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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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Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

Kootenay program expands to new regions

Kootenay rancher Dave Zehnder is the founder of Farmland Advantage and a strong proponent of payments to farmers for ecosystem services. SUBMITTED

March 1, 2022 bySandra Tretick

INVERMERE – Farmers and ranchers in the Columbia Valley will continue to see rewards for taking action to conserve and enhance important riparian areas on their farms.

The Windermere District Farmers Institute (WDFI) was one of nine groups named in January to receive a share of $133,600 this year through the Columbia Valley Local Conservation Fund for projects to support fish and wildlife habitat, water quality and advance conservation in the region.

WDFI will receive $17,985 to provide incentives to 11 farms that are working to restore and conserve riparian zones.

The project is part of the larger Farmland Advantage program, the brainchild of Invermere cattle rancher and WDFI director Dave Zehnder.

Zehnder first worked with the farmers institute to seek funding for the program in 2009, when the conservation fund was established. The idea was one he thought could work in BC, rewarding farmers for delivering what was then known as ecological goods and services.

Such programs contract farmers to conserve and enhance natural values on private land and pay them for the benefits. Unlike carbon credits, which can be traded, the value of wetlands filtering and purifying water and forests that clean the air and provide habitat for wildlife have a social value.

Just 5% of the land in British Columbia is privately owned, and the majority of that is farmland in river valleys. Healthy riparian areas are important for water quality and as wildlife habitat.

Zehnder has always envisioned a province-wide program paying farmers for ecosystem services to the broader community, similar to how Switzerland pays farmers to maintain alpine meadows. US Department of Agriculture programs have paid farmers since the 1950s to take ecologically sensitive land out of production. Rents paid through the Conservation Reserve Program are aimed at reducing erosion, improving water quality and providing wildlife habitat. Something like this had never been tried in BC and Zehnder wanted to see if it could be adapted for local conditions.

Some small on-farm pilots laid the foundation for a five-year pilot that started in 2016. The name Farmland Advantage was adopted and a working group that included scientists and experts with knowledge of the top conservation issues in the various regions identified new sites. This gave Zehnder and the group a chance to try different mechanisms, develop the structure and flesh out how the contracts would work.

By the end of the pilot in 2021, more than 60 demonstration sites were operating across BC and more than 740 acres of prime riparian habitat was contracted for conservation and enhancement. Based on this success, the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC (IAF) agreed to take over delivery and administration in spring 2021. IAF engaged Upland Consulting to assist with program management. Zehnder continues to advise on program development.

“After the five-year pilot, we said ‘Hey, it’s ready. Is someone interested in taking it on?’ IAF had just done strategic planning and decided this was a good fit for where they wanted to go as an organization,” says Zehnder. “My dream has been realized in some ways in that it has become a program. That’s just a miracle to me.”

Farmland Advantage now works in several regions around the province to help farmers enhance the natural values on their land. In close cooperation with a local working group, WDFI oversees projects in the Columbia Valley. A working group on Vancouver Island focuses on the Koksilah River watershed and a Lower Mainland working group is addressing the Little Campbell River with input from the Langley Environmental Partners Society.

Farmland Advantage also works with ranchers and farmers in the grasslands of the South Okanagan and is partnering with the Shuswap Indian Band on projects to conduct riparian restoration along creeks on farms and ranches within reserve lands.

Funding comes from a wide variety of sources. Zehnder says it a good deal for the farmer, and a good deal for the funders and the community.

“We showcase what could be done, to help the funders understand what the potential of the program could be,” says Zehnder. “The farmer gets paid and the money they get offsets the costs they incur when they do these things. The farm doesn’t lose money doing this, and it helps improve the image of agriculture to society.”

Zehnder credits the Columbia Valley conservation fund for its long-term support and encourages other jurisdictions to embrace their model.

The funding structure itself is notable. It was the first conservation fund of this type in Canada. The funds come from property owners in the service area, each of whom pay a parcel tax of five cents per $1,000 of taxable assessed value, up to a maximum of $230,000 annually. It works out to about $20 per parcel. From its start in 2010 through 2021, approximately $2.5 million has been disbursed through 101 grants to local groups.

“The local conservation fund has been part of that story all along,” he adds. “It’s always been an important source of funds and one that we think has tremendous potential in other jurisdictions in BC. You think about the population of Greater Vancouver for instance, even a dollar per household could generate significant funds to support that region’s agriculture in their work in this area, never mind $10 or $20.”

Zehnder likes the combination of local people paying into a fund that supports local farmers to do things that benefit the local population but also society as a whole. Columbia Valley farmers – who would otherwise have limited resources to devote to stewardship efforts – have certainly benefitted. Over the years, WDFI has received $135,125 through the local conservation fund.

“[My] ultimate dream is that this could become a part of farming in BC,” says Zehnder. “Where this is part of the business of farming and we’re supported by the community and the community understands the value of agriculture beyond food.”

After last year’s catastrophic fires, Zehnder now has his sights set on getting communities to see the benefit of paying farmers to keep farmland green to act as a buffer between forests and communities.

“There are so many amazing applications for this model,” he says.

 

 

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