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Current Issue:

JANUARY 2023
Vol. 109 Issue 1

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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

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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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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 defrays COVID-19 costs

October 13, 2021 byKate Ayers

The province is offsetting the cost of special measures farmers took this summer to keep domestic workers safe from the risk of COVID-19.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 domestic seasonal workers help with fruit harvest throughout the Okanagan and Creston areas each year. Without domestic workers, BC Fruit Growers Association labour manager Ron Forrest says “there would have been a lot of fruit left on trees.”

Keeping those workers safe is critical, both for the crop and to keep the communities that host them safe.

Originally announced June 29, the BC Seasonal Domestic Farm Worker COVID-19 Safety Program totals $50,000 and will benefit at least 25 farms. The funding covers up to 70% of eligible expenses incurred between April 1 and October 31 to a maximum of $2,000 per farm. Applications must be received by the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries by October 31.

These costs may relate to sanitation measures for common areas; cleaning, disinfecting and sanitization products, and infrastructure costs related to on farm housing.

The funding was part of $652,000 the province announced in June to ensure safe camping conditions for domestic workers at sites in Oliver, Summerland and the Creston Valley. It extended funding granted in 2020 of $422,000, bringing the total investment in domestic farm workers safety to nearly $1.1 million over two years.

The funding paid off. There were no cases of COVID among domestic workers last year, and this year appears to have been equally successful.

“There is a pickers camp in Oliver, which will have around 150 people. It was anywhere between 80 and 230 (workers) maximum this year,” says Forrest. “We never had a problem.”

Government and industry worked together to provide adequate facilities at the Oliver and Summerland camps over the last two seasons. Coordinators oversaw activities at each location, ensuring the safety of workers. The province also introduced a seasonal liaison position in Creston to act as a COVID-19 coordinator there.

The efforts to reduce risks among domestic workers paralleled efforts to keep foreign workers safe. The majority of temporary foreign workers, nearly 10,000, participate in the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program. During the past two seasons, the province has accommodated and fed them during their two-week mandatory quarantine prior to their heading to farms.

With files from Peter Mitham

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