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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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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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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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