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Originally published:

MARCH 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 3

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Stories In This Edition

Province to make Premises ID law

A wee bit of green

No extension for groundwater

Pandemic trends a moving target as spring comes

Editorial: Safe and secure

Back 40: Making the most of a simple pleasure

Viewpoint: Regenerative agriculture is the way of the future

SlaughterRight training launched by ministry

Ottawa to bankroll foreign worker quarantine

Ag advocates honoured at virtual gala

Coping with adversity requires an open mind

Blueberry growers dodge US trade complaint

Open for business

Codling moth control strategy shows promise for SWD

Cherry growers continue to focus on export markets

Ministry prepares to lend support to tree fruit co-op

Delta farm entrepreneur built strong relationships

Dairy picks new entrant short list

Early advocate for farmworkers’ rights remembered

Markets consider allowing Alberta vendors

Ranchers plead with province to address elk issue

Sidebar: Fencing program protects hay

Falkland beef plant finetuning operations

District A sets ambitious agenda

Don’t underestimate scope of farmers institutes

Everlasting

Strict pandemic plan keeps workers safe

Growers face up to labour challenges

Time to tap

Sidebar: Housing key for SAWP workers

Tulip festival to bloom again in Spallumcheen

Hazelnut growers face increased disease, pest threats

Resources go online

Hope prevails as hazelnuts target expansion

Research: Wildfires influence pollinator offspring

Raspberry growers see improved IQF pricing

Raspberry researchers select for hardiness

Direct farm marketers prepared for new season

Sudden dieback now showing up in cherries

Viewpoint: Consumers need more than a Buy Local campaign

New framework to measure AITC outcomes

Farm News: Wishful thinkign for the winter that wasn’t

Ewe know it’s spring

Juiced up over local produce options

Peer groups help foster innovation, support

Sidebar: How to start

Sisters create website to help small producers

Woodshed: Divorce proceedings take off with a dog fight

Gardener pens book about mason bees

Jude’s Kitchen: Spring is coming

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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

buff.ly

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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Ranchers plead with province to address elk issue

Feed, forage losses are costing ranchers hundreds of thousands

The BC Cattlemen’s Association is asking that ranchers be compensated for 100% of the costs resulting from the losses due to elk damage under the BC Agriculture Wildlife Program. wayne ray, smith creek ranch

March 1, 2021 byTom Walker

KAMLOOPS – Ranchers are asking the province to tighten management of elk populations as the ungulates become an increasing nuisance to agriculture.

“We believe that elk populations are growing in certain regions,” says Elaine Stovin, assistant general manager with the BC Cattlemen’s Association.

Vanderhoof rancher and wildlife biologist Olin Albertson with the Nechako Regional Cattlemen’s Association agrees.

“We have certainly seen an increase in our area,” he says. “I can have up to 150 on my place at any one time and we now see herds of up to 300 crossing the highway. That wasn’t the case when I moved here in 2005.”

Staff with the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development have conducted surveys in selected areas but a province-wide elk count has never happened, meaning no one knows how much of a problem elk really are or whether it’s getting worse.

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” says Albertson.

Regional groups such as cattlemen’s associations or wildlife groups have taken it upon themselves to conduct local surveys, but that is not the same as a science-based inventory.

Elk are nocturnal animals. You can find them moving at dawn and dusk, and they feed primarily at night. Elk know where they are safe and can feed, Albertson points out, and over time the animals have become habituated to grazing on farm land.

“Agriculture areas tend to have less predators so the elk will gather in farmers’ fields,” he says.

Herd activity is the key problem. Elk are the second-largest member of the deer family after moose, but unlike the solitary moose they live together in herds. When you combine herd behaviour with grazing that clips plants close to the ground and sharp hooves that gouge the soil, a herd of elk can have a significant negative impact on a farmer’s field.

BC Cattlemen’s primary concern is the impact elk have on private lands but it is also worried about Crown range as well, an important source of grazing land for ranchers.

While elk pose minimal threat to range in the summer when plants are well-established, Albertson says it’s different in newly planted fields.

When elk get into a field with fresh sprouts, their browsing can stunt forage growth significantly. And if it is wet, their hooves do further damage to the young plants.

“When the forage is actively growing, there is not too much loss from grazing,” he says. “[But] if they get into a newly planted field, particularly with our fall rains, they can trample plants and will actually pull up the entire young plant when they are feeding and kill it.”

That is frustrating for ranchers who know to wait until a pasture can handle the impact of animals before turning cows out.

“If they get onto a pasture in early spring, that can really impact your grazing rotations,” he says.

There is also a risk of winter damage.

“Our snow cover is not as deep or as consistent as it used to be,” says Albertson. “The elk have gotten into my alfalfa and it looks like a moonscape. If there is a freeze and thaw cycle, the roots can actually snap.”

Haystacks ruined

Winter is also the time that elk can do extensive damage to a farmer’s stored feed supply.

“This is the biggest measurable damage,” says Albertson. “A herd of 150 elk can do serious damage to a haystack even overnight.”

What hay the elk don’t eat they will trample, crush while bedding down in it and poison from defecation and urination. Impacted hay cannot even be used for bedding other animals. Wrap offers no protection to bales. The bulls tear the plastic with their antlers.

There’s also a concern about how high elk numbers may impact the animal unit months ranchers are allowed in a range plan based on available forage if the combination of cattle and elk numbers exceed the carrying capacity of the land. Stovin says there’s real fear that the province may require ranchers to reduce the number of animals they can place on Crown range.

Ongoing issue

BC Cattlemen’s have asked the province for years to address the elk issue.

“In our second letter to the government, in the fall of 2019, we again called on the province to actively manage wildlife populations in a manner with a goal of minimal impacts on private lands,” says Stovin.

A key part of a management strategy would be to open more areas for hunting, cattlemen believe.

“We believe they should open up all management units to both bull and cow elk hunts,” says Stovin.

The Nechako Regional Cattlemen’s Association has coordinated limited-entry hunts on private ranches as have ranchers in the Skeena region.

Houston rancher Linda Dykens thinks hunting provides enough pressure that when combined with a stackyard fencing program, the elk move on.

“We are asking that the government provide funding for a stackyard fencing program across the entire province,” says Stovin.

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