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Originally published:

AUGUST 2019
Vol. 105 Issue 8

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Stories In This Edition

Province allows family on farms

Teamwork!

Rain hammers cherry crop

Sidebar: A brief history

Chilcotin ranchers’ hope for hay crop washed away

Editorial: Dog days

Back Forty: Keeping the kids safe down on the farm

Viewpoint: Top-down governance no way to help caribou

Egg board set to get cracking on quota distribution

Get ’em while you can

Feds address labour shortages

Bee healthy!

Marketing board names new entrant winners

BC berry research gets big funding boost

BC hosts International Blueberry Organization

Tour showcases innovation, marketing savvy

Governments agree to national park reserve

BC’s oldest farm seeks new management

Apple dieback investigation underway

Bumper crop for raspberries fails to materialize

Balance key to restoring fire-affected range

Global demand set to buoy cattle prices

A good start helps calves finish in top shape

Ranchers collaborate to preserve grasslands

Rotational grazing pays off year-round

Sidebar: Track costs, see profits

Stock show kicks off summer for 4-H members

Finding new potential for a lost native berry

Sidebar: Others see same benefits

Shuswap tour showcases local producers

Research: Do honeybees spread viruses to wild bees?

Volken Academy breaks ground on new farm

Woodshed: Romance is in the air, for all but the Hendersons

Fourth-generation farmers chart ambitious course

Jude’s Kitchen: In-season produce is king

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4 days 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

1 month 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

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…
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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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2 months ago

The scale of this year's avian flu outbreak now rivals the massive outbreak of 2004. An additional 13 commercial farms in the Fraser Valley have tested positive in the last week. To date, 49 commercial farms and 1.2 million birds have been impacted. CFIA is struggling to keep up with depopulation of sick birds. ... See MoreSee Less

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AI outbreak rivals 2004

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The scale of this year’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza now rivals the massive outbreak of 2004 that saw farms throughout the Fraser Valley depopulated. An additional 13 commercial…
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Commercial operations need to reevaluate their stocking densities and overall health and welfare of the animals within their systems if they are ever going to have a fighting chance against this virus.

Yup cause food shortage

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Province allows family on farms

Year’s reprieve for second homes

August 1, 2019 byPeter Mitham

VICTORIA—The province is giving families living in the Agricultural Land Reserve until February 22, 2020 to obtain approvals for second homes for immediate family.

“We’ve worked to make long-overdue changes to help farmers farm,” said BC agriculture minister Lana Popham in announcing the changes. “We heard from people living in the ALR, many who said they aren’t farming but purchased ALR land for residential use. We understand that some have been caught in the transition. We’ve listened and have given people a bit more time to get their permits in place.”

The move follows widespread criticism of new regulations introduced in February following passage of Bill 52, which removed a provision allowing for a second home on farm properties for family members. The change was part of steps to rein in residential development on farmland and curb speculation.

However, the move took many municipalities and landowners by surprise.

The pressure peaked following a June 17 meeting District A Farmers Institute hosted in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island. Concerns voiced there received widespread media coverage, followed by earnest pledges from the government that grandfathering provisions were coming. Those followed July 4, and marked a small victory for critics.

District A Farmers Institute president Janet Thony gave the announcement a mixed review, however.

“I’m very happy for those folks who can carry on with their plans. Hopefully it is a reasonable time frame,” she said. “I am not happy that a ‘grandfathering period’ indicates they will not reverse the decision to not allow a second residence for ‘immediate family.’”

Thony says the prohibition on allowing immediate family to live on a property constituted “a direct attack on the principle of the ‘family farm.’”

However, Popham has steadfastly maintained that secondary residences are still allowed if they support farm operations. All landowners need to do is apply to the Agricultural Land Commission. Additional discussions in 2020 will support regulations that accommodate families that farm.

A wholesale modernization of regulation is needed, said Popham, not the piecemeal approach that’s been taken in the past.

“When the old government made changes to the ALR, they took a piecemeal approach that hurt our producers,” said Popham. “We’ve been working on regulations. As part of that, we’re looking at how we can provide farmers with more flexibility in their businesses, while continuing to preserve the valuable farmland they rely on.”

In the meantime, housing suppliers welcome additional time for landowners to seek approvals.

Two clients of Triple R Modular Homes in Merville put their modular home orders on hold as a result of the rule change, says owner Larry Huston. Since the grandfathering period was announced, they’ve told him they’ll proceed. He expects more to follow.

“It’s already turned positive for us,” he said. “[There’s] nothing new as of yet, but we’re looking at trying to figure out how we can do something on our website to promote that you’ve got a year.”

While most people typically want homes delivered before the autumn rains begin, the February deadline gives them time to seek approvals for homes delivered in 2020.

The number of property owners likely to take advantage of the reprieve is difficult to estimate.

There have been 28 applications to the Agricultural Land Commission for residential use of farmland between February 22 (when the new regulations were introduced) and June 17. Of these, three applications – all in the South Coast region – were for homes larger than 500 square metres, the maximum allowed under Bill 52. The rest were for secondary residences, with 12 applications on the South Coast and 10 in the Okanagan.

Since landowners didn’t have to seek the land commission’s approval for secondary homes for immediate family prior to February, there’s no indication yet of whether landowners are rushing to locate a modular home on their property for family before they’re not allowed.

“This is new legislation

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