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Originally published:

SEPTEMBER 2022
Vol. 108 Issue 9

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4 days 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

1 month 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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2 months ago

The scale of this year's avian flu outbreak now rivals the massive outbreak of 2004. An additional 13 commercial farms in the Fraser Valley have tested positive in the last week. To date, 49 commercial farms and 1.2 million birds have been impacted. CFIA is struggling to keep up with depopulation of sick birds. ... See MoreSee Less

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AI outbreak rivals 2004

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The scale of this year’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza now rivals the massive outbreak of 2004 that saw farms throughout the Fraser Valley depopulated. An additional 13 commercial…
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Commercial operations need to reevaluate their stocking densities and overall health and welfare of the animals within their systems if they are ever going to have a fighting chance against this virus.

Yup cause food shortage

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Milk board picks new entrant finalists

Finalists have until end of 2023 to be up and running

John and Candice Riemersma are one of three finalists chosen by the BC Milk Marketing Board for its New Entrant Program. SUBMITTED

September 1, 2022 byKate Ayers

ARMSTRONG – The idea of seeing their children grow up to pursue dairy farming as a viable career was John and Candice Riemersma’s core motivation in applying for the BC Milk Marketing Board’s New Entrant Program.

It also won the couple a spot among the three families selected as finalists in this year’s program, which the board announced on July 21.

John is a second-generation producer who grew up on his family’s dairy farm in Agassiz with parents Pier and Fennalies and brother Simon.

While he enjoyed working on the family’s farm, John had another passion: sport. So, in 1995 at the age of 18, he left the farm to attend Briercrest College and Seminary in Saskatchewan. John played varsity volleyball and completed a degree in sports administration. He also met his future wife Candice and after graduating the couple moved to Alberta where John completed a Bachelor of Arts and Kinesiology degree at the University of Lethbridge, and Candice achieved a Bachelor of Education.

Back home in Agassiz, his parents sold the original farm and moved to Armstrong to start another dairy operation in 2010.

Two years later, John and Candice planned to make a short visit to Armstrong to help Pier and Fennalies transition the farm to Simon. The couple and their four children – Cash, 14, Mila, 11, Lucy, 9, Remington, 6 – have been helping on the farm ever since.

While John and Candice had a long-term vision for themselves in the world of athletics, their family and the farming lifestyle have brought the couple back into the dairy sector.

“The coaching world is pretty tough,” John says. “You’re gone lots and away from the whole family. So, we decided to come to the farm thinking that we can farm together as a family and have our kids involved.”

Working hard, seeing the job through and overcoming adversity are some experiences the Riemersmas bring to the table.

“Sport, team and training experiences prepare you very much for many things in life. As much as it seems very different from agriculture, there are a lot of correlations,” Candice says.

“One good parallel is that it takes a lot of time to have success. You’re going to have more failures along the way and with the failures, people can quit, or they can see them as opportunities to learn and grow.”

The couple currently lease buildings and land from John’s parents and look forward to fulfilling the 31 kilograms of quota offered through the NEP. For now, they are absorbing as much knowledge as possible.

Throughout the application and interview process, the couple have toured multiple farms and asked a lot of questions.

Overall, the family is excited to get going on this new endeavour.

“I think Canada’s history of generational farms is so amazing and I think we are losing it really quickly,” Candice says. “The possibilities of my children being able to take over or grow, expand, diversify, whatever they want to do, is super important to us.”

The other two finalists also bring family experience in the dairy industry to their plans.

Douglas Groenendjik, a third-generation farmer from Chemainus, looks forward to starting an operation in the Cowichan Valley.

“I’m quite excited to give it my best go. I learned a lot from my parents, and my parents are great dairy farmers themselves, but I want to see what I can do by myself with their mentorship and other people in the industry’s mentorship,” Groenendjik says.

Michael and Gina Haambuckers look to turn their dream into a reality in the Fraser Valley. Michael has worked in the genetics industry for the last decade and Gina works as a herdsperson on her parent’s 65-head dairy in Agassiz.

The couple are most looking forward to “going through the process of building something for ourselves,” Michael says.

The new entrants have until December 31, 2023, to start production, qualify for the program and receive incentive quota from the board.

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