• Menu
  • Skip to primary 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 2022
Vol. 108 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: . 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

Final inspection

Dry Season

Country Life in BC wins awards

Duncan feed mill sounds supply chain alarm

The great pumpkin

Editorial: The price of peace

Back 40: Pumpkins make great conversation starters

Viewpoint: The roots of the ALR point a way to its future

Producers look beyond 2021’s flood

No quick fix

Ag Briefs: Plant centre breaks ground

Ag Briefs: 4-H LEADer recognized

Ag Briefs: New child worker rules

Movement of poultry banned to curb AI threat

Sentencing of animal activists disappoints industry

Weather makes for easier harvest in Peace

Western dairy groups target processors

Funding supports First Nations’ food security

Replant report targets industry over orchards

New national soil study underway

Honey producers target growth with new study

Sweet reward

Hazelnut industry continues to thrive

Producers push for social welfare in organic standards

Sidebar: Compliance rate high

Garlic grower cuts the mustard – and pests

Extended fall improves outcome at corn trial

Forest planning pilot includes range values

Diversification keeps families on the farm

Farm Story: Rethinking the sales strategy could improve profits

Automation boosts market garden’s efficiency

Fallow deer rattle Mayne Island farmers

Best of the best

Winery stakes its hopes on sur echalas planting

Woodshed: “One sweet deal” too hard for Kenneth to resist

Rising input costs create challenges for direct sales

Sidebar: Provincial farmer-chef event returns

Jude’s Kitchen: Comfort comes from the oven

More Headlines

Follow us on Facebook

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

2 days ago

BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

#BCAg
... See MoreSee Less

BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

#BCAg
View Comments
  • Likes: 44
  • Shares: 8
  • Comments: 9

Comment on Facebook

Congratulations!!!

Congratulations!

Congratulations

Congratulations <3

Congratulations to Duncan, Jane, and all the rest of the Barnett family!

Congratulations Jane and Ducan! Sandra Andresen Hawkins

Congratulation Duncan & Jane!!

Congratulations Jane & Duncan 🥳

Congratulations Jane Trott Barnett and Duncan!!!

View more comments

3 days ago

Grapegrower Colleen Ingram, who was recognized earlier this year as the 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association. “Given the devastation we have had over the last three years, I feel like this award should be given to the entire industry,” she says. Her story appears in the June edition of Country Life in BC, and we've also posted to our website.

#BCAg
... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Industry champion named BC’s best grape grower

www.countrylifeinbc.com

KELOWNA – Colleen Ingram’s enthusiasm for collaboration within the BC wine industry is so great that when she was named 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association, she wanted to sh...
View Comments
  • Likes: 6
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

1 month ago

From orchard manager to government specialist and now executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association, Adrian Arts brings a rare blend of hands-on farming experience and organizational leadership to an industry poised for renewal. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment for BC fruit growers, with Arts expressing enthusiasm about continuing the momentum built by his predecessor and working alongside a board that signals a generational shift in agricultural advocacy.

#bcag
... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Arts leads BCFGA forward

www.countrylifeinbc.com

A combination of organizational management and practical farming experience has primed the new executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association to lead the industry forward.
View Comments
  • Likes: 8
  • Shares: 2
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

1 month ago

A public consultation is now underway on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board. Key issues for dairy producers include transportation costs, rules governing shipments and limitations on supporting processing initiatives. Stakeholders have until May 31 to comment.

#bcag
... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Milk board undertakes review

www.countrylifeinbc.com

A public consultation on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board is underway as part of a triennial review required by the British Columbia Milk Marketing Board Regulation.
View Comments
  • Likes: 4
  • Shares: 1
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

1 month ago

BC wool shipments drop sharply in 2023, according to StatsCan data released in mid-April. Local producers shipped just 5,200kg at 37¢/kg, down from 18,600kg at $1.08/kg in 2022. While many farmers now use wool on-farm or dispose of it due to low market value, innovative producers like Emily McIvor point to untapped opportunities. Read more in our Farm News Update from Country Life in BC.

#bcag
... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

BC wool value, volume drop

www.countrylifeinbc.com

BC sheep producers shipped less wool for less in 2023, reversing strong growth a year earlier. BC producers shipped 5,200 kilograms of raw wool in 2023, according to Statistics Canada data released on...
View Comments
  • Likes: 6
  • Shares: 4
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Subscribe | Advertise

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915
  • Email
  • Facebook

Producers look beyond 2021’s floods

Many have yet to receive compensation

Making the most of a (really) bad situation. After floodwaters subsided on Sumas Prairie last fall, volunteers like Abe Gotzke, right, came to the aid of Caroline Mostertman, left, and Ripples Estate Winery to get the family business up and running within six months. RONDA PAYNE

November 1, 2022 byKate Ayers

ABBOTSFORD – A year after successive atmospheric river events dropped between 200 and 300 mm of rain on southern BC, many producers are still in recovery mode. The deluge resulted in several feet of water on some farms, the evacuations of thousands of people and livestock, and the Lower Mainland being cut off from the rest of Canada due to landslides.

But as producers look back on the events – many of then still waiting for financial assistance – they’re most thankful for the flood of support from neighbours and strangers as they began to rebuild.

Back to business

Caroline Mostertman of CPM Farms Ltd. and Ripples Estate Winery on Tolmie Road in Abbotsford dealt with six feet of water on her property for three weeks. Her home, winery, crops and equipment sustained significant damage.

“I was pretty much wiped out,” Mostertman says. “Every building had to be gutted and repaired. We lost, of course, the majority of our inventory, machinery, equipment – the list goes on and on.”

The 20-acre farm’s lost its blueberries but two of its three grape varieties survived.

“One produced marginally, one did not, and the third variety we had to rip out,” Mostertman says.

She, along with her husband Paul and dutiful volunteers, brought part of the farm back to working order within six months. The couple reopened their winery in May, but the rest of the farm remains a “shambles,” Mostertman says.

“We are by no means finished. What we did is we concentrated on our business first,” she says.

Chelsea Meier and her husband Karl of U&D Meier Dairy Ltd. also continue to repair their farm.

“It’s a never-ending process,” Meier says, taking a break from repairing the front of a barn where a wave had shattered one of the windows.

“We’re taking off the barn siding to put a wall in instead of a window,” she explains.

Karl has also spent time levelling a field the couple acquired before the flood. Much of the soil was washed away, reducing nitrogen levels. Corn and forage volumes were down 15% to 20% this year, Meier says.

“Last year, we made around 487 round bales out of our fields, and we’ve only been able to make 150 this year,” Meier says. “Last year, we made 4,000 little square bales and this year we’ve only been able to make 1,800.”

Fortunately, the Meiers’ cattle are healthy and milk production has remained steady.

Blueberry and saffron grower Avtar Dhillon and his family were also heavily impacted by the flooding.

“Four acres of blueberries were damaged, and all of my saffron crop is gone. The whole house was damaged,” he says.

They were just able to replant crops and move back into their home a few months ago.

Poultry producer Hester Mulder and her husband Ed lost all the layers in two barns and had four feet of water in their house.

She estimates barn damages at between $750,000 and $800,000 but thanks to the efforts of volunteers and contractors, the operation returned to full production at the end of October when chicks were placed in the repaired pullet barn, Mulder says.

Over 12% of BC farms were affected by the flooding. The Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry conducted hearings for its study on impacts to the province’s agricultural industry and government’s response to the event. The committee’s report with recommendations for the federal government is expected later this year.

Inadequate funding

But one year later, less than a quarter of the landmark $228 million federal-provincial recovery program announced in February to help farmers and ranchers has been disbursed. Combining federal disaster assistance funds with AgriRecovery monies, the cost-shared program aimed to address losses estimated at $285 million.

“To date, 478 applications have been received for the Canada-BC Flood Recovery Program for Food Security and almost $53 million has been provided to 361 applicants to help with expenses such as animal feed; shelter, fencing, the loss of perennial plants not raised for resale; and returning land to agricultural production,” the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food reports.

A total of 757 payments have been made, with many applicants receiving more than one.

Dhillon and Mostertman aren’t among them.

Mostertman says neither the AgriRecovery funding announced in February nor the federal disaster financial assistance program announced November 18 for the general public have helped.

“For many months, we were bounced back and forth between the two programs. And neither really were prepared to commit to any kind of funding,” she says.

Mostertman says the AgriRecovery program is designed for farms that have the means to pay for repairs in advance. She says farmers can’t be expected to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and submit receipts for reimbursement when they’re not generating income. And since AgriRecovery doesn’t cover the repair or replacement of equipment, the chance of them  earning income is pretty low when they’ve lost everything.

“We’ve had several meetings with both AgriRecovery and DFA because in their words, we are a complicated case. Let’s face it, we just lost more than most people,” she says.

Mulder and Meier have received AgriRecovery cheques, but it’s “not enough,” says Meier, who has yet to hear back regarding DFA coverage of house repairs.

Happily, Meier was one of the 65 dairy producers who benefitted from the $941,046 garnered by the BC Dairy Flood Recovery Fund, which was fully – and promptly – disbursed to producers by the end of February.

Producers are not the only ones impacted by the delayed roll out of recovery funds. The province has yet to fully reimburse feed mills for feed provided to meet the immediate needs of livestock.

“You can speak to any feed mill in the Lower Mainland, and they can tell you it’s an absolute catastrophe,” says Top Shelf Feed general manager Dennis Comeau in Duncan. “They told us to buy the grain you need, keep the animals alive, we will pay you back. And if we got paid back 15%, I’d be real surprised.”

BC agriculture minister Lana Popham, who regularly addressed media during last fall’s flooding, was not available to comment on industry’s concerns prior to deadline.

BC Ombudsperson Jay Chalke is now asking for public input on the provincial government’s response to last year’s wildfires and floods. The programs under examination are Emergency Support Services and DFA to examine their fairness and areas for improvement. The online questionnaire is available on the Ombudsperson website until December 31.

Psychological toll

Farmers are resilient, but the traumatic events took a toll on the mental health of many.

“A lot of people just simply can’t cope with that kind of traumatic event and carry on,” Mostertman says. “It’s financially exhausting, it’s mentally exhausting and physically exhausting.”

Meier’s children are upset by overcast or rainy days; they’re concerned about another flood and evacuation.

But none of the farmers would be where they are today without community support.

“We are so incredibly grateful because even if the financial funds were not there, the support, the people turning up every day, have kept us moving forward,” says Mostertman. “Without that we would have just shriveled up.”

Meier’s family members organized an extensive field clean-up initiative to help any farmer in the Fraser Valley remove debris.

“That had a tremendous outpour of people,” she says, from beyond the local farming community.

Mulder also credits volunteers for their farm’s recovery and return to operations this year.

“So many volunteers came out and helped us clean up. It really helped us get through this as we didn’t know where to start and how to get through it,” she says. “They’ve all gone above and beyond to help clean and repair and to ensure that things got done without delay to meet deadlines.”

– With files from Peter Mitham

Previous Post: « Seven properties at auction
Next Post: Rodenticides banned »

Copyright © 2025 Country Life in BC · All Rights Reserved