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Current Issue:

JANUARY 2023
Vol. 109 Issue 1

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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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Peace whipped by wild winds

Grain bins were toppled in a massive wind storm that swept through the Peace Region last week. [BC Grain Producers Association photo]

July 7, 2021 byPeter Mitham

The record heat wave that baked many parts of BC last week also created turbulent conditions for crop farmers in the Peace region, where temperatures exceeded 36 degrees Celsius.

The high pressure system unleashed dramatic winds of more than 100 km an hour that swept down from the mountains. By the time the winds reached Rose Prairie, an hour north of Fort St, John, gusts were reaching upwards of 120 km an hour. Several grain bins were destroyed.

The region is mostly home to oat and fescue growers said Malcolm Odermatt, chair of the BC Grain Producers Association, who toured the area and saw the damage for himself.

“The wind went and created a round hole in a steel structure. I don’t understand how wind can do that,” he says. “There was another bin that was still standing that it looked like King Kong had hit it with a baseball bat.”

While some reports have suggested a tornado hit the area, it hasn’t been confirmed. Odermatt said such a phenomenon is unheard of in the area.

The grain bins were not covered by insurance. Since they’re not considered buildings, they require their own policy. Moreover, since they’re generally inexpensive and durable, most farmers don’t insure them. The bins on Odermatt’s own farm at Baldonnel southeast of Fort St. John have been there for 70 years.

“They’re not a huge expense,” he says – unless they have to be replaced all at once.

“When the wind comes and takes down 70% of them, suddenly it’s a massive bill that you have to pay for,” he says, noting that high steel costs mean they’re even more expensive. “It’s going to cost two to three times what it initially did to build to replace them.”

There’s also the chance of delays in receiving new bins, as many fabricators continue to follow protocols designed to fight COVID-19. Structural issues are also affecting supply chains, lengthening delivery times.

Crops in the area had been looking good prior to the windstorm, giving hope to growers who had been hit hard by three years of challenging weather. But without bins, growers will have nowhere to put this year’s harvest.

“The wind didn’t seem to do any harm to the crops,” says Odermatt. “But for those few farmers that did lose the majority of their grain storage, now they have crops and nowhere to store.”

BC Grain Producers Association members are scheduled to gather for their annual general meeting in Dawson Creek on July 15.

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