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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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1 month 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

1 month 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🚜

1 month 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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1 month 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

1 month 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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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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