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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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6 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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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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