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Originally published:

AUGUST 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 8

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Stories In This Edition

Heat Wave

Night moves

Record temps kill poultry

High heat, low moisture vexes ranchers

Editorial: Unprecedented

Back forty: Summer means being prepared for wildfires

Viewpoint: Overheated markets make farming harder

Province allows secondary homes in the ALR

National farm building code set for update

Grain producers refocus on advocacy, research

Ag Briefs: BC Blueberry Council gets new chair

Ag Briefs: Islands Trust defers policy statement

Ag Briefs: BCAC’s consumer research yields four key findings

Provincial meat licensing overhaul effective October

Farm fresh

New tech could build a better cattle fence

Buchler recognized for practices, generosity

First certified sustainable wine makes debut

Ag targetted to reduce emissions in Clean Air Plan

Helping cattle keep their cool in the heat

Free recycling of ag plastics for northern BC

Pesiticide colleciton returns to the southern interior

Indigienous farms plow new ground with funding

It’s easy being green

Flower farm meets growing demand

New resources support small-lot pork producers

BC going full boar against feral pigs

Cannabis grower has the ‘happiest worms’

AEMCoP updates take effect

Forging new successes with the family farm

Cutworm study looks at damage below ground

Beet growers see red over leaf miner

Armyworm pressure low

Research: Research explores scrapie resistance in goats

Sidebar: Scrapie eradication tips

Woodshed: Graduation plans sworn to secrecy

Cherry grower diversifies as orchard declines

Jude’s Kitchen: Eats for a hot summer day

Farm Story: Reaping more by sowing elss makes perfect sense

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4 days ago

The Great Spallumcheen Farm & Food Festival and North Okanagan Plowing Match is happening this Sunday, September 24 from 10-3 at Fieldstone Organics, 4851 Schubert Rd, Armstrong. The outdoor festival features tastings and a market brimming with local food and beverage vendors, a horse and tractor plowing competition and vintage farm equipment displays. ... See MoreSee Less

The Great Spallumcheen Farm & Food Festival and North Okanagan Plowing Match is happening this Sunday, September 24 from 10-3 at Fieldstone Organics, 4851 Schubert Rd, Armstrong. The outdoor festival features tastings and a market brimming with local food and beverage vendors, a horse and tractor plowing competition and vintage farm equipment displays.
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Patti 😊

6 days ago

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7 days ago

The top five issues the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity identified in a recent survey were the cost of food, inflation, the cost of energy, keeping healthy food affordable and the Canadian economy. “We are seeing that environmental concerns are not in the top 10,” says Amy Peck, manager of the Canadian Cattle Association’s public and stakeholder engagement program. “If you are concerned about being able to afford to feed your family, the environment becomes less important.” ... See MoreSee Less

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Ranchers get the backstory on public perception

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VERNON – Ranchers might be concerned about how the public sees their industry, but a producer-funded team at the Canadian Cattle Association has their back. Amy Peck, manager of the Canadian Cattle...
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1 week ago

BC Tree Fruit Co-op has sold its Lake Country packing house as part of its long-term plan to consolidate operations. The sale, to an undisclosed buyer, closed on August 31, 2023 for $15.8 million. ... See MoreSee Less

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Lake Country packing house sold

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BC Tree Fruit Co-op has sold its Lake Country packing house as part of its long-term plan to consolidate operations. The sale, to an undisclosed buyer, closed on August 31, 2023 for $15.8 million.
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Who bought it ffs ?

Ted Nedjelski Karen Turner

One of my first jobs was apple grading in a packing plant in Vernon

Vivian, is this where you worked?

I’d hear the company that owns the big Cannabis company that owns the green houses all around this packing plant was buying up everything around to expand. Wonder if it’s them that got it.

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1 week ago

The federal government has committed $1.81 million over the next three years to support the BC Poultry Association's preparation for direct participation in responses to future outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the province. “The persistence of the virus in wildlife and recurrence of outbreaks globally, presents additional risks during the migratory bird season in North America later in 2023,” the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Vancouver advised in July. For more, visit www.countrylifeinbc.com/ai-risk-rises-with-fall/ ... See MoreSee Less

The federal government has committed $1.81 million over the next three years to support the BC Poultry Associations preparation  for direct participation in responses to future outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the province. “The persistence of the virus in wildlife and recurrence of outbreaks globally, presents additional risks during the migratory bird season in North America later in 2023,” the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Vancouver advised in July. For more, visit https://www.countrylifeinbc.com/ai-risk-rises-with-fall/
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Record temps kill poultry

Cattle fare better, but production down all-round

NIGHT MOVES: Temperatures creeping up to the low 30s and smoke from neighbouring wildfires prompted Jealous Fruits to pick their cherries in the relative comfort of dark beginning July 16. Using a headlamp to light his way, Eduardo Vaca Castro was one of a crew of 125 pickers whose shift started at midnight when temperatures had cooled to the low 20s. MYRNA STARK LEADER

August 1, 2021 byKate Ayers & Peter Mitham

SURREY – Three days of record-setting temperatures at the end of June made for sweat-soaked chores for many farmers, but cattle and poultry producers also faced the challenge of keeping their animals cool, too.

Poultry producers were especially vulnerable, as birds don’t sweat, meaning they can’t cool down.

Broiler producers in the Fraser Valley lost approximately 400,000 birds, or about 20% of the week’s production.

“It’s very, very bad and devastating for the growers that lost them,” says Bill Vanderspek, executive director of the BC Chicken Marketing Board.

While breeders, egg producers and turkey growers also saw losses from the heat wave, Vanderspek said broiler birds are more vulnerable because they tend to be younger and grow quickly.

BC Egg Marketing Board executive director Katie Lowe said about 4% of BC laying hens fell victim to the heat, primarily in the Fraser Valley and on Vancouver Island. This amounts to more than 130,000 birds.

“The one thing we have going for us is new facilities with tunnel ventilation,” said Lowe. “Those systems seem to do very well.”

Growers with ventilation systems to protect their flocks can obtain heat prostration insurance, Vanderspek says. Many of his growers who lost birds will be filing claims.

Smaller producers also saw losses.

TJ Walkem of 60 Ranch in Spences Bridge lost half his chickens to the heat, in sharp contrast to his beef cattle. The ranch’s herd of 265 animals were able to find cool spots during the day.

Agassiz dairy farmer Julaine Treur of Creekside Dairy said the heat was tough on her animals, with production down significantly. But at least they could sleep under fans at night.

“They’re not off feed, and they’re still chewing their cud while relaxing under the huge barn fans,” she said. “They spend their nights on pasture where it’s slightly cooler.”

Wool coats – the last thing most people want in a heat wave – was also no picnic for sheep.

BC Sheep Federation president Barbara Ydenberg of Wind’s Reach Farm in Langley said her flock sought out shade but those locations are also coyote-friendly nooks. This meant some producers were forced to watch over their herds by day, leaving shepherds vulnerable to the extreme heat.

Some unshorn sheep suffered acute discomfort.

While shearing a heat-stressed sheep isn’t something Ydenberg recommends, she said one producer had no choice. A black sheep was hand-shorn during the heat wave, cooling it down and saving it from a traumatic death.

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