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Originally published:

April 2018
Vol. 104 Issue 4

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Stories In This Edition

Labour trouble

OYF winners from Kootenays

Loan program will focus on female farm entrepreneurs

Editorial: Telling the story

Back Forty: Political succession has its perks and pitfalls

Op Ed: Research is a focus of BC’s grape and wine sector

Lack of processor capacity limits quota increases

Raw milk advocates take case to Victoria

Pig Trace identifies over 900 BC hog producers

Organic growers provide feedback on ALR

COABC changes governance structure

Organic growers prep for new labelling regs

Above-normal snowpacks cause for concern

Senate hearing highlights climate change concerns

BC egg producers ramp up production

Sidebar: Call for collaboration

Ag spending up, but don’t say “fire”

Trump wrong on NAFTA

Chicken growers demand pricing parity

Allocations clawed back as demand dwindles

Sidebar: Supply management debate

Ag Brief: Fruit industry mourns leader Greg Norton

Ag Brief: ALR draws feedback

Ag Brief: BC rancher to head Canadian Cattlemen’s

Ag Brief: Provincial lab vindicated

Farmers’ markets aiming for greater share

Cannabis smoke screen

Cherry growers eye Korea

Market champions

Making the right call in a horrible situation

Optimistic outlook for beef sector

Bull buyers on a mission

Soil, cover crop management highlights workshop

Fibresheds give local movement new meaning

Compensation available for sheep losses

Research: Study considers optimism & pessimism in calves

Weeds a big challenge for forage producers

Cranberry growers wrestle with low yields

Sidebar: Election postponed

Sanding and cranberry plant health

US consumers buy up non-browning apples

Foodgrains tour to Nepal makes a difference

Sidebar: Career options

Sale benefits those in need

4-H BC: The grand prize

Wannabe Farmer: Patience is a virtue embraced by farmers

Woodshed Chronicles: The Massey takes Henderson for a spin

Jude’s Kitchen: Spring greens

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1 day ago

A turkey farm in West Abbotsford is the second commercial poultry flock to tested positive for avian influenza since the initial case was reported in Enderby on April 13. CFIA announced the case May 19, but has yet to define the control zone. Ray Nickel of the BC Poultry Association says more than 50 farms are in the vicinity of the infected premises, meaning control measures — including movement controls — will have a significant impact on the industry. The supply of birds moving into the country from US hatcheries will also be affected, compounding the host of supply chain issues growers have been dealing with over the past year. A story in our June issue will provide further details. ... See MoreSee Less

A turkey farm in West Abbotsford is the second commercial poultry flock to tested positive for avian influenza since the initial case was reported in Enderby on April 13. CFIA announced the case May 19, but has yet to define the control zone. Ray Nickel of the BC Poultry Association says more than 50 farms are in the vicinity of the infected premises, meaning control measures — including movement controls — will have a significant impact on the industry. The supply of birds moving into the country from US hatcheries will also be affected, compounding the host of supply chain issues growers have been dealing with over the past year. A story in our June issue will provide further details.
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2 weeks ago

The province has extended the order requiring regulated commercial poultry operations to keep their birds indoors through June 13. Originally set to expire this Friday, the order was extended after a careful review by the province's deputy chief veterinarian. Poultry at seven premises, all but one of them backyard flocks, have tested positive for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza since April 13. The order allows small-scale producers to continue pasturing their birds outdoors provided biosecurity protocols developed by the Small-Scale Meat producers Association are followed. ... See MoreSee Less

The province has extended the order requiring regulated commercial poultry operations to keep their birds indoors through June 13. Originally set to expire this Friday, the order was extended after a careful review by the provinces deputy chief veterinarian. Poultry at seven premises, all but one of them backyard flocks, have tested positive for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza since April 13. The order allows small-scale producers to continue pasturing their birds outdoors provided biosecurity protocols developed by the Small-Scale Meat producers Association are followed.
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Sounds like 2 weeks to flatten the curve turning into 2 years.

USDA doing avian vax research, May 11 bio-docs to UN incl section on H5N8 w/wild bird spread. Found link to apparent pre-release on May 11 Geller Report. Good luck farmers.

2 weeks ago

Two more small flocks in BC have tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza. The latest cases are in Richmond and Kelowna. CFIA is in the process of determining a control zone around the property in Richmond, the first report in the Fraser Valley of the H5N1 strain of the virus among poultry. Speaking to Country Life in BC this week, federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said CFIA staff are working diligently to address outbreaks, and she encourages small flock owners to do the same. While commercial farms have tightened biosecurity measures, owners of small flocks have greater freedom. “Some smaller ones don’t necessarily have these measures in place,” Bibeau says. “They should also be extremely careful, because if we have a case in a backyard flock ... it could have an impact on bigger commercial installations.” ... See MoreSee Less

Two more small flocks in BC have tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza. The latest cases are in Richmond and Kelowna. CFIA is in the process of determining a control zone around the property in Richmond, the first report in the Fraser Valley of the H5N1 strain of the virus among poultry. Speaking to Country Life in BC this week, federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said CFIA staff are working diligently to address outbreaks, and she encourages small flock owners to do the same. While commercial farms have tightened biosecurity measures, owners of small flocks have greater freedom. “Some smaller ones don’t necessarily have these measures in place,” Bibeau says. “They should also be extremely careful, because if we have a case in a backyard flock ... it could have an impact on bigger commercial installations.”
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Killing our food chain. How do we know they are actually carrying a virus, look what's taking place with covid, is it real.

Ik kan niet zo goed Engels maar als ik het goed begrijp is bij jullie ook vogelgriep maar nog niet bij jullie

Any idea when this episode or bird flu might be over?

3 weeks ago

Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC welcomed its first new members in 20 years at its AGM on April 27. The BC Blueberry Council, BC Cherry Association, BC Cranberry Marketing Commission, BC Food & Beverage Association, BC Meats and Organic BC were approved as members, bringing the IAFBC’s membership to 15 farm and food organizations. IAFBC is also growing in responsibility, managing a record $8.3 million in funding from six funding agencies and developing new programs to support the agriculture sector including Farmland Advantage and Agricultural Climate Solutions. ... See MoreSee Less

Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC welcomed its first new members in 20 years at its AGM on April 27. The BC Blueberry Council, BC Cherry Association, BC Cranberry Marketing Commission, BC Food & Beverage Association, BC Meats and Organic BC were approved as members, bringing the IAFBC’s membership to 15 farm and food organizations. IAFBC is also growing in responsibility, managing a record $8.3 million in funding from six funding agencies and developing new programs to support the agriculture sector including Farmland Advantage and Agricultural Climate Solutions.
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4 weeks ago

A second BC flock has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the province reported this evening, April 25. The small backyard flock of chicken and ducks near Kelowna has fewer than 100 birds and is relatively isolated. This is the second backyard flock to be suspected of high-path avian influenza in the past week. The other, on Vancouver Island, was found to be AI-free. Amanda Brittain, chief information officer with the BC Poultry Association’s emergency operations centre, says the latest case is of minimal concern to industry because there are no commercial flocks within 12km of the premises. ... See MoreSee Less

A second BC flock has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the province reported this evening, April 25. The small backyard flock of chicken and ducks near Kelowna has fewer than 100 birds and is relatively isolated. This is the second backyard flock to be suspected of high-path avian influenza in the past week. The other, on Vancouver Island, was found to be AI-free. Amanda Brittain, chief information officer with the BC Poultry Association’s emergency operations centre, says the latest case is of minimal concern to industry because there are no commercial flocks within 12km of the premises.
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Optimistic outlook for beef sector

Feedlot consultant Kee Jim says there’s a bright future ahead

March 27, 2018 byTom Walker

VERNON – Kee Jim is bullish on beef.

“I feel very strongly that the participants that are in the industry today are in for a pretty good deal going forward,” Jim told North Okanagan Livestock Association members at their education day in Vernon in late February. “I think calf prices are going to continue to be very strong and I think we could test the highs we have seen recently again over the next five years.”

Jim is a veterinarian and founder of Feedlot Health Management Services in Okotoks, AB. His family ranch is Little Fort Herefords, north of Kamloops.

He noted that the last four years have seen the highest cattle prices on record.

“Whether you were selling calves or you were selling yearlings, the last four years have been pretty good,” said Jim. “You have been thinking selling calves for $3.00 a pound was quite a bit of fun? I think we will eventually see some of those numbers again.”

Jim says he can’t see calf prices dropping back under $1.50 unless something “very catastrophic” happens, like back-to-back major drought years in Western Canada or in the US corn belt, or another global meltdown in the financial markets like the one in 2008.

Jim expects cow numbers in Canada will start to increase.

“One of the key messages I have is that 2017 will be one of the lowest points of inventory that we will see in our generation,” he says. “I believe we are finally going to bottom out the number of cows in Canada.”

That’s just under four million cows, with BC’s share (typically 5% of the Canadian total) around 196,000.

Supply and demand is driving prices higher, says Jim.

“The supply has dropped, but not enough to account for this increase in pricing,” says Jim. “While North American demand is robust, what’s driving this is outside-of-North America demand.”

China will have a middle class of 350 million people by 2025, Jim notes, bigger than the entire population of the United States.

“You don’t think that they are going to eat more beef?” he asks rhetorically. “It just seems ludicrous to me that people don’t think that is going to happen.”

The second market Jim is looking at is the European Union (EU).

“If any of you have travelled to Europe, my advice to you is do not eat the beef because it is a horrifying experience,” he quipped.

He says if EU consumers can access a quality product from Canada, they have the money to pay for it.

Producers should consider getting EU-certified.

“We are not moving much beef into that market and part of the reason is sourcing supply,” says Jim. “I am an EU- certified feedlot but it is hard for me to find calves.”

The EU will only accept beef that is certified free of growth enhancing products (GEPs). Jim says if GEPs are not part of your management system (as is the case for 76% of beef animals in Canada), the vet certification and the paper work for EU clearance are worth it.

“You have the potential to get a premium from a very low input,” he says. “But sometimes that premium is difficult to see because when you sell your calves on any given day, there are a number of factors that determine price.”

Jim says demand for the 50% of the beef that stays in Canada is strengthening.

“When demand figures come out for the first six months of the year, it has got to show demand for beef is increasing. Despite all the bad news that is out there, beef is still the number one protein with respect to price.”

The strong competition between the giants of the consolidated retail industry has been good for beef prices.

“Featuring beef is one of the main ways of getting consumers into stores, and retailers have campaigns and programs for that,” says Jim.

Branding programs differentiate products and give consumers more confidence at the retail case.

“Branded beef is the rule now rather than the exception. Look at the success of Certified Angus Beef.”

He adds that specialty programs, such as hormone or antibiotic-free, actually increase consumption.

“Those are people who wouldn’t eat beef if it wasn’t raised the way they want it to be,” Jim notes. While those markets will expand, he doesn’t ever see them being more than 10% of the total market.

The current profitability has led US producers to increase their cow herds.

“The US numbers are starting to come up a fair bit,” Jim points out. “But in Canada, that hasn’t really happened.”

“So tell me why, with four extremely profitable years – the best four in history really – how come no one is increasing their cow herds?” he lightly chided the audience.

An aging rancher demographic and political and tax environments all affect ranchers’ confidence, and many younger people continue to work away at other jobs, Jim says.

“But coming back to the ranch makes more sense now than it has in my entire lifetime because it looks like you could actually make money doing it.”

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