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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

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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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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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SlaughterRight training launched by ag ministry

New approach will ensure all facilities will be inspected

March 1, 2021 byPeter Mitham

VICTORIA – SlaughterRight is the province’s new, mandatory training program for on-farm meat plants following consolidation of meat inspection within the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.

The agriculture ministry took over inspection of D and E class facilities December 1. Regional health authorities previously oversaw training and inspection.

“[The ministry] is now implementing a province-wide approach, which allows applicants to complete the SlaughterRight training when it is convenient for them,” the ministry told Country Life in BC in a statement. “The training is now being offered as self-paced learning using the training manual and workbook to assist applicants in developing food safety plans for each animal species they will be slaughtering.”

New licensees will have to complete the training program prior to being licensed while the 100 operators currently holding D and E licences will have to complete the program prior to renewal. Staff with the province’s Meat Inspection Branch will review participants’ knowledge and food safety plans on completion of training and schedule a site visit prior to first slaughter.

The new approach ensures all meat processing facilities in BC are inspected no matter the location while doing so in a way that respects the constraints on provincial inspection staff. It also ensures that small-scale processors have provincially approved training, a concern of many larger operators in the industry.

Good news

“It is good to hear that people performing on-farm slaughter have the opportunity to learn proper animal handling at slaughter and safe food practices during slaughter,” says Nova Woodbury, executive director of the BC Association of Abattoirs, whose membership is primarily the larger A and B class licensees.

Known as SlaughterSafe when it was offered through local health authorities, the training program now addresses issues beyond food safety. Course participants must create a detailed humane slaughter plan alongside their food safety plan.

“In their humane slaughter plan, applicants outline how the standard operating procedures for their facilities, transportation, animal handling, slaughter process, and equipment cleaning and maintenance promote humane slaughter and animal handling,” the ministry explains. “There is also a larger focus on operator hygiene during and after slaughter, as well as food safety after the slaughter process.”

The new program, developed with the assistance of industry, will be updated regularly as “new guidelines surrounding animal welfare and slaughter practices become available.”

The new course reflects a series of consultations the province has undertaken over the past four years.

Updating training on slaughter practice, animal welfare and food safety to ensure provincially consistent and effective learning opportunities for rural producers was also an idea proposed as part of a rural slaughter modernization intentions paper the province circulated for discussion last fall. The province received a total of 88 responses and expects to publish the results in the near future.

Capacity issues

Julia Smith of Blue Sky Ranch in Merritt and president of the Small-Scale Meat Producers Association says the new training program is a step in the right direction for small operators.

“We welcome anything that supports us in meeting the already high standards for humane handling and safe, quality meat,” she says.

But capacity remains an ongoing issue for the industry. D facilities can process no more than 25 animal units, and E facilities are limited to 10.

Smith wants to hear how the ministry plans to enhance rural slaughter capacity. Many producers need to book slaughter dates months ahead of time, and the lack of access to facilities has pushed others to shut down. Smith has pinned hopes for her own farm on establishment of an abattoir in the Nicola Valley with the support of a Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program grant from the province.

She hasn’t heard back and is prepared to be disappointed. She notes it’s not just farmers who are losing out. Demand for local meat surged when the COVID-19 pandemic began last spring but rural communities aren’t enjoying the full benefits of the demand.

The intentions paper proposed relaxing restrictions on processing capacity and sales for D and E facilities and a licensing mode for mobile abattoirs that would boost slaughter capacity for small-scale producers.

“Business is booming for the mobile slaughter guys who have been working flat out since last fall but, of course, none of that meat can be sold legally,” she says. “We don’t see any indication of the situation improving at this point.”

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