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Originally published:

NOVEMBER 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 11

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Stories In This Edition

Down to the crunch

Producer prices on the rise

Feeling burned

Groundwater users could lose rights next year

The right thing

Editorial: Freedom worth having

Back 40: The battle continues long after the war is over

Viewpoint: Stories bridge the gap between producers, consumers

Growers wrestle with irrigation upgrades

Wildfire 2021

Abbotsford updates farmland policies

Stormy skies

Ag Briefs: Douglas Lake “right to roam” challenge dismissed

Ag Briefs: Creston food hub opens

Ag Briefs: Food processors receive funding

Ag Briefs: Vanderspek appointed

Summerland grape specialists retire

Grapevine virus spread threatens BC industry

Caught in the act

Abbotsford sheep grower honoured

Tag readers help with livestock recordkeeping

RegenBC kicks off agritech network

Producers silent on Columbia River Treaty impacts

Cranberry fields forever

Manitoba farmers make dreams a reality

Enderby dairy is anything but conventional

Improvement to classification services explored

Up close and personal

Partnering with farmers to reduce food loss

Sidebar: Upcycled food

Slow and steady wins the day for irrigation

Research: Study takes soil health to the next level

Nelson farm builds soil and local community

Cash flow analysis is key to resilience

New app zeroes in on reducing lost produce

Sidebar: Food hub offers room to grow

Farm Story: To hoard or not to hoard: that is the question

Bursary benefits rising farm professionals

Woodshed: So much for a little peace and quiet

Saanichton Farm receives Century Farm award

Jude’s Kitchen: Fall Flavours

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3 weeks 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

www.countrylifeinbc.com

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

4 weeks 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🚜

4 weeks 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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4 weeks 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

4 weeks 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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Producers silent on Columbia River Treaty impacts

Ranchers say agriculture remains overlooked as the 2024 deadline looms

[Columbia Basin Trust]

November 1, 2021 byTom Walker

VICTORIA – The recently completed public consultation on the Columbia River Treaty’s impacts on BC agriculture has come up short.

“We are extremely disappointed that we only received four submissions to our request for feedback,” says Kathy Eichenberger, who is leading the Columbia River Treaty review on behalf of the province.

Eichenberger acknowledges that it has been an extremely difficult summer for agricultural producers.

“Drought, heat, smoke and fires have all impacted farmers this year,” she says. “But we would have hoped that, in particular, the commodity groups that we reached out to who have staff would have been able to respond.”

How to proceed next is the question.

“We did receive feedback that our initial document was short on actionable items and we will consider more of an intentions paper based on what we have learned thus far,” says Eichenberger.

The review team is still interested in submissions from groups that were unable to meet the September 15 deadline for feedback.

“It is our hope that when producers shift into fall, they will find more time to give us feedback,” says Eichenberger. “If you have some ideas, send them along.”

Part of Eichenberger’s task is to understand the needs of farmers and develop some specific strategies for supporting their interests that negotiators can weave into the on-going renegotiation of the 60-year-old treaty. Given the diversity among BC farms within the area covered by the treaty, it’s no easy task. The strategies must include everyone from small-scale farms to large ranches and orchards with multiple employees.

The current treaty lacks a key element that affects the ability of BC farmers to grow their business or compete with Washington state growers in the portion of the basin that lies south of the 49th parallel. The perceived advantage that Washington growers have when they access Columbia River water to irrigate is not in fact true, says Eichenberger.

Yet the treaty was responsible for the loss of 2,000 acres of fertile farmland, flooded when dams were built along the length of the river to manage floods and generate power. Communities, farms and families were uprooted with little discussion and even less compensation. There was no program to mitigate those losses over time.

“What we are looking for are ideas to support and grow BC agriculture given these historical impacts,” explains Eichenberger.

Ranching impacts shared

The Kootenay Livestock Association was among the four respondents to the discussion paper. Its detailed submission, as well as a 2018 report on agricultural impacts from development of the Libby Dam in 1972, gives a full picture of the impacts and specific recommendations on how to address them from the point of view of ranchers.

“There were very direct impacts to the ranching community, particularly with the flooding from the Libby dam,” says Fort Steele rancher Lonnie Jones. “We lost bottom farmland but we also lost grazing licences and leases.”

He notes that the area’s grazing allotment was reduced by almost 40,000 animal unit months.

While owners of expropriated land were compensated, they were also promised support to purchase replacement lands but the province never made good on that pledge.

“The land that was flooded was a key to ranching in our area,” maintains Jones. “I believe that fertile land was a foundation to support some 10,000 cattle. We’ve lost much of that business now and there is not much critical mass remaining to sustain agriculture.”

This includes a loss of farm services. Jones says a neighbour had to pay $1,500 in travel time recently to have a mechanic come from southern Alberta to service a tractor.

“There has never been any specific program to mitigate the agriculture losses in the Columbia basin,” says Jones. “There is a fish and wildlife compensation program but not one for farmers.”

The Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program is a partnership between BC Hydro, the province, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, First Nations and public stakeholders to conserve and enhance fish and wildlife impacted by construction of BC Hydro dams.

Jones is not hopeful for the future.

“I am worried that we are at the start of a demise here,” he says. “I see less than 40% of the ranches we had 30 years ago and the province is not taking the interests of farmers very seriously.”

While environmental considerations are enjoying a higher profile in today’s discussions than they did in the 1960s, Jones says agriculture remains overlooked.

“We are relegated to the back benches in any discussions around the Columbia River Treaty and how any monies are distributed,” he says. “Farming businesses are a key to a sustainable Kootenay economy. We need a bigger representation from the province.”

Renegotiation of the treaty must complete in time for 2024, when the current treaty expires.

 

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