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Originally published:

April 2019
Vol. 105 Issue 4

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Stories In This Edition

One province, one panel

Groundwater deadline extended

Happy as a pig!

Sidebar: Still waiting

Feds pour millions into tree fruit research

Sidebar: Will local procurement help?>

Editorial: Confined spaces

Back Forty: BC farmers need more than a land bank

Island Good campaign drives local sales

Poultry industry seeks to stop infighting

Good egg!

Egg farmers to receive biggest quota boost ever

New entrant focus

Decision day looms for chicken pricing appeal

Producers look to CanadaGAP for certification

Organic sector undertakes core review

Hopping to it!

Island couple named Outstanding Young Farmers

Turkey consumption continues to decline

BC potato growers enjoy a strong footing

Sudden tree fruit dieback a growing concern

Late season BC cherries in global demand

Farmers’ markets aim to be local food hubs

Field trial hopes to reduce phosphorus levels

Future looking bright for BC dairy producers

BC could benefit from US trade battles

Saputo puts its Courtenay plant out to pasture

The land of milk and salmon

Sidebar: Farming for the future

Out of the hands of BC farmers

Codes of practice need producer input

Preparation essential for wildfire response

Sidebar: Relief announced for drought, fire

Sidebar: Be FireSmart with these tips

New traceability regs to track movement

Agriculture a notable threat to species at risk

Improper pesticide use threatens access

Threat to neonics spurs scare in spud growers

Orchard presses forward with diversification

Climate-smart growing

Staying on top of soil health is key to sound farming

No small potatoes

Farm families need to have affairs in order

Rotary parlours go upscale at two FV dairies

Study compares organic, conventional diets

Advisory service foresees growing demand

Sidebar: Tree fruit cutbacks a concern

Island dairy producers hone first aid skills

Woodshed: And that’s how rumours get their teeth

Research farm showcases small projects

Jude’s Kitchen: Shooting stars of spring

 

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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

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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 sector undertakes core review

COABC seeks higher profile as organics go mainstream

COABC

March 26, 2019 byPeter Mitham

VERNON – Celebrating organics while preparing for the next generation of consumers was a key theme of the annual conference of the Certified Organic Associations of BC in Vernon, February 22-24.

An open discussion on Friday night, a Saturday morning panel and a Sunday roundtable all touched on the challenges the sector faces as organic products become the norm rather than alternatives to conventional offerings.

While last year’s conference in Abbotsford heard from the sector’s pioneers, this year’s meeting looked to build on their foundation to serve the first generation raised in homes where organic products were the norm.

But some noted that forerunners such as Aaran Stephens of Richmond-based organic cereal maker Nature’s Path Foods Inc. were absent.

“He never comes to these conferences anymore,” noted Andrea Gunner during the Saturday morning panel discussion. “People who have been pivotal in growing this industry into much more of the mainstream … should be part of this discussion.”

While the conference attracted close to 200 people, COABC reports 764 producers registered with its certification programs in 2018. Nature’s Path wasn’t the only absence. Some of the province’s largest growers were absent, including some from the Interior.

Krystine McInnes of Athena Farm in Cawston is the largest organic vegetable grower in the Similkameen. She believes COABC is a critical organization for organic growers but as a producer farming 60 acres she would like to see it engage in greater outreach and advocacy on behalf of growers in the face of economic pressures and a variable climate.

“Personally, I don’t feel there is the value for me as a large producer at these events,” she said. “I’d love to see the COABC become a real resource in these times of disaster and crisis, so organic farmers know where they can go and how they can be supported, and to become a leader in – very loudly and relentlessly – educating the public on why supporting BC organic farmers is so important.”

Sessions at this year’s conference addressed some of the issues concerning McInnes, with presentations on business management and climate change, as well as social issues related to Indigenous peoples and seasonal workers.

The challenge of staying relevant isn’t lost on the association, which launched a core review last November to help it become more responsive to the needs of the sector and consumers.

The review coincides with the province’s new organic labelling regulation, which aims to reduce consumer confusion. The regulation kicked in smoothly, but using the word “organic” in business names is still problematic.

The province’s organic specialist, Emma Holmes, says the ministry’s compliance office can’t ticket companies as long as the term isn’t used to describe the company’s products. However, business names are being collected and could be handed over to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for consideration under regulations governing misleading claims.

Rochelle Eisen, a long-time consultant to the sector and president of the Canadian Organic Growers, told the association’s business meeting that COABC membership isn’t growing at the same pace as the rest of the organic sector in BC. She feels it needs to reinvigorate its position in the public square, an element of the five-year strategic plan COABC adopted last year. The core review will assist it in meeting those objectives

Raising the public profile of COABC and the organic sector through greater use of the association’s checkmark logo is something COABC president Carmen Wakeling would like to see.

The logo has accumulated a degree of brand equity that risks being lost if producers don’t exercise it. It provides consumers with a recognizable brand for locally grown organic produce, something Wakeling said supports consumers’ desire to support local growers.

“If we can’t provide that, somebody else will,” she said.

But as farms grow larger, not everyone can use the logo.

Corry Spitters of Oranya Farms in Abbotsford, the province’s largest organic chicken farm, uses the checkmark on his business card. But his meat can’t carry the logo because it’s packaged under the Kirkland brand in a facility not certified through COABC certification bodies.

Such situations are prompting COABC to consider licensing the logo to non-COABC members to identify BC-grown organic products. The idea isn’t popular with everyone, but many endorsed the need to build relationships with other organizations.

“The foundation of it is relationships, and communication,” said Michelle Tsutsumi, who facilitated the round-table discussion. She encouraged more outreach and connections with farmers and the public, and greater engagement with the world beyond the organic sector.

“It’s absolutely essential,” Wakeling said “We’re scary to the world, I think, sometimes.”

She added that growth, even turning a profit, shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing.

“It’s okay to make money,” Wakeling told members. “It’s really important for you to celebrate it.”

She encouraged growers to see the potential to use money for good, rather than act like it’s a bad thing.

“Make sure your company’s making money, make sure you’re paying yourself, and give back,” she said.

 

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