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Originally published:

OCTOBER 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 10

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Stories In This Edition

Feeling the heat on water

Good grapes

Province funds hazelnuts

Farmers left in lurch by risk-averse insurers

Fresh marketing

Editorial: A familiar problem

Back 40: Climate change action depends on political will

Viewpoint: UN Food Systems Summit sets an ambiguous agenda

Province falls short on dam safety oversight

All the elements

Orchard industry awaits government report

Sidebar: Competitiveness fund on hold

Ag Briefs: Collins wins gold for food security column

Ag Briefs: Agrologist and sector champion dies

Ag Briefs: Kelowna approves land exclusion

Ag Briefs: BC on watch for hornets

Province begins wildfire recovery payments

Beef sector sees strong demand

Thanks for the support

BC-bred females sell well in fall production sale

Sheep producers monitoring for bluetongue

Columbia River Treaty impacts reviewed

Summer weather takes toll on OK fruit

Cheesemakers felt the heat this summer

Housing rules continue to challenge farmers

National plant health lab gets new director

All’s gourd – pumpkins not squashed by heat

Female ranchers excited for mentorship opportunities

Island project establishes baseline for bugs

Show me the money!

Corn trial provides options for changing climate

High heat, low pest pressure test corn plantings

Research: Breeding a better, more nutritious apple

4-H BC: 4-H event helps develop future community leaders

Farm Story: Carrots offer a peaceful break

Plow match perseveres despite pandemic

Woodshed: There’s more than truck trouble with Delta Faye

Mesh covers control vegetable pests

Jude’s Kitchen: Fall weather calls for cool comfort food

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4 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

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 falls short on dam safety oversight

Ranchers say cash would boost compliance, capacity

October 1, 2021 byTom Walker

VICTORIA – BC’s auditor general says the province has failed to ensure dam owners comply with dam safety regulations, raising the risk of failures such as the 2010 collapse of the Testalinden dam on rangeland south of Oliver that swept away houses, vineyards and farm equipment.

But the report, released September 14, stopped short of recommending the province commit more money to helping dam owners meet their obligations. It instead called on the province to boost enforcement activities. Provincial regulations give owners responsibility for dam safety while the province oversees compliance to mitigate the risk to people, property and the environment.

“Our audit concluded that the ministry has not effectively overseen the safety of dams in BC,” auditor general Michael Pickup said in releasing the report. “Dams are dangerous, and it is crucial that they be properly maintained to minimize their risk of failing. Failures can be disastrous for people, the environment and property.”

The report was based on a year-long investigation of the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD) with respect to dam oversight. It found the province promoted compliance with the province’s dam safety requirements but “did not adequately verify or enforce compliance” as required under the Water Sustainability Act.

“They are not doing what they set out to do in terms of compliance,” says Pickup.

Of the 1,900 dams across the province, 1,000 are designated “high risk,” meaning a failure could kill people and damage the environment and property. The impact of failures at the other 900 dams is lower, only damaging the owner’s property.

The investigation uncovered a number of troubling facts. For example, at least 196 dams are missing from ministry records.

“The ministry should have been regulating some of those,” says Pickup.

In addition, 63% of dam records sampled lacked key information, such as emergency contacts and dam height.

Moreover, a sample of records found that 33% of operating manuals and 27% of dam emergency plans submitted to the ministry were not reviewed three or more years after submission. Reviews of high-consequence dams are backlogged. The average time to accept safety reports was 20 months; some took eight years.

Competing priorities in regional offices and a shortage of staff contribute to the backlogs.

Just three of the province’s 10 dam safety officers are full time. But those officers are responsible for a caseload that ranges from 47 to 427 dams.

Using estimates from program staff, the audit “determined that the ministry would need another five central and five regional staff to meet all aspects of the program’s mandate.”

The report makes nine recommendations for improving the province’s oversight of dam safety, including informing all dam owners of their regulatory obligations, improving processes to verify dam owner compliance, improving monitoring of compliance and enforcement activities and strengthening performance measures and targets.

The province accepted all nine of the auditor’s recommendations, however it remains to be seen what action will be taken.

“Our recommendations are not prescriptive,” says Pickup. “It is the government’s job to create detailed policy. They need to figure out, given what we have found, how they want to monitor compliance and enforcement.”

Financial burden

Ranchers own about 900 dams, or 60% the all the dams in BC. Of these, 125 are considered high-consequence. But the BC Cattlemen’s Association say the audit did not address the top barrier to compliance – money to complete the work.

“We are disappointed that there was no mention of the regulatory and financial burden that comes with dam ownership,” says BCCA assistant general manager Elaine Stovin.

Dam owners are required to comply with the regulatory requirements and cover the cost of dam maintenance and upkeep. Stovin doesn’t think that’s fair given the multiple public benefits dams provide.

“Water stored in dams provides such a range of benefits and values to a community from flood control, habitat protection, food production, fire suppression and a variety of recreation opportunities,” she notes. “But the entire cost of the dam is the responsibility of the owner.”

The costs are significant.

A study of dam costs and benefits by national accounting firm MNP for ranchers in 2016 estimated that the average cost to operate a high-risk dam was $14,425 a year while a low-risk dam cost $1,950 a year.

But the dam rating is frequently out of the owner’s control.

“A rancher, of course, has no say as to whether a housing development goes in downstream of their dam, but a development below a dam would certainly increase the consequences if the dam were to fail,” Stovin points out. “A higher risk leads to a higher consequence classification and more costs for maintaining the dam.”

The dam owner ends up paying more money to reduce a risk they can’t control. Moreover, higher risk dams must complete a safety review every 7-10 years at a cost of up to $50,000. And, as the audit pointed out, it can take years for provincial staff to review these.

Stovin says dam safety has been a very important issue for cattlemen for over 10 years.

“We have resolutions brought forward at our AGMs and this has been a key ask when we present to the province’s finance committee every year,” she says.

BC Cattlemen and Ducks Unlimited prepared a discussion document on water storage in BC that they presented to FLNORD as well as the environment and agriculture ministries in July 2020. The document made several suggestions for addressing funding challenges associated with dam maintenance.

Stovin says this summer’s unprecedented heat wave, drought and wildfires point to the need for the province to prioritize the province’s water storage capacity. Producers are telling her that the increased costs put them in a position where they are looking to decommission their dams.

“Given the summer we have just had, I don’t think we can afford to lose any water storage capacity in our province,” she says.

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