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Originally published:

FEBRUARY 2022
Vol. 108 Issue 2

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Stories In This Edition

Grain prices hit chicken growers

Farmers helping farmers

Groundwater deadline firm

IAFBC takes over environmental programs

Editorial: Spring shadows

Back 40: Old tractors pull loads of memories

Viewpoint: Animal agriculture is in the crosshairs

Dairy farmers assured recovery funding on its way

BC SPCA hits pause

Soaring fertilizer prices add to cost pressures

Higher milk prices, costs raise stakes at retail

Growers face recertification challenges

Ag Briefs: Omicron forces rescheduling of ag shows

Ag Briefs: Sumas Prairie farmers sue government

Ag Briefs: BC Tree sells another property

Weather deals another blow to berry growers

Cherry growers assessing winter damage

Grape growers grapple with cold damage

Sidebar: Grape bud hardiness index

Farmers face delays from lab closures

Forage council sets sights on growth

Farmers step up in emergency operations

The birds come first at B Jack

Ranchers waiting for federal fencing funds

Integrated control strategy keeps predators at bay

Sidebar: By the numbers

Peace producers work to expand meat processing

BC goats to benefit from genetics investment

Robson Valley family realizes its dreams

Creamery builds a taste for local connections

Research: Scientists learn how plants respond to heat stress

Blueberry growers on the hunt for pollination options

Viewpoint: Diversity, equity, inclusion is an ongoing process

Farm Story: Positive results arent always sensational

Sweet

Woodshed: Clay makes his intentions known to Ashley

FCC gives 4-H clubs a financial boost

Jude’s Kitchen: For your sweetie

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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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Peace producers work to expand meat processing capacity

Peace producers work to expand meat processing capacity Site C fund supports development of a new red meat plant

Christoph Weder is getting ready to launch a slaughter, cut and wrap facility at his ranch in Hudson’s Hope that will benefit not just his own operation but other beef and bison producers in the region. SUBMITTED

February 1, 2022 byKate Ayers

HUDSON’S HOPE – BC farmers and ranchers continue to grapple with meat processing challenges in the province. Despite government efforts to amend licensing and financial supports, livestock and poultry producers struggle to get their meat products to market.

The issue is particularly acute in remote areas of the province. While many can have small-scale plants, larger facilities are more challenging despite the proliferation of small-scale producers.

This is where a $50,000 grant to Christoph Weder of Venator Ranches Ltd. in Hudson’s Hope by the BC Hydro Peace Agricultural Compensation Fund is set to make a difference.

Weder is launching a slaughter, cut and wrap facility on his operation to increase the harvest of beef and bison in the Peace region.

Announced in December, the funding will help finance the construction of a provincially licensed processing facility. The project is one of 19 projects funded during the latest round of awards.

“We will basically be 90% complete by April and hope to have our licence in place by mid-summer and start slaughtering by September,” says Weder.

His goal is to process 30 animals a week, equating to 1,500 animals a year. “I have three full-time staff that we will involve in the slaughtering side of things. We’ll only slaughter one day a week and process four days a week,” Weder says.

The new facility will serve cattle and bison producers from Fort St. John, Chetwynd, Hudson’s Hope and Peace River Valley, but the plant will also have an immediate impact on the viability of Weder’s business.

“I ran a meat company called Heritage Angus Beef for 10 years and sold it, so this is not new to me, how to market meat. There’s a great opportunity in BC with five million consumers and not a whole lot of processing on the beef side of things,” says Weder.

There are 22 provincial plants licensed for cattle but they handled just 22,584 animals last year or about 5% of the BC herd. Other initiatives, like the new BC Beef Producers Inc. plant in Westwold, have yet to become operational, while others have stalled due to challenges securing labour.

Weder has relied to date on the two provincially licensed red meat plants in the Peace River Regional District, Lawrence Meat Packing in Dawson Creek and South Peace Colony Meats in Farmington, but accessing them requires driving at least two and half hours one way – a significant amount of time and expense.

With strong demand for local meat, building his own plant is a move that makes sense.

“We’re doing really well with direct sales,” says Weder. “We wouldn’t be able to expand unless we built this plant because there are only two other plants in Peace Country that can custom process our stuff. [Both] of them are at full capacity and there’s no way we can grow our business based on using their facilities.”

The completion of Weder’s abattoir will “improve the economic bottom line of  beef and bison producers through increased farm gate sales,” Northern Development Initiative Trust said in a statement announcing the grants.

“This funding for Venator Ranches’ slaughter, cut and wrap facility will provide extensive benefits to cattle and bison producers in the area,” says Northern Development’s CEO Joel McKay.

Also funded through Northern Development and BC Hydro is the new Agricultural Impact and Opportunities Initiative.

“This is a proposal-based initiative that provides grant funding for large-scale agriculture projects that will benefit the agriculture and agri-foods economy in the Peace Region. The deadline for applying to the AIOI is February 11,” says McKay.

To further expand access to custom harvesting for small producers, the Small-Scale Meat Producers Association plans to build an on-farm red meat abattoir in Rose Prairie to process beef, pork and sheep. As of September 2021, about $130,000 had been invested in the project.

SSMPA will continue to work on securing funding from the Northern Development Initiative Trust for the  facility. It applied for funding during the latest intake for the BC Hydro Peace Agricultural Compensation Fund but was not successful.

 

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