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Originally published:

OCTOBER 2020
Vol. 106 Issue 10

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Stories In This Edition

BC Beef set to launch

All in the Family

Peace leads farmland sales

Second residences allowed in ALR until July 2021

Ready for the season

Editorial: Turkey run

Back 40: Some things about farming never change

Viewpoint: Growing craft beer sector built on community connections

BC Tree Fruits prepares to sell assets, apples

Sidebar: No quick fix

Cherry growers slammed by record losses

Pickers – and choosers

Animal rights activists land in court

Meat producers frustrated by consultations

A2 milk launch aimed at lactose-intolerant

Ag Briefs: Northern Health signs on with FeedBC

Ag Briefs: Cranberry outlook brightens

Ag Briefs: Agriculture nabs recovery funding

Ag Briefs: North Okanagan reaches farmers

Pandemic delays review of anti-dumping order

Potato field day showcases new varieties

Province tightens rules for employers

Peace grain growers gather bitter harvest

Learning to do

Vancouver Island grain harvest looks promising

Slaughter waste receives fresh funding

Ranchers threaten litigation over treaty negotiations

Sweet sale

Sidebar: Rancers seek compensation for Chilcotin land losses

Ardill Ranch receives Century Farm award

Sidebar: The long haul

Research: Regenerative ranching counters climate change

A new generation keeps the family greenhouse growing

Hazelnut growers on the lookout for invasive stink bug

New president for BC Hazelnut

First-gen farmers plot a vision for success

New research director puts people first

Reflective tarps piloted in FV blubeberries

Speciality mushroom growers come into their own

Seeking insights

Dairy success is about attention to detail

Woodshed: To Rocky’s end, and flirting with danger

Green bean trials target large grower needs

Farm Story: There’s plenty to put the dynamite in the family dynamic

AITC rolls out virtual options for teachers

Jude’s Kitchen: Brunch for a bunch

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1 month ago

It’s been four years since the last tulip festival was held in Abbotsford, but this year’s event promises to be an even bigger spectacle than ever. Spanning 27 acres along Marion Road, Lakeland Flowers will display more than 70 varieties of the spring blossom, including fringe tulips and double tulips, the first of six months of flower festivals hosted by the farm. Writer Sandra Tretick spoke with Lakeland Flowers owner Nick Warmerdam this spring to find out how the floods on Sumas Prairie in 2021 have had an impact on his business plan as he transitions from wholesale cut flower grower to agri-tourism. We've posted the story to our website this month. It's a good read.

#CLBC #countrylifeinbc #tulipfestival
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Tulip grower makes the shift to agritourism

www.countrylifeinbc.com

ABBOTSFORD – On a bright sunny day in early April, Nick Warmerdam points out his office window at No. 4 and Marion roads to a spot about half a kilometre away across the Trans-Canada Highway.
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Omg 🥹 Jared Huston let’s go pls

1 month ago

Farming, like any other job.. only you punch in at age 5 and never punch out 🚜 ... See MoreSee Less

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Easton Roseboom Levi Roseboom🚜

1 month ago

The province is allocating $15 million to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. for a perennial crop replant program benefitting tree fruit, hazelnut, berry and grape growers. The program aims to cover 100% of plant removal costs and 75% of replanting costs. Funds are also available for sector development. The new program replaces a suite of sector-specific replant programs and recognizes the importance of sector adaptation in the face of market, disease and weather challenges. ... See MoreSee Less

The province is allocating $15 million to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. for a perennial crop replant program benefitting tree fruit, hazelnut, berry and grape growers. The program aims to cover 100% of plant removal costs and 75% of replanting costs. Funds are also available for sector development. The new program replaces a suite of sector-specific replant programs and recognizes the importance of sector adaptation in the face of market, disease and weather challenges.
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1 month ago

Just a week after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials revoked the last primary control zones established in the Fraser Valley to control last fall’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a new detection on April 29 at a commercial premises in Chilliwack underscored the risk of a spring wave. This is the first new detection since January 22, also in Chilliwack, and brings to 104 the number of premises affected since the current outbreak began April 13, 2022. The disease has impacted 3.7 million birds in BC over the past year. ... See MoreSee Less

Just a week after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials revoked the last primary control zones established in the Fraser Valley to control last fall’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a new detection on April 29 at a commercial premises in Chilliwack underscored the risk of a spring wave. This is the first new detection since January 22, also in Chilliwack, and brings to 104 the number of premises affected since the current outbreak began April 13, 2022. The disease has impacted 3.7 million birds in BC over the past year.
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Any other details for FVN and chillTV please? radiodon11@gmail.com

1 month ago

The province is contributing $3.2 million for upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station in Abbotsford that was overwhelmed during the November 2021 flooding on Sumas Prairie, part of a collaborative approach to flood mitigation in the region. During a press conference at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food offices in Abbotsford today, the province said a collaborative approach that includes First Nations is needed as Abbotsford pursues a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy due to the potential impacts on Indigenous lands. Agriculture's interests will be represented by technical teams within the agriculture ministry. ... See MoreSee Less

The province is contributing $3.2 million for upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station in Abbotsford that was overwhelmed during the November 2021 flooding on Sumas Prairie, part of a collaborative approach to flood mitigation in the region. During a press conference at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food offices in Abbotsford today, the province said a collaborative approach that includes First Nations is needed as Abbotsford pursues a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy due to the potential impacts on Indigenous lands. Agricultures interests will be represented by technical teams within the agriculture ministry.
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I sure hope part of that money is to educate the people in charge of the pumps and drainage system! They just relayed on computers and weren’t even physically monitoring the water levels. I’ve lived in the Fraser Valley my whole life and the old guys managing that system know how to do it. The new generation just sit behind computer screens and don’t physically watch the water levels. That system works very well when you do it right. The Fraser river levels are very important. The system is designed to drain the Sumas Canal (the part that runs thru the valley) into the Fraser. When they let it get backed up it put pressure on the dyke and the weak part burst. Simple science. And yes, the dykes need to be worked on too. Abbotsford has not been maintaining properly for years.

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Meat producers frustrated by consultations

Action, not talk, needed from province, say small growers

Small-Scale Meat Producers Association executive director Julia Smith

October 1, 2020 byTom Walker

MERRITT – BC meat producers are frustrated that the province is spending more time studying how to help them than getting on with acting on its findings.

The BC Ministry of Agriculture released an intentions paper September 14 aimed at modernizing rural slaughter practices, but Julia Smith of the Small-Scale Meat Producers Association says the government doesn’t seem to realize the urgency of the situation.

“The intentions paper talks about undertaking a risk assessment project to support development options for rural meat production,” says Smith. “It’s too late for that now. Many operations simply cannot survive another round of consultations.”

Smith says the slaughter and cut and wrap capacity in BC is facing a serious crisis that will only accelerate in the coming months. Abattoirs are already cancelling bookings that were made months ago, she says, and producers are being left with literally nowhere to process their animals legally.

“The government has an opportunity here to provide relief and oversight during a global pandemic that could be a catalyst for long-lasting, progressive change in the future,” she notes.

But the government already knows that. It first began talking with the industry back in 2016. There were numerous consultations and a standing committee of the legislature delivered a report on the situation in 2018.

Nova Woodbury, executive director of the BC Association of Abattoirs, says her members are tired of saying the same things.

“I have 10 Word documents open right now that are past submissions I have made to the ministry and I am trying to consolidate them into yet again another response,” she said.

This is the worst time of the year to try and talk to the industry, Smith adds.

“September is not the time of year to initiate meaningful consultation with the farmers and ranchers,” she says. “Implement some emergency measures now and continue to consult through the winter to hammer out more permanent changes for the spring.”

Overall, the intentions the province outlines are good and reflect what many in the industry have been saying. They include increasing the standards of inspection for class D and E plants to more closely align their uninspected slaughter practices with those of inspected class A and B processors.

“This paper provides the support the industry has been asking for and gives reassurance to members of the public that food safety and animal welfare standards are going to be enforced,” says Woodbury.

The paper follows the province’s decision in August to consolidate all meat inspection in the province under the agriculture ministry’s Meat Inspection Branch, a change effective December 1. (While the branch oversaw inspections at class A and B plants, D and E facilities were under the BC Ministry of Health.)

The intentions paper focuses on four key areas: public health and safety, innovation, regulatory efficiency and strengthening the provincial food supply.

Public health and safety is where improving oversight, increasing inspections and updating codes of practice for D and E facilities fall.

Virtual inspections, post mortem inspections and third-party involvement in inspections is part of innovation. The framework for D and E processors could also be updated.

Regulatory efficiency will be addressed by working with FrontCounter BC to improve the licensing process.

Aiming to strengthen the provincial food supply, the government acknowledges that demand is increasing for local meat. But that isn’t a new or unexpected issue, Smith points out.

“We were already struggling to meet the growing demand long before COVID hit,” she says. “A resilient and diverse local food supply chain isn’t something we should have just in case the ‘real’ food supply chain breaks down. It should be the norm and we need appropriate infrastructure and regulations that reflect this.”

The deadline for public feedback is November 16*. The province promises to begin making regulatory and policy changes by the end of the year.

Woodbury hopes there is money for the government to follow through. She notes that the meat inspection branch moved to cut costs last year by mandating restrictions on overtime.

Smith urges the province to use taxpayers’ dollars wisely.

“Instead of spending money on more consultation, spend it to support abattoirs to expand, local butchers to expand, and new people to open slaughter and butcher facilities,” she says.

With the province announcing $1.5 billion in funding last month for economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith believes there’s no better time for action.

“If we were ever going to make something happen quickly, it is now,” she says.

[The deadline for feedback was extended to November 16 after this story went to press.]

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