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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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1 month ago

It’s been four years since the last tulip festival was held in Abbotsford, but this year’s event promises to be an even bigger spectacle than ever. Spanning 27 acres along Marion Road, Lakeland Flowers will display more than 70 varieties of the spring blossom, including fringe tulips and double tulips, the first of six months of flower festivals hosted by the farm. Writer Sandra Tretick spoke with Lakeland Flowers owner Nick Warmerdam this spring to find out how the floods on Sumas Prairie in 2021 have had an impact on his business plan as he transitions from wholesale cut flower grower to agri-tourism. We've posted the story to our website this month. It's a good read.

#CLBC #countrylifeinbc #tulipfestival
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Tulip grower makes the shift to agritourism

www.countrylifeinbc.com

ABBOTSFORD – On a bright sunny day in early April, Nick Warmerdam points out his office window at No. 4 and Marion roads to a spot about half a kilometre away across the Trans-Canada Highway.
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Omg 🥹 Jared Huston let’s go pls

1 month ago

Farming, like any other job.. only you punch in at age 5 and never punch out 🚜 ... See MoreSee Less

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Easton Roseboom Levi Roseboom🚜

1 month ago

The province is allocating $15 million to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. for a perennial crop replant program benefitting tree fruit, hazelnut, berry and grape growers. The program aims to cover 100% of plant removal costs and 75% of replanting costs. Funds are also available for sector development. The new program replaces a suite of sector-specific replant programs and recognizes the importance of sector adaptation in the face of market, disease and weather challenges. ... See MoreSee Less

The province is allocating $15 million to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. for a perennial crop replant program benefitting tree fruit, hazelnut, berry and grape growers. The program aims to cover 100% of plant removal costs and 75% of replanting costs. Funds are also available for sector development. The new program replaces a suite of sector-specific replant programs and recognizes the importance of sector adaptation in the face of market, disease and weather challenges.
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1 month ago

Just a week after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials revoked the last primary control zones established in the Fraser Valley to control last fall’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a new detection on April 29 at a commercial premises in Chilliwack underscored the risk of a spring wave. This is the first new detection since January 22, also in Chilliwack, and brings to 104 the number of premises affected since the current outbreak began April 13, 2022. The disease has impacted 3.7 million birds in BC over the past year. ... See MoreSee Less

Just a week after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials revoked the last primary control zones established in the Fraser Valley to control last fall’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a new detection on April 29 at a commercial premises in Chilliwack underscored the risk of a spring wave. This is the first new detection since January 22, also in Chilliwack, and brings to 104 the number of premises affected since the current outbreak began April 13, 2022. The disease has impacted 3.7 million birds in BC over the past year.
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Any other details for FVN and chillTV please? radiodon11@gmail.com

1 month ago

The province is contributing $3.2 million for upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station in Abbotsford that was overwhelmed during the November 2021 flooding on Sumas Prairie, part of a collaborative approach to flood mitigation in the region. During a press conference at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food offices in Abbotsford today, the province said a collaborative approach that includes First Nations is needed as Abbotsford pursues a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy due to the potential impacts on Indigenous lands. Agriculture's interests will be represented by technical teams within the agriculture ministry. ... See MoreSee Less

The province is contributing $3.2 million for upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station in Abbotsford that was overwhelmed during the November 2021 flooding on Sumas Prairie, part of a collaborative approach to flood mitigation in the region. During a press conference at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food offices in Abbotsford today, the province said a collaborative approach that includes First Nations is needed as Abbotsford pursues a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy due to the potential impacts on Indigenous lands. Agricultures interests will be represented by technical teams within the agriculture ministry.
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I sure hope part of that money is to educate the people in charge of the pumps and drainage system! They just relayed on computers and weren’t even physically monitoring the water levels. I’ve lived in the Fraser Valley my whole life and the old guys managing that system know how to do it. The new generation just sit behind computer screens and don’t physically watch the water levels. That system works very well when you do it right. The Fraser river levels are very important. The system is designed to drain the Sumas Canal (the part that runs thru the valley) into the Fraser. When they let it get backed up it put pressure on the dyke and the weak part burst. Simple science. And yes, the dykes need to be worked on too. Abbotsford has not been maintaining properly for years.

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Organic labelling regulations kick in September 1

Warnings will be the first step in enforcement

September 5, 2018 byPeter Mitham

VERNON – The province’s new labelling regulations for organic products kick in September 1, but producers who don’t comply will face warnings before being hit with fines.

“The BC government, working with Certified Organic Associations of BC (COABC), will use a graduated enforcement approach that initially focuses on bringing businesses and individuals into compliance through education and warnings,” ministry communications staff said.

Plans for the new labelling requirements were announced in September 2016 and enacted as part of the Food and Agricultural Products Classification Act in December 2016. The new regulations require that any product sold in BC and labelled as “organic” be certified organic by a designated certifying body. COABC is an umbrella group that represents nine certifying bodies active within the province. Producers who describe their products as organic but lack the appropriate certification risk various penalties, including a $350 fine.

The enforcement regime will be complaint-driven, but details were still being worked out at the end of August.

“We have continued to work with the Ministry of Agriculture towards the enforcement of the regulation and we are all working hard to sort out details,” COABC executive director Jen Gamble said August 17.

The depth of the confusion confronting producers and those engaged in selling farm products was evident earlier this year in conversations Gamble had both at COABC’s annual general meeting in Abbotsford as well as a week later at the annual conference of the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets. Certified organic farms and processors represent approximately 40% of sales at BC farmers’ markets.

A key concern for market managers was the wording vendors would be allowed to use, and how the new labelling requirements would be enforced.

“Those specific details are still being worked out,” agriculture ministry staff told Country Life in BC at the time, declining to say whether coffee brewed from organic beans could be called organic or whether business names that include the word “organic” would need to change.

The province’s organic specialist, Emma Holmes, has not responded to requests for clarification.

While the province gave producers a generous window to prepare for the new labelling regime, including seeking certification to allow them to label their products as organic, it’s not clear how many producers took advantage of the opportunity.

According to Statistics Canada, a total of 550 BC farms claim to have organic products for sale in 2016, but just 449 were certified organic. A further 110 were in transition to organic production.

COABC’s own figures list 693 certified producers in 2016, and 748 in 2017.

Gamble says many farms that claim to be organic are close enough to achieve certification if they want, but she has no idea how many actually have done so in response to the new regulations.

“This is an almost impossible question for us to answer,” she says. “We do not have access to the reasons people are choosing certification so though our membership has increased over the last few years, we cannot attribute it directly to the new regulation.”

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