids safe down on the farm

Viewpoint: Top-down governance no way to help caribou

Egg board set to get cracking on quota distribution

Get ’em while you can

Feds address labour shortages

Bee healthy!

Marketing board names new entrant winners

BC berry research gets big funding boost

BC hosts International Blueberry Organization

Tour showcases innovation, marketing savvy

Governments agree to national park reserve

BC’s oldest farm seeks new management

Apple dieback investigation underway

Bumper crop for raspberries fails to materialize

Balance key to restoring fire-affected range

Global demand set to buoy cattle prices

A good start helps calves finish in top shape

Ranchers collaborate to preserve grasslands

Rotational grazing pays off year-round

Sidebar: Track costs, see profits

Stock show kicks off summer for 4-H members

Finding new potential for a lost native berry

Sidebar: Others see same benefits

Shuswap tour showcases local producers

Research: Do honeybees spread viruses to wild bees?

Volken Academy breaks ground on new farm

Woodshed: Romance is in the air, for all but the Hendersons

Fourth-generation farmers chart ambitious course

Jude’s Kitchen: In-season produce is king

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4 days ago

Congratulations to Travis and Brad Hopcott of Hopcott Farms for taking top honours as Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers last week in Laval, Quebec. For more, see this week's FARM NEWS UPDATE at www.countrylifeinbc.com/hopcotts-win-oyf#BCAGd#clinbcAg #CLinBC ... See MoreSee Less

Congratulations to Travis and Brad Hopcott of Hopcott Farms for taking top honours as Canadas Outstanding Young Farmers last week in Laval, Quebec. For more, see this weeks FARM NEWS UPDATE at https://www.countrylifeinbc.com/hopcotts-win-oyf-canada/

#BCAg #CLinBC
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Congratulations to all of you. You have done a tremendous job growing your business

Congratulations from Coniagas Ranches! Your business is awesome!!!

Thank you so much! 😁

Congratulations Travis!

Well done ! Well deserved

Congratulations

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6 days ago

Congratulations to Chilliwack’s Ben Janzen, former chair of the BC Milk Marketing Board, who received the BC Dairy Achievement Award from Jim Byrne of the BC Dairy Historical Society on November 23. Byrne hailed Janzen’s selfless work on behalf of the industry, first as a member of the first producer-elected board of Agrifoods International Cooperative in 1996 then as chair of the BC Milk Marketing Board for five years from 2016. "These successes have allowed the industry to increase processing capacity and develop initiatives that, when completed, will provide processing for growth for many years to come,” Byrne said. In response, Janzen expressed gratitude while emphasizing the determination and resilience of producers in the face of challenges. “You’re the ones that make this industry great,” he said.

#BCAg #CLinBC
... See MoreSee Less

Congratulations to Chilliwack’s Ben Janzen, former chair of the BC Milk Marketing Board, who received the BC Dairy Achievement Award from Jim Byrne of the BC Dairy Historical Society on November 23. Byrne hailed Janzen’s selfless work on behalf of the industry, first as a member of the first producer-elected board of Agrifoods International Cooperative in 1996 then as chair of the BC Milk Marketing Board for five years from 2016. These successes have allowed the industry to increase processing capacity and develop initiatives that, when completed, will provide processing for growth for many years to come,” Byrne said. In response, Janzen expressed gratitude while emphasizing the determination and resilience of producers in the face of challenges. “You’re the ones that make this industry great,” he said.

#BCAg #CLinBC
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I don't understand? Maybe it's my own ignorance but don't we produce way more milk than we use and force farmers to dump anything above their quota to ensure the prices stay high? Wouldn't we want to keep the retail price as low as possible while ensuring farmers receive their required compensation? Wouldn't that be worth an award? Help me understand 🤷‍♂️

Is this guy a reason why I cannot buy whole unpasteurized milk for my own personal use, yeah personal use even to make glue ...but really I don't carecwhy anyone wants whole unpasteurized milk ..it is Not my business..and nor should it be the business of bearacracy ..so in mho ppfffft

2 weeks ago

We are profoundly saddened to announce the passing of veteran farm journalist and Country Life in BC editor emeritus David Schmidt. He died suddenly in Chilliwack on November 20. For 35 years, David was the face and voice of Country Life in BC, covering producer meetings across the Fraser Valley and throughout BC. His reporting earned many national awards and he was honoured with several lifetime achievement awards, including the 2018 Scotiabank Champion of Agriculture, as he edged toward retirement at the start of the pandemic in 2020. He was, as one former ag minister eloquently put it, the "encyclopedia of BC agriculture." We will miss him terribly. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced. For more, see today's FARM NEWS UPDATE - www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-agriculture-loses-a-champion/ ... See MoreSee Less

We are profoundly saddened to announce the passing of veteran farm journalist and Country Life in BC editor emeritus David Schmidt. He died suddenly in Chilliwack on November 20. For 35 years, David was the face and voice of Country Life in BC, covering producer meetings across the Fraser Valley and throughout BC. His reporting earned many national awards and he was honoured with several lifetime achievement awards,  including the 2018 Scotiabank Champion of Agriculture, as he edged toward retirement at the start of the pandemic in 2020. He was, as one former ag minister eloquently put it, the encyclopedia of BC agriculture. We will miss him terribly. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced. For more, see todays FARM NEWS UPDATE - https://www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-agriculture-loses-a-champion/
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Very sad to hear of his loss…amazing dedication to Country Life.

He will be missed. His dedication to the agricullture industry was exceptional and conversattions with David were always welcomed

David was just an exceptional person . He had an unbridled passion for Agriculture. He will be so missed in this Industry. Condolences to David's family and friends.

Condolences to David's family and also his work family. He was a veteran agricultural supporter and reporter, and in his younger days attended every agricultural event he possibly could! He always had insightful views on the current agricultural state of affairs in the Fraser Valley, and also on the government programs and relief offered. He will definitely be missed in the Fraser Valley agricultural community.

David's thoughtful, careful and insightful reporting set a standard in farm reporting in BC, and much further. He will be very much missed.

Deepest Sympathy to family and friends.

Our most heartfelt condolences.

Very sad to hear this.

Sad to hear 😞

Very sorry to hear this. David was a first class journalist and an all around good human being.

Rip David.

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3 weeks ago

An agriculture plan progress report presented to Kelowna council November 6 shows a drop in the number of active farm operations in the Central Okanagan region since 2017. Six years ago, there were 1,034 actively farmed parcels; today, there are 983, according to BC Assessment data. Read more in this week's FARM NEWS UPDATE bitly.ws/ZScG ... See MoreSee Less

An agriculture plan progress report presented to Kelowna council November 6 shows a drop in the number of active farm operations in the Central Okanagan region since 2017. Six years ago, there were 1,034 actively farmed parcels; today, there are 983, according to BC Assessment data. Read more in this weeks FARM NEWS UPDATE https://bitly.ws/ZScG
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3 weeks ago

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Marketing board names new entrant winners

Process awarded quota to three out of 95 applicants

Melanie & Edward Dyson

August 1, 2019 byDavid Schmidt

ABBOTSFORD—The BC Milk Marketing Board has chosen the first three successful applicants in its New Entrant Program.

After clearing the waitlist in its previous Graduated Entry Program, the BCMMB introduced the NEP in August 2018. Ninety-five applicants paid the $250 fee to be included in the first draw, held in February 2019. A random draw selected eight applicants for the second step in the process. Each was required to submit a detailed business plan to a board-appointed selection committee.

Chaired by Walt Goerzen, who also chairs the board’s Milk Industry Advisory Committee and Specialty Producers Advisory Committee, the committee included two agri-business reps, one financial services rep, one processor rep from the Western Dairy Council, one producer chosen by the BC Dairy Association and one current GEP producer.

After meeting with each applicant and studying their business plans, the committee recommended and the board accepted Edward and Melanie Dyson of Port Alberni, Jonathan and Eleny Quapp of Rosedale and William Romeyn of Chilliwack to be the first three successful applicants.

“It was quite a challenge to pick three from the eight,” Goerzen said, noting they had a “diverse” set of applicants to choose from.

In the end they focused on each applicant’s experience, business plan and passion for the industry.

Experience was critical. The committee questioned the chances of an applicant succeeding without any direct experience in dairying, Goerzen says, and he expects the committee to recommend tightening future application criteria to weed out unsuitable applicants.

“It’s a new program so the process has some room for adjustments,” he notes, pointing out the BC Egg Marketing Board’s NEP has a more detailed initial application process which may have some merit in the dairy industry.

Another important question was whether the applicants could begin a dairy operation without the help of the NEP.

“Helping new entrants into the dairy industry that otherwise couldn’t do that is a key aspect of the program,” Goerzen states.

Edward Dyson, one of the three successful applicants, calls himself “a second-generation wannabe dairy farmer” at 27 years old. His parents, Agricultural Land Commission chair Jennifer Dyson and her husband, were once on BCMMB’s GEP waitlist but gave up waiting after several years.

Instead, the Dysons moved to Port Alberni in 2003 and started a water buffalo dairy. The herd has 70 animals and they’re currently milking 20 water buffalo. (The number fluctuates.)

“I’m already running a dairy farm, just with a different species,” Dyson says.

He and his wife, Melanie, a 24-year-old agricultural graduate of the University of Alberta, are already living on the family farm. Dyson is presently “an unofficial full partner” in the farm and he says the farm ownership will be reorganized to meet NEP requirements.

Dyson admits “a bit of nervousness” about the process but felt “we were good candidates. We spent quite a bit of time on our business plan.”

He believes he has a head start, noting the farm already has a double-four herringbone parlour for its water buffalo herd. The parlour will be retrofitted so it can be used to milk both the water buffalo, which they will continue to farm, and the dairy cows.

“Our goal is to start by this time next year,” he says. “We want to take our time to get healthy animals and do things right.”

As new entrants, the Dysons will receive 15 kgs of Continuous Daily Quota, worth $547,500 at the current quota exchange price, enough for about 12 to 13 cows. The program also provides a 1:1 matching grant of up to eight kgs for additional kilograms purchased on the exchange, something Dyson expects to take full advantage of.

“We hope to maximize the program within five years,” he says.

BCMMB manager of policy and communication Vicki Crites explains that the NEP quota is subject to a declining assessment of 10% a year.

“After 10 years they would cease to be ‘new entrants’ and would simply be considered producers,” she explains.

Dyson admits that even 31 kgs of CDQ may not be enough to make the farm fully viable as a stand-alone dairy but believes it is “a good start.”

“It’s pretty tough to get a start in the industry,” he says, noting, “we have the water buffalo to help us in the early years and hope to grow the dairy over time.”

Dyson admits he and Melanie are guinea pigs for the new program.

“With the water buffalo, we had to be open and transparent so we’re used to the attention. We’re happy to share our experience with the public and the industry,” he says.

Although the program accepted only three applicants this year, that will change.

“The 2019 NEP process was considered a transition year,” Crites says. “The board will run another NEP application and selection process in 2020 (and every second year thereafter). The 2020 process will select six new entrants for production starts in 2021 and 2022. New deadline dates and an updated user guide for the 2020 NEP selection process will be posted to the board’s website in fall 2019, with an expected application deadline early in 2020.”

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