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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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3 days ago

The province has extended the Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security Program deadline from June 1 to Aug. 31. The program helps farmers cover uninsured expenses caused by damages in the November 2021 floods, including cleanup, repair and restoration of land, barns and animal shelters, and water and waste systems; returning flood-affected land and buildings to a safe state for agricultural production; repairing uninsurable essential farm infrastructure; repairing structures such as livestock-containment fences; renting temporary production facilities; installing drainage ditches and land-stabilization materials; animal welfare activities such as replacing feed, transporting livestock, veterinary care and mortality disposal; and
replacing perennial plants not grown for sale. Program criteria and application forms are available online: buff.ly/3sVRF4G
... See MoreSee Less

The province has extended the Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security Program deadline from June 1 to Aug. 31. The program helps farmers cover uninsured expenses caused by damages in the November 2021 floods, including cleanup, repair and restoration of land, barns and animal shelters, and water and waste systems; returning flood-affected land and buildings to a safe state for agricultural production;  repairing uninsurable essential farm infrastructure; repairing structures such as livestock-containment fences; renting temporary production facilities; installing drainage ditches and land-stabilization materials; animal welfare activities such as replacing feed, transporting livestock, veterinary care and mortality disposal; and
replacing perennial plants not grown for sale. Program criteria and application forms are available online: https://buff.ly/3sVRF4G
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1 week 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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3 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?

4 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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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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