• Menu
  • Skip to right header 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:

DECEMBER 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 12

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: Country Life in BC, 36 Dale Road, Enderby, BC, V0E1V4. 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

Catastrophic flooding

Wash out

Editorial: Rebuilding food security

Back 40: A farmer’s journey doesn’t always pay for itself

Viewpoint:

Dairy industry takes swift action on animal abuse

Producers urged to make emergency plans

Province sets agenda for tree fruit future

Ag Briefs: Province moves to shut down mink farms

Ag Briefs: Interior Opportunities

Ag Briefs: BCAC meetings bear fruit

Ag Briefs: Trade focus

North Okanagan ranchers brief on key issues

Sidebar: Strong retail, disappointing feeder prices

Frustration over ‘timber-centric’ range bill

Livestock protection program up for review

Honey producers get technology transfer program

Chicken squadron

Quality over quantity for blueberry pollination

New slaughter regs helpful but not enough

Sidebar: Changes welcome

Sheep producers have tough year

The old heave-ho

Grant revives Pacific field corn trials

Cannabis grower eyes mushroom production

New poinsettia varieties trialed in Abbotsford

Nursery sales stay brisk through pandemic

Job satisfaction has deep roots

Newcomers revitalize Lake Country orchard

Cariboo research looks to extend growing season

Full circle operation upcycles food waste

BC company specializes in bio control

Farm Story: Idyllic worlds have very little idleness in them

Blueberry farming is stress-busting for new chair

Research: To till or not to till? That’s actually not the question

Christmas tree growers face a grim future

Woodshed: An awkward encounter; a clever diversion

A century of dairy farming in Pitt Meadows

Jude’s Kitchen: Celebrate! Celebrate

More Headlines

Follow us on Facebook

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

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

Link thumbnail

Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

buff.ly

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...
View Comments
  • Likes: 1
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

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

Link thumbnail

Your weekly farm news update

web-extract.constantcontact.com

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
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

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

Link thumbnail

Christmas trees in demand

buff.ly

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…
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

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.
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 3
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

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
View Comments
  • Likes: 10
  • Shares: 8
  • Comments: 8

Comment on Facebook

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..

View more comments

Subscribe | Advertise

Producers urged to make emergency plans

As climate-related incidents rise, farmers must keep safety in mind

VICTORIA – When flooding hit Sumas Prairie last month, years of efforts by the BC Dairy Association to prepare producers for disaster paid off. Working with the provincial government, the association developed an emergency planning workbook for members. A template pulls together key information producers should have at hand in the event of an emergency, including a site plan, farm profile and contact list. The association also oversees a buddy system that allows producers to shift cattle to a buddy farm when wildfires or floods approach, something that came in handy both during the recent floods and the summer’s wildfires. Thousands of cattle were relocated, with 43 animals taking refuge in Agassiz at the property of BC Dairy chair Holger Schwichtenberg. "It's been amazing to watch the community come together to help each other out," he says. "People rescuing cows by opening their barns or offering transportation and coming with trucks and trailers.” The system is one he doesn’t take for granted. While his own farm has an emergency preparedness plan should a natural disaster strike, his buddy farm is in the Interior. Reaching it would have been impossible last month when more than 225 mm of rain triggered mudslides that shut down Hwy 7. “My heart goes out to those who had to leave their farms behind," he says. This year’s extreme weather underscores the necessity of better preparation on the part of producers, strong partnerships and access to the right insurance and business risk management program coverage, says Graham Knox, director of the Emergency Management & Climate Change branch with the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Planning not only helps mitigate risks and ensures the safety of families and workers, especially for operations in remote locations, it also increases the resilience of operations during the recovery phase. “At the most basic level, it’s about business continuity. Getting back and recovering as quickly as possible,” says Knox. “If you can prepare by assessing your hazards, preventing and mitigating, that’s going to mean, when those incidents arrive, the impact on you is hopefully avoided or significantly reduced. The potential losses or impacts to your business or how long it takes to get back up to speed is really influenced by having that … emergency plan.” Preparing an emergency plan for large acreages, complex infrastructure, people and livestock may seem daunting, but resources are available to help with this process. BC Dairy’s workbook breaks down the planning process into bite-sized chunks, for example, making it easier for producers to plan. “You don’t want to be overwhelmed by the prospect of building a plan,” says Knox. “Even a little action in terms of thinking and putting something together, can provide significant payback in the event of an emergency.” The cost of preparedness is far less than the cost of response and recovery, he adds. Knox suggests producers reach out to their respective sector associations to see if they have emergency planning workbooks. Provincial emergency management organizations also provide information, tools and resources to assist with planning. Different operations require different approaches, depending on size and complexity. “There are different resources and complexities within operations. Even if you don’t end up with a big plan, just … (reviewing) the questions is a good first step,” says Knox. “We have some business consulting services available through one of our ministry programs to help producers go through their plans. Ag Safe can also work with and help producers.” A farm's emergency preparedness plan will be tailored to its operations. Similarly, producers need to know their own responsibilities with disaster strikes. These may include understanding the risks and types of disasters that occur in their area, training family members and workers on their emergency plans and testing it and building local networks to increase resiliency and provide mutual assistance, says Knox. The province also has responsibilities in emergencies, including acting as a coordinating agency during livestock, poultry and plant disease events, developing and maintaining hazard-specific emergency management plans, and providing emergency education, outreach and resources for producers, producer associations, local authorities and First Nations, says Knox. Next summer, the province will launch specialized tools to better prepare the agriculture industry for more extreme climate events. It recently allocated funding for two emergency response trailers to support livestock producers as well as associated training specific to agriculture and farm needs. Producers can register for Premises ID and should always have their numbers on hand. This can facilitate communications with farmers in the run-up and aftermath of events, including notifications of incoming extreme weather events that could affect their land and animals. “It’s almost a priceless registration for us right now, because we know exactly where registered farms are and how many animals they have,” says agriculture minister Lana Popham as staff continued to work last month to assist more than 1,100 farms under evacuation orders or alerts as a result of record rainfall. Two-thirds of livestock producers and all supply-managed livestock premises are registered with the program, according to the province. A new Premises ID regulation under the BC Animal Health Act promises to make it mandatory in 2022. But the development of more on-farm supports as extreme weather events become more common is critical. While weather impacts farm properties, farmers bear the financial cost of natural disasters, adding to existing levels of stress. “The other big challenge for producers is the cumulative impact … the sense of being constantly under threat,” says Knox. “You’re affected by the 2017 wildfires and then the 2018 wildfires and then again in 2021. … Some people are starting to feel that in the Interior.”

December 1, 2021 byKate Ayers

VICTORIA – When flooding hit Sumas Prairie last month, years of efforts by the BC Dairy Association to prepare producers for disaster paid off.

Working with the provincial government, the association developed an emergency planning workbook for members. A template pulls together key information producers should have at hand in the event of an emergency, including a site plan, farm profile and contact list.

The association also oversees a buddy system that allows producers to shift cattle to a buddy farm when wildfires or floods approach, something that came in handy both during the recent floods and the summer’s wildfires.

Thousands of cattle were relocated, with 43 animals taking refuge in Agassiz at the property of BC Dairy chair Holger Schwichtenberg.

“It’s been amazing to watch the community come together to help each other out,” he says. “People rescuing cows by opening their barns or offering transportation and coming with trucks and trailers.”

The system is one he doesn’t take for granted. While his own farm has an emergency preparedness plan should a natural disaster strike, his buddy farm is in the Interior. Reaching it would have been impossible last month when more than 225 mm of rain triggered mudslides that shut down Hwy 7.

“My heart goes out to those who had to leave their farms behind,” he says.

This year’s extreme weather underscores the necessity of better preparation on the part of producers, strong partnerships and access to the right insurance and business risk management program coverage, says Graham Knox, director of the Emergency Management & Climate Change branch with the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.

Planning not only helps mitigate risks and ensures the safety of families and workers, especially for operations in remote locations, it also increases the resilience of operations during the recovery phase.

“At the most basic level, it’s about business continuity. Getting back and recovering as quickly as possible,” says Knox. “If you can prepare by assessing your hazards, preventing and mitigating, that’s going to mean, when those incidents arrive, the impact on you is hopefully avoided or significantly reduced. The potential losses or impacts to your business or how long it takes to get back up to speed is really influenced by having that … emergency plan.”

Preparing an emergency plan for large acreages, complex infrastructure, people and livestock may seem daunting, but resources are available to help with this process. BC Dairy’s workbook breaks down the planning process into bite-sized chunks, for example, making it easier for producers to plan.

“You don’t want to be overwhelmed by the prospect of building a plan,” says Knox. “Even a little action in terms of thinking and putting something together, can provide significant payback in the event of an emergency.”

The cost of preparedness is far less than the cost of response and recovery, he adds.

Knox suggests producers reach out to their respective sector associations to see if they have emergency planning workbooks. Provincial emergency management organizations also provide information, tools and resources to assist with planning. Different operations require different approaches, depending on size and complexity.

“There are different resources and complexities within operations. Even if you don’t end up with a big plan, just … (reviewing) the questions is a good first step,” says Knox. “We have some business consulting services available through one of our ministry programs to help producers go through their plans. Ag Safe can also work with and help producers.”

A farm’s emergency preparedness plan will be tailored to its operations. Similarly, producers need to know their own responsibilities with disaster strikes. These may include understanding the risks and types of disasters that occur in their area, training family members and workers on their emergency plans and testing it and building local networks to increase resiliency and provide mutual assistance, says Knox.

The province also has responsibilities in emergencies, including acting as a coordinating agency during livestock, poultry and plant disease events, developing and maintaining hazard-specific emergency management plans, and providing emergency education, outreach and resources for producers, producer associations, local authorities and First Nations, says Knox.

Next summer, the province will launch specialized tools to better prepare the agriculture industry for more extreme climate events. It recently allocated funding for two emergency response trailers to support livestock producers as well as associated training specific to agriculture and farm needs.

Producers can register for Premises ID and should always have their numbers on hand. This can facilitate communications with farmers in the run-up and aftermath of events, including notifications of incoming extreme weather events that could affect their land and animals.

“It’s almost a priceless registration for us right now, because we know exactly where registered farms are and how many animals they have,” says agriculture minister Lana Popham as staff continued to work last month to assist more than 1,100 farms under evacuation orders or alerts as a result of record rainfall.

Two-thirds of livestock producers and all supply-managed livestock premises are registered with the program, according to the province. A new Premises ID regulation under the BC Animal Health Act promises to make it mandatory in 2022.

But the development of more on-farm supports as extreme weather events become more common is critical. While weather impacts farm properties, farmers bear the financial cost of natural disasters, adding to existing levels of stress.

“The other big challenge for producers is the cumulative impact … the sense of being constantly under threat,” says Knox. “You’re affected by the 2017 wildfires and then the 2018 wildfires and then again in 2021. … Some people are starting to feel that in the Interior.”

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

Provincial extension service coming

Ministry hires deputy ministers

Dairy meetings highlight costs

Senate report highlights need for flood plans

Senate flood report released

Poultry gatherings banned

Western dairy groups streamline

Producers take steps against heat

Dairy tops economic impact

Building back better means avoiding past mistakes

Budget boost for agriculture

Sumas Prairie farmers sue government

Previous Post: « Province sets agenda for tree fruit future
Next Post: Water quality grants available »

Copyright © 2023 Country Life in BC · All Rights Reserved