• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Country Life In BC Logo

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915

  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Search

Primary Sidebar

Originally published:

November 2018
Vol. 104 Issue 11

Subscribe Now!

Sign up for free weekly FARM NEWS UPDATES

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Country Life in BC, 36 Dale Road, Enderby, BC, V0E1V4. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
Your information will not be
shared or sold ever

Stories In This Edition

Dairy pays price in new trade deal

USMCA uncorks wine sales

ALC crippled while province mulls revitalization

Editorial: Think Big

Back Forty: If wishes were horses, beggars would ride

Viewpoint: Antibiotics are important tools for producers

Farms scramble as thousands of jobs go unfilled

Farmers’ institutes set to meet in Vancouver

Poultry growers adjust to reduced antibiotic use

Traceability regulations expected next year

UFV consolidates two centres

Plowman in the making

Letters: Animal welfare monitored

Success starts with a solid business plan

Turkey growers look to boost markets

Dairy sale

Strawberry growers rank fruit quality highest

Westcoast Holsteins brings home the prizes

Cannabis raises new workplace concerns

Tasty!

Ag Briefs: Cannabis conference alongside PAS

Ag Briefs: First Nations farms funded

Ag Briefs: Cannabis grower breaks ground

Ag Briefs: harvest conflict results in fewer plow match competitors

Pilot project in Delta supports perennial crops

Uvic research seeks perfect picking time for wine grapes

Ag council wants to get farmers CHATting

Sidebar: Remember to CHAT

Fleeced

Buying stations gain ground

Snow joke

Triple Threat

Meat processing review fails to meet expectations

Livestock transport under scrutiny by activists

Ranching program grads ready for next field

Yields high as cranberry season runs late

Tour features multi-generation farms

Horse Power

Edible flowers show promise for BC growers

Retirement blossoms into flower nursery

Research: Sunflower pollen can help improve colony health

Woodshed: The countdown begins for Kenneth, Deborah

4-H BC: Funding helps advance initiatives

Wannabe: Choosing gratitude

Jude’s Kitchen: Roots and keepers

 

More Headlines

Follow us on Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

24 hours ago

Fecal coliform levels in the streams and watercourses that flow through Langley has been an issue for decades. The Langley Environmental Partners Society (LEPS) has received $97,000 from the federal government to work with property owners to help them reduce their impact on water quality and the environment, and ensure their properties are in compliance with the Agriculture Environmental Management Code of Practice (AEMCoP). The story is in the February edition of Country Life in BC. Subscribe today bit.ly/3RIKms9/.

#BCAg #aemcop
... See MoreSee Less

Fecal coliform levels in the streams and watercourses that flow through Langley has been an issue for decades. The Langley Environmental Partners Society (LEPS) has received $97,000 from the federal government to work with property owners to help them reduce their impact on water quality and the environment, and ensure their properties are in compliance with the Agriculture Environmental Management Code of Practice (AEMCoP). The story is in the February edition of Country Life in BC. Subscribe today https://bit.ly/3RIKms9/.

#BCAg #AEMCoP
View Comments
  • Likes: 1
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

2 days ago

BC dairy farmers are feeling the pinch and some in the Fraser Valley are considering selling as narrow margins get tighter and high financing costs complicate succession plans. It's our cover story in the February edition of Country Life in BC.

bit.ly/3JGgk6B

#bcagriculture #bcdairy
... See MoreSee Less

BC dairy farmers are feeling the pinch and some in the Fraser Valley are considering selling as narrow margins get tighter and high financing costs complicate succession plans. Its our cover story in the February edition of Country Life in BC.

https://bit.ly/3JGgk6B

#bcagriculture #bcdairy
View Comments
  • Likes: 16
  • Shares: 15
  • Comments: 8

Comment on Facebook

So much pressure being put on the dairy industry from the US. It’s hard to keep the lobbying at bay. Canadian dairy should supply Canadian tables and the farmers who provide it should be paid what they are worth. There is no such thing as cheap food

Farm Management is key. It can't all be blamed on the government.

Just been watching NZ TV news and the price of food. Most complaining about the price of dairy products due to the fact that domestic prices are high with most production being exported. No supply management.

I really don't understand the concern here. The article literally says 30-40 of 600 BC dairy farms (that's less than 1%) are experiencing financial pressure, likely due to being somewhat overleveraged. Sounds like just some mismanagement rather than a broad policy failure is the cause here.

Whole Food Plant Based eating ...oat milk coconut milk Almond milk soy milk etc

Noooooooo. That’s exactly what this LIB/NDP party wants. They want everyone to cave in to their knees. Don’t do it. It’ll be the end.

A lot of this is government squeeze. Be hungry and compliant!

The government is the eternal enemy of humanity.

View more comments

1 week ago

Farmland Advantage is receiving a $445,000 grant from the federal government. The program, the “brainchild” of Invermere cattle rancher Dave Zehnder, provides compensation to farmers for their conservation efforts to protect BC’s grasslands, riparian areas and wildlife habitat. The funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada under the Species at Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands (SARPAL) and Priority Places programs, will be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas appeared in our March 2022 edition and you can view it at ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

buff.ly

INVERMERE – Farmers and ranchers in the Columbia Valley will continue to see rewards for taking action to conserve and enhance important riparian areas on their farms. The Windermere District Farmer...
View Comments
  • Likes: 1
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

2 weeks 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

Link thumbnail

Your weekly farm news update

web-extract.constantcontact.com

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
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

Mike Manion Pitt Meadows City Councillor

2 months 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

Link thumbnail

Christmas trees in demand

buff.ly

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…
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Subscribe | Advertise

Poultry growers adjust to reduced antibiotic use

Tighter management of feed, environment needed to ensure flock health

October 29, 2018 byPeter Mitham

ABBOTSFORD – Approximately 60,000 chickens roam Ray Nickel’s four-level barn in Abbotsford. The environment in the facility is computer-controlled, with air flow and temperature closely monitored to ensure the birds are comfortable and – more important – healthy. Close quarters mean that if one bird gets sick, all are vulnerable.

To further reduce the risk of disease and boost birds’ resistance, a regular dose of antibiotics is mixed into the feed as a preventive measure. Some consumers object to the practice and opt for birds raised without antibiotics (RWA), but the practice keeps mortalities in commercial flocks manageable. The average mortality rate in BC broiler flocks last year was 6.8% versus 7.8% for antibiotic-free flocks.

Growing concerns about antibiotic resistance were also prompting Health Canada to mandate tighter controls on drugs administered to flocks.

Poultry in Canada is free of drug residues at slaughter but growers took note of concerns and voluntarily began reducing antibiotic use in 2014. Preventative use of Category 1 antibiotics (those critical to protecting humans from diseases such as tuberculosis) ended in May 2014. The second phase is a ban on Category 2 antibiotics, such as penicillin, at the end of 2018. By the end of 2020, the preventative use of Category 3 antibiotics in poultry will be finished.

Steps by the poultry industry to reduce antibiotic use combined with new Health Canada regulations that come into effect December 1 governing over-the-counter medications for livestock are good news for socially conscious consumers but mean changes in how producers raise flocks.

“This is going to be a bit of a struggle,” says Nickel, a director of the BC Chicken Marketing Board. “We’ve become conditioned to using products to reduce the risk of having [bad] things happen. … [Now] the only time we will use those products is if the birds are actually going to get sick, and then we will use them for treatment purposes. It will require more due diligence by producers to monitor their flocks.”

Closer monitoring of birds isn’t the only thing Nickel and other farmers are going to be doing. They’re also going to be taking a leaf out of the RWA playbook and vaccinating flocks.

“Strategies around initial bird placement and how you start your flocks could be a factor,” says Nickel, who is already changing how he manages his flocks. “We know there are other things available to use besides some of the traditional medications, such as vaccine programs. … The wetter your litter is, the more opportunities there are for flock stress, so litter management is a big deal.”

Producers can’t do it alone, however.

“The feed companies are going to be playing a pretty integral part in this as well because of the way that they put their programs together,” says Nickel, noting that producers and nutritionists will have to work together to make sure birds are getting the feed they need to ensure proper gut health.

Mike Leslie, a nutritionist with Ritchie Smith Feeds Inc. in Abbotsford, expects feeds will be milled to match flocks.

“What we have to do now is pay more attention, make sure we’re delivering the right nutrition to the bird and not to the bugs,” he says. “You work with the producers to monitor how performance goes and adjust as needed.”

The preventative use of antibiotics usually targets clostridium bacteria, which can release toxins that cause necrotizing enteritis. Clostridium feeds off any excess nitrogen in the bird’s gut, meaning feed needs to be easily digestable so nutrients are fully taken up. Canola feed may be used less than other ingredients in the future, but ultimately it will depend on the circumstances of the particular flock.

“We’re looking at all sorts of gut health-type products to try to make things as smooth as possible … and reduce the likelihood of a disease,” says Leslie.

Many producers fear the potential for mortality rates to increase. Average mortalities for BC broilers rose when Category 1 antibiotics were withdrawn in 2014, although this was explained as a function of lower quota utilization. RWA flocks typically have higher average mortalities but Nickel points out that the past year has seen it occasionally drop below that of the industry as a whole.

Yet the industry as a whole consistently reports mortalities above the 5.4% target the Chicken Farmers of Canada’s animal care program specifies. Getting on target as the medicines on which producers have relied are phased out is going to take work.

“The management levels are going to be more intense,” says Nickel. “We have the highest standards on chicken in the world. Maintaining that is really important for producers. … This may end up costing more down the road, but I think that’s a fair trade-off.”

 

 

 

 

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

Previous Post: « Meat processing review fails to meet expectations
Next Post: Vole control in blueberries »

Copyright © 2023 Country Life in BC · All Rights Reserved