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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

The province has extended the Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security Program deadline from June 1 to Aug. 31. The program helps farmers cover uninsured expenses caused by damages in the November 2021 floods, including cleanup, repair and restoration of land, barns and animal shelters, and water and waste systems; returning flood-affected land and buildings to a safe state for agricultural production; repairing uninsurable essential farm infrastructure; repairing structures such as livestock-containment fences; renting temporary production facilities; installing drainage ditches and land-stabilization materials; animal welfare activities such as replacing feed, transporting livestock, veterinary care and mortality disposal; and
replacing perennial plants not grown for sale. Program criteria and application forms are available online: buff.ly/3sVRF4G
... See MoreSee Less

The province has extended the Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security Program deadline from June 1 to Aug. 31. The program helps farmers cover uninsured expenses caused by damages in the November 2021 floods, including cleanup, repair and restoration of land, barns and animal shelters, and water and waste systems; returning flood-affected land and buildings to a safe state for agricultural production;  repairing uninsurable essential farm infrastructure; repairing structures such as livestock-containment fences; renting temporary production facilities; installing drainage ditches and land-stabilization materials; animal welfare activities such as replacing feed, transporting livestock, veterinary care and mortality disposal; and
replacing perennial plants not grown for sale. Program criteria and application forms are available online: https://buff.ly/3sVRF4G
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1 month 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 months 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.

2 months 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?

2 months 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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Ranchers collaborate to preserve grasslands

Biodiversity key to restoring sensitive eco-systems in OK

Little Twin lake is now fenced off from cattle, as is Horn Creek, which links it to Twin Lakes. JUDIE STEEVES PHOTO

August 1, 2019 byJudie Steeves

OLIVER—Like a sliver of sky, a Western Bluebird drops from above and lands among the dried grasses at the edge of a meadow.

Down the hill, sun glints off a small, round lake surrounded by forest down to the water’s edge, and a creek flows out through a low spot, fenced off from the grassy rolling hills on either side.

Healthy green grass has been munched in a few places but the cattle grazing there don’t often trek down the hills to the creek for a drink because the rancher provides convenient troughs throughout the range, fed from springs high in the

hills.

Instead, explains Wade Clifton, whose family owns the Clifton Ranch in Keremeos, his cows tend to drift across the hills so there’s less erosion than would occur if they wandered regularly up and down the hills between grazing and drinking water.

The streamside is also less eroded and the riparian zone is being restored to a more natural state now that the cows are watered elsewhere through the 17,000 feet of water line and troughs.

It’s all part of the Nature Trust of BC’s White Lake Basin Biodiversity Ranch, at Twin Lakes, west of Kaleden and Penticton.

Clifton owns a neighbouring parcel and is now running about 500 cows on both his own and the Nature Trust’s conservation property, allowing more space for the cattle so the pressure on the land is sustainable on all parcels.

“We try to keep the cattle dispersed,” he notes.

Co-management

In all, the partners own, lease and hold grazing licences on a total of 8,056 hectares of grassland in the area of the White Lake Basin and Twin Lakes, managing it jointly as both ranch land for grazing cattle and as conservation lands for nationally endangered and threatened species at risk and their habitat.

Although the concept of combining a working, viable cattle ranch with land conservation for species at risk may seem odd, it is working, says Jasper Lament, CEO of the Nature Trust.

A management plan for the properties was completed in 2014 and includes creation of grazing pasture units so science dictates efficient use of the land without negatively impacting native species.

“By using good practices we help both ourselves and the natural world,” notes Clifton. “We need good grass to produce pounds of beef, so it benefits us to not over-graze the land as well as conserving native species.”

He says Twin Lakes was once used 24/7 for grazing, but now he only puts cows out every two years in each grazing unit instead.

“That gives the grasses a chance to recoup,” he explains. The grasses also benefit from being cropped by cows, which also dig up the soil with their hooves and prevent it from becoming compacted.

Riparian exclusion fencing has been installed by the Nature Trust, which has also provided the knowledge of its biologists to help the Cliftons determine their management practices.

However, Wade is the third generation on the land and his father Wilson was already conscious of the importance of maintaining a diverse ecosystem and he passed that concern on to his sons.

“Dad was always open-minded about change and we adopted that way of thinking, too,” he says.

“Sometimes you learn more from a fresh viewpoint. This has been a real learning experience for all of us. We are monitoring progress all the time, and so does the Nature Trust,” he explains.

For instance, the cows are moved into mountain pastures for the summer, then into fall grazing pastures after those grasses have grown up and gone to seed.

He says cattle are an important part of the ecosystem when properly managed.

Included in this biodiversity ranch are critical grassland, sagebrush shrub-steppe, dry forest and riparian habitats. It’s one of the largest intact private grassland properties in the South Okanagan.

Its size also provides connectivity with adjacent conservation lands, with links to the Vaseux-Bighorn National Wildlife Area of the Canadian Wildlife Service and more Nature Trust holdings on the west side of Vaseux Lake.

There are 27 red and blue-listed plant communities that have been identified within the boundaries of the biodiversity ranch, along with 57 species at risk.

Today, most of the property surrounding the upper Twin Lake is owned by the Nature Trust, which purchased it just as a developer was working to convert the wooded margins from natural forest into residential ‘ranchettes.’

Different landscape, similar issues

Across the valley is a very different landscape, but one which also features a variety of at-risk species, including the Lewis’s Woodpecker.

The Okanagan Falls Biodiversity Ranch is 715 hectares of private land plus a 44,126 hectare grazing licence which provides critical wildlife corridors east and west, as well as conserving a wide variety of habitat types, from bunchgrass and antelope-brush to riparian areas and wetlands and coniferous forest.

The entire property is critical for bighorn sheep. It is a foraging and lambing area for them as well as a migration corridor.

Ranching partner Brian Thomas of Thomas Ranches runs 200 to 300 cows on it, and he’s the third generation on this land. His ancestors purchased it in 1905 and a barn which was built around 1860 still stands on the ranch—a legacy of the previous owners.

With the help of the Nature Trust, all of the creeks have now been fenced off as well as a spring and the 10 or 15 acres around it.

There are three creeks on the property and dugouts are used to water cows.

“It’s a bit of a pain keeping the fencing up, but the fencing does keep the cattle out,” admits Thomas.

Targeted grazing helps to control wildfire and gravity-fed irrigation is provided from McLean Lake for the hayfields on the ranch.

“We have to conserve water and this year water is going to be an issue,” notes Thomas.

He says his family has always managed the ranch using the principles of biodiversity.

For most of Thomas’s life, the Lewis’s Woodpeckers—with their distinctive dark red face framed in black, pale collar separating the head from the bright pink breast—have frequented the ranch property, he recalls, although they were not considered endangered.

But today, they are declining in population because of habitat loss and competition from European starlings for nesting sites—yet they still swoop up and glide about the corrals, snatching insects on the wing and perching on gates and fence posts.

The colourful birds are on the provincial blue list of at-risk species and are considered a species of special concern in Canada by the committee on the status of endangered wildlife in Canada.

As well, there are still conflicts with wildlife on the ranch, but Thomas says a federal compensation program helps them recoup the costs of lost feed. The herd of bighorn sheep in the area used to be 30 or 40 in the 1950s, but today, he estimates the number to be closer to 120 animals.

Nicholas Burdock is Okanagan Conservation Land Manager for the Nature Trust and notes you can hear the bighorn sheep knocking heads in the fall up in the hills around the ranch, as the rams vie for dominance over other males during breeding season.

“Biodiversity ranches like those at White Lake and Okanagan Falls help to protect endangered species and habitats,” says Burdock, “and provide opportunities for other ranchers to see how an innovative approach to managing the land and cattle can make a huge impact.”

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