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MAY 2023
Vol. 109 Issue 5

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3 weeks 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

4 weeks 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🚜

4 weeks 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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4 weeks 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

4 weeks 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 secondary homes

July 14, 2021 byPeter Mitham

The province has ended more than two years of uncertainty for property owners in the Agricultural Land Reserve by allowing them to have a secondary residence without seeking permission from the Agricultural Land Commission.

“The new residential flexibility will provide ALR property owners with the relief of housing security,” said Meghan McPherson, a Comox Valley landowner who rallied support for the change. “Not everyone will be pleased with the residential flexibility updates but I am satisfied with the outcome.”

On parcels of 40 hectares (99 acres) or less, the new regulations allow landowners to build a second residence of 90 square metres (970 square feet) or less if the primary residence is l,500 square metres (5,400 square feet). If the existing residence is larger than 5,400 square feet, then landowners must continue to apply to the ALC.

On parcels larger than 40 hectares, a second residence of 186 square metres (2,000 square feet) or less is permitted. The size of the primary residence does not matter.

Secondary residences can include garden suites, guest houses or carriage suites; accommodation above an existing building; and manufactured homes. These are consistent with the possibilities outlined in an intentions paper the province published regarding the changes in 2020, prior to the pandemic.

The changes follow publication of a factsheet in April that outlined the proposed changes without saying when they would take effect. However, it extended the temporary provision for manufactured homes until December 31, 2021, leaving many landowners wondering if secondary homes would be delayed yet again.

The latest announcement clears up the confusion, which has existed since February 2019, when a new regulation giving force and effect to Bill 52, passed in 2018, was unveiled. Sprung without notice on property owners, it was designed to support farming but effectively outlawed most forms of secondary residences.

Many landowners were in the process of securing manufactured homes for their properties believing that Bill 52 would allow them. But they weren’t. Worse, many property owners found that existing secondary dwellings were uninsurable because the new regulations prohibited them from being rebuilt in the event of loss. This also reduced their borrowing capacity.

BC agriculture minister Lana Popham said the new provisions will address those issues, and give small-lot farmers the support they need.

“Our government’s goal from the outset has been to protect farmland for future generations, so British Columbians can have a secure local food system and our communities can prosper,” said BC agriculture minister Lana Popham in announcing the changes. “We recognize the unique needs of established farming families, those new to farming and those living in the ALR who don’t farm.”

However, agriculture critic Ian Paton, MLA for Delta South, says government should have listened to farmers when drafting the changes back in 2018.

“The fact is, they didn’t consult on Bill 52 in the first place and rammed through legislation that didn’t work for farmers,” he said. “Then, after they got backlash, they dragged farmers through three years’ worth of reviews and feedback exercises that destroyed their dreams and cost them precious time and money.”

 

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