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Originally published:

December 2017
Vol. 103 Issue 12

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Stories In This Edition

Body cams are out

Turkey allocation reviewed

Meet ‘n’ Greet

Producers take concerns to Victoria

Editorial: Double standard

Back Forty: Perception is in the eyes of the beholder

Viewpoint: Trade negotiations creating uncertainty

Cattlemen speak out about groundwater licensing debacle

Sweet reward

WorkSafeBC set to lower most rates

Salmon farm debate raises concern for range tenures

Sidebar: Good relationships on the range

Breweries allowed

FIRB’s quota review is taking too long

Dairy farming under the microscope

Technology key to the fortunes of dairies of all sizes

BC Tree Fruit election may prompt legal action

Disease control worries honey producers

Beekeepers risk dumping charge

Honey in the house

Crop insurnace claims up

Stockmen receive update on wildfire recovery

Property assessments set for major shift after fires

Water access for range cattle

Compensation possible in Island sheep kills

Fall at its finest

Protection program has helped ranchers

Fair boards encouraged to sign up for Premises ID

Meadow Valley meats eyes new slaughterhouse

Potential for termination of Site C cause for hope

Jack Frost nips crops on heels of hot summer

Six-digit cattle attract deep-pocketed ownership teams

Kelowna seeks input on the future of local water management

West Kelowna pursues bylaw for worker housing

Sidebar: Taking the next step

Agri-tourism regulation has little impact on farmers

Privacy, conflict of interest need good protocols

Sidebar: Field media requests with confidence

Vernon orchardists develop award winning orchard

Seed growers find support at gathering

Photo bomb

Cleaner water promises greener greenhouses

4-H BC on the move

Entrepeneurs squeeze a profit from pressed fruit

Research: Heritage turkeys add a touch of nostalgia

4-H Canada’s top scholarship awarded to BC member

Woodshed: Awkward moments abound as date night nears

Langley meadery finds the sweet spot

Entertaining tidbits

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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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Producers take concerns to Victoria

December 1, 2017 byPeter Mitham

VICTORIA – Keeping farm operations environmentally and financially sustainable were key to the case farm leaders made for the industry when they met with government officials in Victoria at the beginning of November.

Big enough now to span two days, BC Agriculture Day is a biennial networking event that attracted close to 80 participants from the farm sector this year for meetings with Premier John Horgan, agriculture minister Lana Popham and six of their cabinet colleagues among other government members. The formal meetings took place November 7, but many agriculture representatives arranged meetings the day before to make the most of their trip to Victoria.

Organized by the BC Agriculture Council (BCAC) with the support of proceeds from the annual gala dinner that precedes the Pacific Agriculture Show each January, the event – like the gala – is about networking.

“Ag Days is really a foundational way to meet up with ministers and people in government regarding the specific things that agriculture has near to its heart,” says greenhouse grower Stan Vander Waal, chair of the BCAC. “I think we’ve made some very good connections in that way and, overall, the meetings went exceptionally well – I heard that from both the industry side as well as the government side.”

Appropriately for agriculture, land was a fundamental element in the conversations.

“It’s something that’s always being discussed: how do we better utilize land?” Vander Waal says.

While government’s promise to consult on appropriate uses within the Agricultural Land Reserve didn’t figure into the conversations, initiatives to keep farmland affordable and limit speculation did.

Any intervention in the market that limits the price of farmland doesn’t sit well with Vander Waal, who says the focus should be on ensuring that farm properties are used for farming. Rising farmland values aren’t necessarily bad if a farmer can leverage the value to expand a viable farm operation.

Government’s role is to ensure legitimate farms are using the properties in the first place.

“We’re looking to increase land usefulness, but also to make sure that the benefits are not extended to non-ag uses of farmland,” Vander Waal says.

While the federal agriculture census counts anyone who grows food for sale as a farmer, BC Assessment grants farm status to owners of agricultural properties generating revenue of least $2,500 a year. Vander Waal wants government to review that threshold.

“We don’t think $2,500 is viable. No one can make a living off $2,500,” Vander Waal says. “We think it’s something that needs to have a solid review.”

Tenure is another hot topic that cropped up, which Vander Waal said would be a bellwether for how the NDP might handle other files impacting agriculture, such as new agricultural waste regulations and the high-profile issue of aquifer contamination in the Hullcar Valley.

Access to labour, particularly skilled labour, was another key issue farm organizations raised in Victoria. The cost of labour  also figured into the discussions, particularly since agriculture wasn’t included in the Fair Wage Commission the government established in October to explore ways to boost BC’s minimum wage to $15.

“We were a little disappointed to find agriculture didn’t have a seat at the table,” Vander Waal says. “It’s not so much the $15 an hour that’s really the issue, it’s the ripple effect throughout your full staff when you actually have the minimum wage going up. The expectation in general is, ‘Hey, what about me?’”

The ongoing challenge of finding skilled workers was high on the agenda of Nova Woodbury, executive director of the BC Association of Abattoirs, who travelled to Victoria with her board to raise the concerns her sector faces, which have an impact on livestock producers.

Association members met with the BC Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology to discuss the need for abattoir workers and skilled meat cutters in the province.

The meetings on BC Agriculture Day – last held in 2015 – seldom bear immediate fruit, but Vander Waal is optimistic.  

“We’ve been very happy with the engagement so far with the government, but we have no results to really show at this point,” he says. “We need to see where the rubber is going to meet the road here.”

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