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Originally published:

September 2018
Vol. 104 Issue 9

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Stories In This Edition

BC faces another summer of fire

Heather takes the cake

ALR report confirms agenda

Organic labelling regulations kick in September 1

Editorial: Inside information

Back Forty: Quantum change in the barn and kitchen

OpEd: Civic elections important for agriculture

Armyworm infestation hits North Okanagan

New entrants face scrutiny, but no waitlist

Surprise quota increase for dairies

Carrot field day

National apple programs focus of OK meeting

Okanagan tree fruits grab international spotlight

Farmers put food hub on wish list

Farming matters

Potato trials reflect change in consumer tastes

Veterinary partnership aimrs to improve service

Ag Brief: New public trust manager planning workshops

Ag Brief: BCAC hires new environmental programs mgr

Ag Brief: Poultry specialist joins IAF

Ag Brief: Salmon farmers hire new executive director

Ag Brief: New island agrologist

Automation good investment for nursery

Hort show offering more educational opportunities

Grant harnesses opportunities for farming

Flood management requires collaboration

Rancher goes wireless to manage irrigation

Wildfire lessons learned, but still work to be done

National park reserve consultations to resume

BC youth prevail at Western Canadian Classic

Land trust for Metro Vancouver floated again

Cawston market garden looks to future

Summer Institute plants seeds of knowledge

Cariboo farm thrives with mentorship

Research: Genetic editing stops deadline pig virus

Ploughing championship in sight

Coop rentals connect urbanites with farming

Maple Ridge consults on backyard chickens

Organic pioneers reflect on growth, changes in sector

Hooked on 4-H

Fair time

Woodshed: Sweet-talkin’ Henderson makes vacation plans

Wannabe: Here’s to the ordinary

Feast of Fields

Jude’s Kitchen: September and birthday celebrations

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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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New entrants face scrutiny, but no waitlist

Dairy applicants must have basic dairy training, experience to receive quota

September 5, 2018 byDavid Schmidt

ABBOTSFORD – Are you genuinely interested in becoming a dairy farmer?

Having finally cleared its waitlist, the BC Milk Marketing Board has released details of its revised New Entrant Program (NEP). Unlike previous iterations, the new NEP will not include a waitlist.

“Waiting 10 or 15 years to get started is not workable,” says BCMMB chair Ben Janzen.

Under the new program, new entrants will receive 15 kgs of Continuous Daily Quota. At today’s quota price, that represents a value of $577,500. The board will also provide a matching grant of up to eight kgs of CDQ if the new entrant purchases additional quota, and give new entrants priority status on the quota exchange.

If a new entrant receives the maximum available grant of 23 kgs of quota by purchasing eight kgs of CDQ, the total holding of 31 kgs will still only be enough for about 22 to 25 cows.

Janzen admits that may not be enough to create a viable dairy farm but says the NEP’s objective is to assist new farmers get into the industry.

“The objective has never been to give someone a farm. Dairy farming is not a cheap business to get into,” he says.

The amount of quota new entrants will receive was the subject of considerable discussion, he adds.

“We have quite a few farms with less than 50 kgs of CDQ and it wouldn’t be appropriate to give a new entrant a quota holding that would be larger than a significant number of existing farmers,” he explains.

The BCMMB will accept applications for the first round from November 2018 through January 2019. The board intends to bring in three applicants the first year and six every other year thereafter. Applicants who are unsuccessful in one round may apply in future rounds. There will be a $250 non-refundable fee for all applications.

To be eligible, applicants must be at least 19 years of age and permanent residents of BC. Spouses may submit only one application, and neither the applicant nor spouse should have had any prior interest in any supply-managed quota in Canada. While those criteria are common to all BC supply-managed NEPs, the BCMMB has added a significant additional requirement: applicants must have at least two years on-farm dairy experience or have completed a DairyPro apprenticeship or similar program.

“We want people who have some basic experience or training in dairying,” Janzen explains.

All eligible applicants will go into a random draw in which eight (16 in subsequent draws) applicants will be chosen. Those applications will then go to a selection committee consisting of a board-appointed chair, two agri-business representatives, a financial services representative, one current producer chosen by the BC Dairy Association, one existing NEP producer and one BCMMB staff member. The selection committee will not include any BCMMB directors.

Applicants chosen in the draw will then have to submit a proposed farm location, five-year specific business plan, 10-year general business plan, two letters of reference and a brief essay describing why they want to become a dairy farmer and how the program will assist them.

The selection committee will review and score each application. Applicants can improve their score by proposing to serve a needed niche market. The top three applicants will be invited to become new entrants and given a year to come into production.

That is still not the end of the process, however. New entrants will be prohibited from merging their NEP quota with an exempt family transfer for 10 years. If they accept an exempt transfer during that time, the NEP quota they have been granted will be clawed back. They will also be required to personally carry out the proAction on-farm validation and attend at least one regional producer meeting each year for the first five years and provide a written update of their progress and/or challenges as new farmers.

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