Country Life in BC

BC potato growers optimistic

March 4, 2020

Poor weather across Canada in 2018 led to strong demand for BC potatoes as the…

Organic growers discuss challenges

March 4, 2020

Research, policy and farm tours were on the agenda as the Certified Organic Associations of…

Province issues co-op guidance

March 4, 2020

Two new guides from the BC Ministry of Agriculture aim to help producers looking to…

Tax deferral for livestock

February 26, 2020

Ranchers and livestock producers in 52 census subdivisions across BC will be able to take…

Flood mitigation funding available

February 26, 2020

The province has handed out $52 million for structural flood mitigation projects over the past…

Province pares agriculture budget

February 19, 2020

Two years of funding increases for the province’s agriculture ministry have come to an end,…

Research association mulls future

February 19, 2020

The future of the Pacific Field Corn Association will be on the agenda when the…

BCMMB new entrants shortlist

February 19, 2020

Despite headlines touting the rise of plant-based diets, an intrepid 77 candidates applied to be…

Apple growers fight low prices

February 12, 2020

BC tree fruit growers are seeing extremely poor returns on their first pool advance from…

FARM NEWS UPDATE

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What a difference! The Kelowna Farmers Market held their first spring market of the year on Saturday, April 4. Vendors were limited to 15, access was controlled to one entrance and attendance was minimal. Lisa Dueck of Sterling Springs Chicken says that the majority of her customers pre-ordered on line and picked up during the first hour of the market, leaving her wondering about whether attending the formal market was necessary as opposed to organizing a "pop up" pick up location. The photos -- pre- and post-covid -- say it all. ... See MoreSee Less

6 hours ago

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BC farmland values rose 5.4% in 2019, according to Farm Credit Canada’s annual survey released this week. The highest average value per acre in the province last year was recorded in the Okanagan, at $103,288 as growers purchased orchards for vineyard development. The most expensive region continued to be the South Coast, where sale values maxed out at $186,000 an acre. Northern BC, which was among the most active regions in the province last year according to provincial property transfer data, saw values rise 4% to an average of just $1,712 an acre. Vancouver Island, which led the country last year in terms of value gains, saw a 13.1% increase in land values to an average of $57,5000, driven by transactions on the Saanich Peninsula. Sign up for free FARM NEWS UPDATES delivered to your inbox every Wednesday morning from BC's agricultural news source. buff.ly/2H3dK8k ... See MoreSee Less

1 day ago

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Control measures are helping to flatten the curve when it comes to the Japanese beetle infestation in Metro Vancouver. Catches were down 85% last year versus 2018, and a third year of sprays begins April 6 to kill larvae in 30 parks and opens spaces in Vancouver where the beetle was identified in 2017. The sprays aim to eradicate the beetle, which could devastate local crops if it became established in agricultural areas. This hasn’t happened yet, thanks in large part to an unprecedented cooperative initiative between all levels of government and industry that the province recognized last fall with an award for excellence and innovation in public service. ... See MoreSee Less

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PAY DAY! The Best Bet Bull Sale just finished in Williams Lake and what a sale it was! Three bulls topped the sale at $9,250 each, including this Simmental entry from Mitchell Cattle Co., Mitchells Revelstock 77G. He's headed to Poole's Arrow Ranch in Prince George. Linda Macham of Stellar Red Angus bought the high selling Red Angus bull, also from the Mitchell herd, Red Mitchells Galaxy 135G. She paid $9,000 -- he had a birth weight of only 67 lbs, yet impressive weaning and yearling EPDs. (We liked him, too!) Only a half dozen bulls sold for less than $4,000 and only two were passed. The sale grossed nearly $492,000 on 79 bulls. We put the sale average at about $6,227. And most, if not all, the buyers were from BC. Just an excellent sale that showed there's still a whole lot of confidence in BC's beef industry in these historic times. ... See MoreSee Less

3 days ago

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Some BC dairy producers began dumping the equivalent of 3% of their weekly production on Friday, mirroring actions by producers across the country as well as in the US. The dumping follows the cancellation earlier this week of three incentive days scheduled for each of April and May to meet what had been expected to be higher consumer demand. “The board is still seeing strong demand for dairy products being purchased through grocery stores, but we are currently seeing a reduction in cream requirements due to the closure of restaurants and coffee chains due to the need for social distancing,” the BC Milk Marketing Board said. "All dairy farmers will share this burden of lost income equally," Fraser Valley dairy farmer Julaine Treur explained to followers of Creekside Dairy on Facebook, noting how dairy boards, processors and producers have been scrambling to keep up with a "rapidly evolving" situation. "We all are hopeful this will be a very temporary measure and that stability will soon return to the market, allowing our boards to more easily anticipate and plan for a balance in supply and demand." The dumping amounts to about 477,660 litres.Uncertainty. Instability. A constantly changing environment. In this pandemic this is true for many sectors of the economy and of course for most of our readers in their personal lives too. The dairy industry and your local dairy farmers are no exception to this. Although farming has rightfully been deemed an essential service, this does not insulate nor protect us from a rapidly evolving market and changes in consumer habits.

When social and physical distancing measures came into place a few weeks ago, demand for dairy products surged as our consumers tried to anticipate and plan for the unknown. Was a total lockdown imminent? This led to millions of consumers stocking up on essentials, including milk. Grocery stores struggled to keep milk on the shelves and soon limited the amount of dairy products each consumer could purchase. Farmers were asked to produce more milk to meet this increased demand.

But at the same time, different aspects of the marketplace were also in flux. Restaurants and coffee shops either closed or began operating at reduced capacity. This has led to a reduction in demand for dairy products packaged in ways that are not usually available in your grocery stores: think of butter in tiny containers, bulk shredded cheese for pizza companies, 250mL milk cartons for schools, etc, etc. However, demand for retail-ready dairy products is very high with you, our consumers, staying home (thank you!) and preparing your own meals. It’s no easy task for processing companies to switch to retail ready packaging and involves so many logistical layers, such as a bigger supply of bottles, containers, and labels, different packing lines, and so on. Our provincial dairy boards and dairy processors have been scrambling to keep up with this rapidly evolving situation. Obviously this is something that our boards and processors have never before experienced nor is it something they could have planned for.

Dairy farmers and their boards and committees have donated excess milk to food banks. We’ve donated funds to charities and non-profits to help them purchase dairy products for the needy in our communities. Our boards have done their utmost to try to avoid wasting milk but some farms have now been asked to dispose of the milk in their bulk tanks to eliminate the excess supply.

It’s devastating watching perfectly good, nutritious milk not end up where it belongs: on your table. While we are very aware that we are so fortunate to still have a job to go to every single day, seeing the product of our hard work go down the drain just hurts. I won’t sugar coat that. The farmers who will be asked to dispose of their milk will be compensated; it’s a loss that will be shared across provincial milk pools. All dairy farmers will share this burden of lost income equally. We all are hopeful this will be a very temporary measure and that stability will soon return to the market, allowing our boards to more easily anticipate and plan for a balance in supply and demand. That’s the whole goal of our Canadian supply managed dairy system: we balance the needs of our consumers with the supply of milk from our family farms. But cows don’t have a tap that we can turn on and off. If a cow produces 30L of milk today, she will do that tomorrow too, and the next day, and the next, and the next. It is thus very difficult to react quickly to sudden market fluctuations.

How can you help? Buy milk. Purchase some cheese or ice cream to enjoy with your family. Enjoy real cream (dare I mention whipping cream?) in your home brewed coffee. The milk is here, it’s available, it’s ready to be processed, shipped to the retailers, then purchased by you to feed your families. Please be patient with us. We ask for your understanding as our industry tries to adjust to this new, strange environment. We pray that extreme measures like disposing of milk will be short lived and that solutions will be quickly found to find a way for this milk to end up on your table.

Rest assured that your farmers are still working hard to provide you and your families with top quality, ethically produced, nutritious dairy. This is a tough time for our industry (as it is for so many sectors) but our commitment to our animals and to you our consumers has not wavered. We’re here for you. Be safe. Be well. Much love to you all. ... See MoreSee Less

4 days ago

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FARM NEWS UPDATE

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