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Originally published:

NOVEMBER 2020
Vol. 106 Issue 11

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Stories In This Edition

Apple returns raise alarm

Ottawa urged to fulfil promises

Snow job

New government faces old issues in next term

Caught in the act

Editorial: Time for action

Back 40: Finding the perks in a pandemic world

Viewpoint: Changing times require a flexible vision

Invasive hornet nest destroyed south of Langley

Country Life in BC wins a record eight national awards

US launches investigation into blueberries

Hog producers face changes to code of practice

Growers, wineries welcome sustainability launch

Sustainability program delivers value to industry

Ag Briefs: Ag sector claims $8.5 billion economic impact

Ag Briefs: Farm worker protection funded

Ag Briefs: Autumn calf prices down

Grant programs encourage Indigenous ag projects

Range issues dominate NOLA meeting

Sidebar: BCV Cattlemen critique water intentions

BC Beef plant in Falkland ready to process this month

Winter warning

Corn trial results help make better planting decisions

Sidebar: Sweet results

New barn promises better egg production

ALR co-founder, defender embraces retirement

Seed sppliers seeing sustained demand as 2021 orders begin

Research: Breeding crops for the future means looking backwards

Straight ahead

Potatoes head for record-breaking harvest

Weather posed challenges for garlic growers

Garlic groewrs employ mixed marketing strategies

Association aims to foster collaboration

Demand boosts interest in older cider apples

Evans Farms marks a century of ranching

Farm Story: Nominees announced for seasonal awards

Bursary winner plants roots in Cawston

Provincial Winter Fair hosts live 4-H events

Woodshed: Janice Newberry bids farewell to love-sick Henderson

Where there’s a will, there’s gotta be a way

Jude’s Kitchen: Autumn Eats

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9 hours ago

Farmland Advantage is receiving a $445,000 grant from the federal government. The program, the “brainchild” of Invermere cattle rancher Dave Zehnder, provides compensation to farmers for their conservation efforts to protect BC’s grasslands, riparian areas and wildlife habitat. The funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada under the Species at Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands (SARPAL) and Priority Places programs, will be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas appeared in our March 2022 edition and you can view it at ... See MoreSee Less

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Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

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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 Farmer...
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5 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

2 months 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

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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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Seed suppliers seeing sustained demand as 2021 orders begin

Sector expanding as farmers and gardeners plan ahead

FarmFolk/CityFolk's BC Seeds Program took its mobile seed cleaner on a tour through the Kootenays last month. [Submitted photo]

November 1, 2020 byRonda Payne

LANGLEY – Onset of the COVID-19 pandemic saw seed orders by home gardeners surge, so much so that some seed companies delayed shipments until orders from commercial growers were filled.

Between April 1 to August 31, the BC Eco Seed Co-op saw an 847% increase in sales over the same period in 2019. About 350 bulk seed items were purchased and many farmers who ordered bulk seed also ordered packets.

The co-op undertook a $15,000 crowdfunding campaign this fall to support conversion of a trailer that will provide additional space for its work, which supports seed production for both gardeners and farmers. To join, co-op members must be able to supply seed in commercial quantities, not just packets for home gardeners.

“BC farmers are the largest consumers of organic seeds in Canada,” says Keeley Nixon, the co-op’s coordinator. “They spend almost $10 million a year to obtain the precious seeds. But the supply of local organic seeds is not keeping up.”

Lana Braun, co-owner of Hummingbird Farm in Nelson, grows cut flowers and finding organic seed is a challenge. She plans to join the seed co-op in order to make things a little easier.

“It’s a pretty niche market,” she says of organic cut flowers. “Because of this, it’s epically hard to find certified organic cut flower seeds.”

She started saving her own seed out of necessity and after five years of doing so, met David Catzel of Glorious Organics in Langley, a co-op member and seed program coordinator with FarmFolk/CityFolk in Vancouver.

“He was super encouraging and I felt like we could provide an interesting dimension in the flower perspective,” says Braun. “I knew there was a market for this.”

Co-op advantage

By joining forces with the co-op’s 18 other members, she’ll supply seed to the

co-op which then takes on the marketing, sales, packaging, shipping and more.

The co-op will enable Braun to supply seed without having to build the marketing, packaging and distribution infrastructure herself.

“They have done so much as a group to create the context to enable a new grower to come in,” she says. “Basically, I just give them the seed and they do everything else. If I had to do this on my own, there’s no way.”

She values her ability to support field-to-vase flowers and feels the “slow, local flower movement” began shortly after the similar food movement, about five to 10 years ago. Her estimate is that there are about 50 specialty cut flower growers around the province trying to source organic seeds. Selling seed also creates another revenue stream.

“Any farmer, by their nature, is looking for more avenues to market their products. It was a product that I was already creating just for myself on a small scale,” she says. “Because it’s a co-op it’s really a limited risk to test it and try it.”

Catzel says that any seed company he has contacted has seen sales at least 300% above normal during 2020. The orders have continued, pointing to sustained growth.

“Seed work has definitely gotten very busy,” he says. “But farmers didn’t plant more than 300% of seeds. We just have to make sure we grow more seeds.”

Growing opportunity

Alex Augustyniak, general manager with West Coast Seeds in Delta, says a lot of farmers are looking to get into seed production. He says the volume of sales hasn’t slowed down, even with the onset of fall.

“Usually, we get a little bit of a break, but this year, no,” he says. “People are buying tomatoes and peppers now. They want to make sure they have the varieties they want.”

Farms are also ordering seed early.

“Back in June they were starting to kick in,” he says. “Farmers noticed that [increase in sales] and thought, ‘I better put my order in earlier.’ They’re concerned, or just getting prepared.”

West Coast Seeds regularly attends events to meet farmers and learn about new varieties. It’s also part of the All-America Selections program that tests new varieties of seed and has a quarter-acre test garden.

“We’re always talking to people and we’re looking at different varieties,” he says. “The majority of the players we’re dealing with, they’ve been doing it for four generations.”

Catzel says BC residents and businesses purchase $25 million in vegetable seeds every year, just a fraction of which is produced in-province. This means there’s plenty of room to grow local seed production.

“There’s interest in farmers in doing this work, but it’s just not part of their business model,” he says. “I think that’s starting to change now, … [but] it’s a very long-term picture. A sustainable seed system is going to take decades of training and learning and collaboration.”

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