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Originally published:

March 2019
Vol. 105 Issue 3

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Stories In This Edition

Ten-year plan

Simon Answerth

Province boosts ag spending

It’s a draw!

Well registrations lag in advance of final deadline

Editorial: Vice grip

Back Forty: Snow days make good days for seed selection

Viewpoint: Farmers need to prepare for annual snow melt

Smooth start to season as foreign workers arrive

Sidebar: Province mulls piece rates

Late winter has some Okanagan growers on edge

Ag show attracts near-record attendance

Ag Briefs: Traceability funding available for producers

Ag Briefs: Cattlemen’s launches webinar series

Ag Briefs: Grant winner announced

Labour remains a priority for fruit growers

Dairy, aquaculture take home awards at gala

Farmers need to prepare for uncertainty

Ag critic listens to concerns at farmers’ institute

Growers are responsible for workers’ safety

Robotic milkers sized up during dairy tour

Safe, high-quality silage depends on preparation

Young farmers crack open new vending concept

Diversification makes orchard a landmark

Going green boosts ranch’s credibility

Ranchers need to match forage with herd needs

Tru-Grit

Reducing waste will save money on winter feed

Producers question new Indigenous rights law

Hosting TRU students a way to give back

Livestock co-op provides selling, buying options

Sidebar: Market set to stay steady

Research: Bluetongue outbreaks expected to increase

Filling a niche for gourmet mushrooms

Regulations, housing key issues in Langley

Sheep producers seeing value in genetic program

Above and beyond

Vegetation fundamental to farms, landscape

Studies continue on forage, corn crop pests

4-H BC leader singled out

Growers go with the grain of beer revival

Agri-tourism has plenty of room for growth

Rose stem girdler poses threat to cranberries

Site prep critical for healthy hazelnut orchards

Sidebar: BC renewal program opens up

Wannabe: Renewal comes with a new generation of farmers

Mentorship gives Kelowna grower a headstart

Woodshed: Deborah and Doug McLeod turn up the heat

A good place to meet up

Jude’s Kitchen: Celebrate spring by eating outside

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3 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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Reducing waste will save money on winter feed

Put your money in the bank

Cow

February 26, 2019 byTom Walker

VERNON – Mike Witt, owner of Witt Precision Ag in Lavington, says the first step to cutting feed costs in winter is to cut waste. Producers need to do their best to combat silage shrink.

“Silage management and your feed-out management are the two low-hanging fruits,” he says. “You are going to lose nutrients as well as volume if you are not taking care when you store your feed.”

The second consideration is feeding waste.

“Are you using feeders or bunks; are you grouping your cows together based on their feed needs; are you watching out for overfeeding?” asks Witt. “You may be leaving wasted hay on the ground for organic matter but that’s a pretty expensive soil supplement.”

Witt gave ranchers a number of hypothetical examples to consider. He was able to compare ingredients by looking at their energy values and suggest some combinations that might save a producer money.

If a rancher had only produced lower-quality hay at 8% crude protein (CP) and 52% TDN, that would be sufficient for cows of good condition only through their second trimester of pregnancy, Witt suggests.

“For a cow in her third trimester, it would be borderline,” he says. “After calving, it would definitely be short of both protein and energy.”

Witt suggests mixing up the feed combination, blending high-quality hay with barley.

“That would give you the best price and nutrition combination to feed after calving.”

Alternatively, a hay and supplement combination could work, too.

In a second example, Witt looked at a rancher with high quality hay of 19% CP and 61% TDN. The herd’s nutritional needs are actually exceeded by feeding this hay and at a high market price of $225 a ton, the rancher could be throwing money away.

“This might be an opportunity to sell that hay, purchase some cheaper feed ingredients and put money in your pocket,” says Witt.

Witt’s suggestions included purchasing some straw to mix with the high-quality hay, limit feeding the cows so they are only getting the minimum feed requirements with little waste, or selling most of the high-quality hay, purchasing cheaper but adequate hay at say14% CP and 57% TDN. Ranchers would only need to supplement this hay with some barley after calving, which could net savings of around $100 per cow.

What about a producer who has good quality hay – say 15% CP and 57% TDN?

The combination would meet third trimester needs, but would be marginal after calving.

Witt briefly discussed some other options ranchers might consider.

A mix of cereal silage and alfalfa silage would be around $30 less, for example, while corn silage, cereal silage and straw would be $40 less. Combining corn silage, cereal silage and good quality hay could see a cost savings of over $80 per animal.

“It’s all about finding a balance between what you grow and what your cows need,” says Witt. “You may find yourself changing your forage production.”

 

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