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Originally published:

MARCH 2022
Vol. 108 Issue 3

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Stories In This Edition

Lucky chickens

$227m rebuild fund

Glyphosate shortage looms

Province opens ALR to agritech development

Editorial: Divorced from the earth

Back 40: Broken supply chain weakens food system

Viewpoint: BC’s emergency response needs improvement

Building back better means avoiding past mistakes

Sidebar: Grand Forks initiative protects farms

Rural, urban areas prepare for extreme weather

Ag Briefs: Property owner appeals BC SPCA seizure

Ag Briefs: Province sued over mind ban

Farm income projected to reach new heights

Potato growers brace for higher input costs

Keeping cranberries cool a hot topic

Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

Sidebar: Farmers need not apply

Diversification drives growth of organic farm

Leadership skills can help farmers cope with disaster

Winter rainbow

Compost facilities facing pushback

Cheese leads the way as BC dairies seek capacity

Island yogurt producer boosting production

Grape growers prepare for climate change

The perfect solution for farmers on the go

Small-lot egg producer awarded quota

Sidebar: Future quota draws likely limited

Broiler health in spotlight for small-lot farmers

Pest data helps with management decisions

Research: Researchers discover a world of apple microbiomes

Farms meet the demand for local food

Better berry harvester meets growers’ needs

Farm Story: Spring demands the old heave-ho

Safety in the spotlight as farms recover

Woodshed: Henderson style has chins wagging

Chilliwack teams plow past the century mark

Jude’s Kitchen: Spring has sprung! Time to make bread!

 

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4 days ago

A turkey farm in West Abbotsford is the second commercial poultry flock to tested positive for avian influenza since the initial case was reported in Enderby on April 13. CFIA announced the case May 19, but has yet to define the control zone. Ray Nickel of the BC Poultry Association says more than 50 farms are in the vicinity of the infected premises, meaning control measures — including movement controls — will have a significant impact on the industry. The supply of birds moving into the country from US hatcheries will also be affected, compounding the host of supply chain issues growers have been dealing with over the past year. A story in our June issue will provide further details. ... See MoreSee Less

A turkey farm in West Abbotsford is the second commercial poultry flock to tested positive for avian influenza since the initial case was reported in Enderby on April 13. CFIA announced the case May 19, but has yet to define the control zone. Ray Nickel of the BC Poultry Association says more than 50 farms are in the vicinity of the infected premises, meaning control measures — including movement controls — will have a significant impact on the industry. The supply of birds moving into the country from US hatcheries will also be affected, compounding the host of supply chain issues growers have been dealing with over the past year. A story in our June issue will provide further details.
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2 weeks ago

The province has extended the order requiring regulated commercial poultry operations to keep their birds indoors through June 13. Originally set to expire this Friday, the order was extended after a careful review by the province's deputy chief veterinarian. Poultry at seven premises, all but one of them backyard flocks, have tested positive for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza since April 13. The order allows small-scale producers to continue pasturing their birds outdoors provided biosecurity protocols developed by the Small-Scale Meat producers Association are followed. ... See MoreSee Less

The province has extended the order requiring regulated commercial poultry operations to keep their birds indoors through June 13. Originally set to expire this Friday, the order was extended after a careful review by the provinces deputy chief veterinarian. Poultry at seven premises, all but one of them backyard flocks, have tested positive for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza since April 13. The order allows small-scale producers to continue pasturing their birds outdoors provided biosecurity protocols developed by the Small-Scale Meat producers Association are followed.
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Sounds like 2 weeks to flatten the curve turning into 2 years.

USDA doing avian vax research, May 11 bio-docs to UN incl section on H5N8 w/wild bird spread. Found link to apparent pre-release on May 11 Geller Report. Good luck farmers.

3 weeks ago

Two more small flocks in BC have tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza. The latest cases are in Richmond and Kelowna. CFIA is in the process of determining a control zone around the property in Richmond, the first report in the Fraser Valley of the H5N1 strain of the virus among poultry. Speaking to Country Life in BC this week, federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said CFIA staff are working diligently to address outbreaks, and she encourages small flock owners to do the same. While commercial farms have tightened biosecurity measures, owners of small flocks have greater freedom. “Some smaller ones don’t necessarily have these measures in place,” Bibeau says. “They should also be extremely careful, because if we have a case in a backyard flock ... it could have an impact on bigger commercial installations.” ... See MoreSee Less

Two more small flocks in BC have tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza. The latest cases are in Richmond and Kelowna. CFIA is in the process of determining a control zone around the property in Richmond, the first report in the Fraser Valley of the H5N1 strain of the virus among poultry. Speaking to Country Life in BC this week, federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said CFIA staff are working diligently to address outbreaks, and she encourages small flock owners to do the same. While commercial farms have tightened biosecurity measures, owners of small flocks have greater freedom. “Some smaller ones don’t necessarily have these measures in place,” Bibeau says. “They should also be extremely careful, because if we have a case in a backyard flock ... it could have an impact on bigger commercial installations.”
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Killing our food chain. How do we know they are actually carrying a virus, look what's taking place with covid, is it real.

Ik kan niet zo goed Engels maar als ik het goed begrijp is bij jullie ook vogelgriep maar nog niet bij jullie

Any idea when this episode or bird flu might be over?

3 weeks ago

Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC welcomed its first new members in 20 years at its AGM on April 27. The BC Blueberry Council, BC Cherry Association, BC Cranberry Marketing Commission, BC Food & Beverage Association, BC Meats and Organic BC were approved as members, bringing the IAFBC’s membership to 15 farm and food organizations. IAFBC is also growing in responsibility, managing a record $8.3 million in funding from six funding agencies and developing new programs to support the agriculture sector including Farmland Advantage and Agricultural Climate Solutions. ... See MoreSee Less

Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC welcomed its first new members in 20 years at its AGM on April 27. The BC Blueberry Council, BC Cherry Association, BC Cranberry Marketing Commission, BC Food & Beverage Association, BC Meats and Organic BC were approved as members, bringing the IAFBC’s membership to 15 farm and food organizations. IAFBC is also growing in responsibility, managing a record $8.3 million in funding from six funding agencies and developing new programs to support the agriculture sector including Farmland Advantage and Agricultural Climate Solutions.
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4 weeks ago

A second BC flock has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the province reported this evening, April 25. The small backyard flock of chicken and ducks near Kelowna has fewer than 100 birds and is relatively isolated. This is the second backyard flock to be suspected of high-path avian influenza in the past week. The other, on Vancouver Island, was found to be AI-free. Amanda Brittain, chief information officer with the BC Poultry Association’s emergency operations centre, says the latest case is of minimal concern to industry because there are no commercial flocks within 12km of the premises. ... See MoreSee Less

A second BC flock has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the province reported this evening, April 25. The small backyard flock of chicken and ducks near Kelowna has fewer than 100 birds and is relatively isolated. This is the second backyard flock to be suspected of high-path avian influenza in the past week. The other, on Vancouver Island, was found to be AI-free. Amanda Brittain, chief information officer with the BC Poultry Association’s emergency operations centre, says the latest case is of minimal concern to industry because there are no commercial flocks within 12km of the premises.
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Province opens ALR to agritech development

Regulation change takes effect in August

SHELVES, NOT ROWS: Vertical farms are another way the province hopes to boost food security as it embraces regenerative agriculture and agritech. SUBMITTED

March 1, 2022 byPeter Mitham

ABBOTSFORD – Vertical farms will no longer have to seek permission from the Agricultural Land Commission to set up on protected farmland under a host of changes announced

February 20.

“We are making changes to support agritech and intensive crop production, like vertical farming, on the Agricultural Land Reserve,” BC agriculture minister Lana Popham said in a sparsely attended Saturday morning news conference on the Family Day long weekend. “Regulatory updates are needed to ensure there is clarity about which new innovative systems are allowed on the ALR.”

Popham said the move addresses a host of pressing issues, including food security, economic assistance to Abbotsford following the devastating November floods, and climate change.

“The future of farming and food production here in BC is one where we must consider all options,” says Popham, who considers vertical farms a natural extension of greenhouse systems. “Vertical farming will create even more opportunities to increase the food supply in the province, allowing farmers new options to produce more food year-round in more challenging climates.”

In addition to the rule change, the province is also pressing ahead with its Regenerative Agriculture and Agritech Network, an agritech concierge overseen by the BC Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation and an agritech centre of excellence.

The announcement makes good on a recommendation the BC Food Security Task Force made in January 2020 to open the ALR for agritech development. It proposed setting aside more than 28,400 acres of protected farmland for agritech and agri-industrial uses. Popham downplayed criticism at the time, but the new proposal goes a step further by greenlighting agritech ventures across the ALR.

The exact wording of the new regulation has not been released.

Richmond’s Harold Steves, who was instrumental in establishing the ALR in 1973, called out the province on Twitter.

“This #BCNDP Government has destroyed more farmland than all other governments combined since the #ALR saved farmland in 1973,” he says. “Just as we were getting resigned to the loss of 10,000 acres at #SiteC we are faced with the loss of more farmland to industry.”

Shaundehl Runka, a former land commissioner who served on the task force Popham set up in 2018 to recommend ways to revitalize the ALR, expressed frustration. She called out the original proposal to create an agri-industrial zone within the ALR, and the current proposal is no better.

“This is another thinly veiled excuse to use less expensive ALR land for a use that could be located elsewhere. It is no different than monster homes or other types of industrial activity locating on ALR land,” she says. “This is exactly the kind of land use pressure that led to the creation of the ALR.”

She wonders why the province isn’t creating opportunities for new farmers to secure land within the ALR.

“It is shocking to hear that government will be helping agri-tech industry to secure land in the ALR,” she says. “They could instead be helping young farmers enter the land market for agriculture or existing farmers to expand.”

Opposition agriculture critic and Delta South MLA Ian Paton echoed the concerns.

“God knows they’ve covered up enough prime farmland in Delta with greenhouses, which is almost the same as vertical farming. Instead of growing lettuce, they’re growing cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers. But it’s all, basically, on a concrete floor,” he says.

Moreover, controlled-environment systems like greenhouses and vertical farms are typically beyond the means of new entrants, unless they’re extremely well capitalized.

“It’s cost-prohibitive,” he says. “There’s only 12 vertical farms in all of Canada. And why is that? This is something that people with suits and ties get into from downtown Vancouver, not conventional farmers.”

Changes to provincial regulations typically require a period of public feedback. However, Popham did not indicate any chance for public input. Instead, she said the change will take effect in August through an order-in-council.

Paton plans to challenge the rule change in the legislature.

 

 

 

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