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Originally published:

November 2017
Vol. 103 Issue 11

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Stories In This Edition

Horse Power

Buy BC rollout in works

Hullcar report delayed

Breaking new ground

Perfecting the straight and narrow

Editorial: A new deal

The good, the bad, the disturbing: climate change Blueberry growers must rise above the competition

Vitala Foods cracks open free range egg market

Regulating the range

Winner! Winner

Sentence loosened for dairy worker

Farmers must take lead in building public trust

Food system confidence growing but costs still bite

Foodlands Trust initiative moves forward

Cost of record wildfires continues to rise

New range, new challenge

Peace grain yeilds good but drying needed

New hire for research

BC Tree Fruits singled out for excellence

Land commision to allow breweries on farmland

Greens seek limits on foreign ownership

Salmon farms work towards sustainability

Fruit growers stepping up replant lobby

Arctic apples make official debut

3 million pounds!

Cannabis hopes more than a pipe dream

More government regulation needed

Hop farm burns but demand fuels hope

Predators, politicians worry sheep producers

Mother Nature to blame for late cranberries

Hard work pays off for family business

Research breeds better bees for Vancouver Island

Persistence is the key to success: innovation

What investors want

Penicillium is an insidious Blue Meany for fruit growers

Collaboration key to extension programming

BC sheep breeders honoured with GenOvis awards

Good breeding, feeding are keys to strong replacement ewes

Next Generation

Strong appetite for female purebreds at fall sales

Range management strategies highlight symposium

Dairy sale average one of the best

Keremeos fair has ambitious plans for future

Leiutenant Governor honoured by 4-H BC

Wannabe

Woodshed: Henderson loses ground

Delicious diet foods

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7 days 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

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Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

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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...
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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

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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

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

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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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Predators, politicans worry sheep producers

November 1, 2017 byBarbara Johnstone Grimmer//  Leave a Comment

VICTORIA – The annual meeting and symposium of the BC Sheep Federation (BCSF) in Central Saanich on September 29 began with a panel of long-time sheep producers from across the province discussing challenges facing the BC sheep industry.

BCSF president Valerie Moilliet Gerber sums up her view of challenges for the BC sheep industry in two words: predators and politicians.

Gerber has worked hard with other sheep producers to bring a wild predator compensation program to fruition but provincial elections and wildfires have delayed the program and her frustration is evident.

“Every turn, something else happens to slow us down,” says Gerber.

This summer there were losses all over the province to every type of predator. Gerber’s family lost 21 sheep to a wolf.

Metchosin abattoir operator John Buchanan of Parry Bay Sheep Farm also lists predators as a challenge.

The area where his sheep graze was long predator-free. While coyotes remain absent from Vancouver Island, bear and cougar attacks are up. Buchanan feels he’s at risk of being pushed off grazing areas. High feed costs on Vancouver Island mean access to grass is critical.

Predators aren’t Buchanan’s only concern.

As an abattoir operator, Buchanan faces challenges keeping his workers. A concern for local slaughter plants is seasonal fluctuations in demand for their services. Rather than lay off then rehire workers, Buchanan prefers to retain his workers and find year-round work for them. To do this, he depends on the support of local growers to keep the plant operating.

And his view on the price of lamb?

“Lamb will never be priced like chicken when it is so expensive to grow,” he says.

Saturna Island sheep producer and abattoir operator Jacques Campbell serves as director to the BC Association of Abattoirs (BCAA). Her farm was developed by her parents who were agriculture graduates from UBC. The slaughterhouse was built in 1958 and used for years before the meat regulations changed in 2007.

“This was a game-changer,” says Campbell. “Dad resisted, and I did the upgrades.”

Every time a grant became available, Campbell applied. She took a humane handling course, then became eligible to access funds to improve animal welfare and built a cattle kill-box. She trained to score lambs for the BC Premium Lamb program developed by BCSF and BCAA with a focus on food safety and ensuring local lamb was humanely handled and slaughtered, and traceable.

Campbell’s abattoir operates seasonally from June to January because feed is too expensive to lamb year-round and there is other work on the farm to do.

Lorea Tomsin, president of the Inter Island Sheep Breeders Association and BC director with the Canadian Sheep Breeders’ Association, commented on the year-long split in the Canadian Sheep Federation. Ontario and Alberta have withdrawn from the organization leaving just seven provinces represented by the national organization.

Tomsin emphasized the importance of a united national organization to speak for sheep producers on issues of national concern, including biosecurity, strong trade policies and the upcoming traceability regulations. It’s also important for the association to be able to serve as the industry’s ear to government.

Tomsin also touched on the value of lamb meat. She encouraged producers to price with confidence, knowing what their costs are and the work that goes into raising the animals.

“Don’t be shy to price lamb fairly – to you,” she says.

Bev Greenwell, president of the BC Purebred Sheep Breeders’ Association and editor of BC Sheep N’Ewes for the BC Sheep Federation, talked about the challenges on her ranch in Princeton.

Greenwell and her husband grow alfalfa-grass hay, have cattle and raise purebred Suffolks that they sell as breeding stock or custom slaughtered lambs. Raising and slaughtering the animals is a challenge, though, because feed, equipment and the abattoir are two hours away. Moreover, slaughter dates must be booked before the lambs are born.

Greenwell also mentions efforts to meet the challenge of aging farmers by using more mechanization for water and haying equipment. Greenwell has concerns about climate change, especially with recent droughts and wildfires. She was impacted this summer after a wet, warm spring encouraged a bolt of grass growth, then heat withered it into the perfect fuel for fires.

Combined with bighorn sheep, which often show up where they shouldn’t be, and sheep ranching in Princeton is clearly no picnic.

“Politics are intensified,” says Greenwell.

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