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Originally published:

February 2019
Vol. 105 Issue 2

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Stories In This Edition

Joy Ride!

Critics urge licence delay

ALR committee files report

Cannabis drives drop in Delta farm assessments

Editorial: Party and province

Back Forty: You can’t get apps on that

Viewpoint: Annual assessments a chance to take stock

Staff reorganization targets leaner fruit co-op

Preliminary hearing in high-profile poultry abuse

Growers pin hopes on Columbia River update

Survey keeps national park reserve in spotlight

Political engagement headlines dairy meeting

World milk prices take blame for shifting returns

Patience is a virtue

Ag Briefs: Sasaki appointed new head of chicken board

Ag Briefs: Ottawa invests in dairy sector

AB: Piece rates, taxes increase

AB: AITC focuses on growth

Capital Region considers compensation cuts

Letters: Protect farmland from cannabis production

Letters: Dog owners need to accept responsibility

Letters: The beef about climate change

Cadillac’ of aviaries will reduce labour costs

Berry growers face new import requirements

Open house reveals secrets of diagnostics lab

Cannabis propagation industry sprouting in BC

Sidebar: Deep roots

FCC targets women with new business program

Agreement sets stage for fish farm phase-out

Grazing, forage and water top list at town hall

Ranchers reassured regarding bovine TB cases

Digging into soil nutrition at education day

Microgreen grower attracts far-flung following

Science of cannabis takes centre stage

Blueberry growers hone use of box liners

Ostrich industry takes flight with big plans

Tunnels boost fruit quality, add to berry season

Big bucks being spent to protect bee health

Sidebar: Province boosts funding

Mystery bee disease studied

Direct-marketing opportunities have potential

Research: Preventing soft scald in apples

Regional food system is the new focus of group’s efforts

Wannabe: Growers deserve our love

Woodshed: A performance Kenneth can’t afford to miss

Jude’s Kitchen: Happy new year, my sweet Valentine

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7 days ago

Farmland Advantage is receiving a $445,000 grant from the federal government. The program, the “brainchild” of Invermere cattle rancher Dave Zehnder, provides compensation to farmers for their conservation efforts to protect BC’s grasslands, riparian areas and wildlife habitat. The funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada under the Species at Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands (SARPAL) and Priority Places programs, will be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas appeared in our March 2022 edition and you can view it at ... See MoreSee Less

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Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

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INVERMERE – Farmers and ranchers in the Columbia Valley will continue to see rewards for taking action to conserve and enhance important riparian areas on their farms. The Windermere District Farmer...
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2 weeks ago

A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural Land Commission hosted in Langley Monday night regarding a proposal to include 305 acres controlled by the federal government in the Agricultural Land Reserve. More than 76,000 people have signed an online petition asking municipal and provincial governments to protect the land from development, and for the federal government to grant a long-term lease to the Heppells. Read more in this morning's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. conta.cc/3XYXw6k ... See MoreSee Less

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Your weekly farm news update

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The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 January 25 2023 Surrey ALR inclusion cheered A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural L
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Mike Manion Pitt Meadows City Councillor

2 months ago

Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand this season and prices remain comparable to last year. But the number of tree farms has decreased dramatically over the past five years and the province will increasingly need to look elsewhere if it wants to meet local demand. More in this week's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. ... See MoreSee Less

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Christmas trees in demand

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Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand, with high quality trees making it to market. “The market is good. We’ll probably outdo last year and last year was one of our best years…
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2 months ago

Another four poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley have tested positive for avian influenza over the weekend -- 15 in the last week alone. There are 60 farms currently under quarantine in BC, more than any other province in Canada and three times that of Alberta, which ranks second. Officials maintain the virus is being spread by dust and groundwater and not farm-to-farm transmission. No farms in the Interior have tested positive this fall. ... See MoreSee Less

Another four poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley have tested positive for avian influenza over the weekend -- 15 in the last week alone. There are 60 farms currently under quarantine in BC, more than any other province in Canada and three times that of Alberta, which ranks second. Officials maintain the virus is being spread by dust and groundwater and not farm-to-farm transmission. No farms in the Interior have tested positive this fall.
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Avian influenza virus can be killed by chlorine at no higher a concentration than is present in drinking water, so unless farms are using untreated groundwater in their barns I don't see how it could be a source of transmission. www.researchgate.net/publication/5594208_Chlorine_Inactivation_of_Highly_Pathogenic_Avian_Influen...

2 months ago

In a surprise move, Lana Popham -- hailed at the recent BC Dairy Industry Conference as a key ally of the agriculture sector -- has been replaced by Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis as part of a cabinet overhaul today by new BC premier David Eby. Popham will now oversee Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. The two ministers worked closely together following the atmospheric river events last fall. ... See MoreSee Less

In a surprise move, Lana Popham -- hailed at the recent BC Dairy Industry Conference as a key ally of the agriculture sector -- has been replaced by Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis as part of a cabinet overhaul today by new BC premier David Eby. Popham will now oversee Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. The two ministers worked closely together following the atmospheric river events last fall.Image attachment
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Goes to show how far-removed our current government is from the agricultural sector. To put someone in this position who has no farming background is a slap in the face to all of our hard-working producers.

Going to be a heck of a learning curve. Helping the agricultural community recover from the biggest natural disasters in history, handling the avian influenza outbreak that is threatening our poultry industry, dealing with a crisis in meat processing, managing ongoing threats from climate change, supporting producers who are facing unprecedented inflation in an industry with very slim margins to begin with..... to name a few of the challenges our new Minister will have to face all with one of the lowest budgets of any ministry. I wish her the best of luck but I hope she's got a lot of support around her.

Best of wishes in your new position

Congrats to Pam, cool to see a Fraser Valley based ag minister but also so sad to see Lana reassigned . I have no doubt she will do an amazing job in her new role.

Will be missed by #meiernation

Bryce Rashleigh

Nooooooo!

Lana did a shit job and now we have a minister with no farming background at all. Aren’t we lucky..

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Microgreen grower attracts far-flung following

Salmon Arm hydroponic grower harvests sales in Calgary

January 29, 2019 byJackie Pearase

SALMON ARM – A different kind of hydroponic grow-op has set up shop in the Shuswap, looking to meet the demand for leafy greens.

Living Leaf Growers started producing microgreens in a corner of Salmon Arm’s Westgate Public Market late last year, planting its first crop in October and harvesting its third in early January.

The 2,500-square-foot space has four sections, each with seven rows of hydroponic growing rafts reaching to the ceiling. Owner Karen Dow expects to have 28,000 plugs of produce – arugula, cabbage, kale, pea shoots, basil, lettuces and more – growing when the facility is fully operational.

“We’re hoping within two to three months we’ll be at full capacity for harvesting upstairs and down,” says Dow. “When the full system is going, we’ll be harvesting 7,000 heads of produce a week.”

In addition, PVC piping along one wall is ready to receive 700 ever-bearing strawberry plants set to arrive in March.

Growth has been steady. The first planting resulted in nearly 50 bags of microgreens, and the second crop yielded 80. Dow and a crew of three picked another 130 bags in January.

Dow is an accomplished businesswoman, but has no gardening experience. She hired Wolf Wesle from Green Croft Gardens in Grindrod to help with the initial set-up and deal with the inevitable snags along the way, like a leaky raft system.

“We have to go to a different raft system, which is really what we should have done from the beginning. That was a mistake but that’s all part of it,” she says. “So, yeah, we’ve had a lot of challenges in there, but they’re fun.”

Wesle combines formal training in hydroponics with more than three decades of hands-on organic experience in his consulting work for Dow.

He is now installing a more eco-friendly channel system to replace the styrofoam rafts for growing, and hemp plugs are replacing Rockwool for starting seedlings. The microgreens themselves are grown on fully biodegradable hemp matts.

Organic seeds, fertilizers and disease and pest management practices are used as much as possible. In fact, small plastic-covered jars containing apple cider vinegar is a simple and common pest control method.

Wesle says adding an organic fertilizer to the mix caused issues that required some trial and error to resolve but has resulted in better colour and texture.

Wesle’s experience tells him there will be a few more issues to deal with before things are running smoothly.

“We currently operate at about 15% capacity but hope to have all kinks ironed out over the next six to 12 months,” he says.

Wesle has agreed to stay on until his farm’s growing season starts in April, and he’ll likely continue as a part-time consultant as required.

Dow sold her initial crops at $1 per bag to people registered through Westgate’s website. Customers provided valuable feedback.

Trials are also helping determine the best crops to grow for the bags of microgreens and mixed lettuce she’s selling.

Dow says she will have no problem selling the produce, with interest already coming from food delivery services in Kelowna, Vernon, Kamloops and even Calgary.

“They like the produce because it’s year-round, it’s organic, it’s fresh; we cut it, you get it,” she notes.

Dow is mulling other options for commercial sales locally but is leaning toward keeping it unique to the Salmon Arm market.

“Right now I’m on the fence about whether I sell to Askew’s and DeMille’s and everybody,” she says mentioning a popular local grocer and farm market.

The hydroponic produce is grown with few inputs but doesn’t qualify for organic certification, which is limited to soil-based production systems. Dow would like to see organic certification criteria amended to accommodate hydroponics.

“I think you’ll see in the next year or two a big change with how hydroponics is accepted,” she says. “It’s a battle coming down and we’d definitely jump on the train on that one.”

 

 

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