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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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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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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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