• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Country Life In BC Logo

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915

  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Search

Primary Sidebar

Originally published:

January 2020
Vol. 106 Issue 1

Subscribe Now!

Sign up for free weekly FARM NEWS UPDATES

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Country Life in BC, 36 Dale Road, Enderby, BC, V0E1V4. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
Your information will not be
shared or sold ever

Stories In This Edition

Province signals ALR changes

Winter wonderland

Growers support piece rates

High-priced harvest heading for sweet success

Editorial: A new start

Back Forty: The service economy steps away from the land

Viewpoint: Subsistence farming is a thing of the past, isn’t it?

Cherry growers see record crop losses in 2019

Agricultural impacts from new rail trail sought

Small farmers raise concerns about CanadaGap

BC food costs set to rise

Farmers’ institutes gather for second annual meeting

Foodlands trust initiative inches forward

Sidebar: Two proponents short-listed for Sandown farm

Shifting climate brings changes to vineyard practices

Bright future

Processing plant will cut transportation costs

Date change bolsters turnout at dairy meetings

BC Holstein set pace for Canada in 2019

Trade deals remain top issue

Dairy honours Jim Thompson

BC’s largest farm show kicks off new year

Pacific Ag Show keeps up with changing times

Sidebar: Ag innovation day

Sidebar: CannaTech West back for second year

Popular dairy tour will feature lots of variety

Sidebar: Dairy Expo continues at ag show

Bison could be key to climate change resilence

Research: Clay improves degradability of dairy feed

Consumers, producers need mutual understanding

Deep learning helps root out weeds

Langley farmers see beauty in small lots

Commission offers new guide for hog production

Young farmers are making global waves

Fatal sheep diseases are largely preventable

Labour of love keeps historic farm in family

Glyphosate may be safe, but its days are numbered

Woodshed: Susan embarks on her secret rendevous

Farm Story: The farm roars headlong into winter

Jude’s Kitchen: Comforting crockpot meals keep it simple

More Headlines

Follow us on Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

10 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

Link thumbnail

Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

buff.ly

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...
View Comments
  • Likes: 0
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

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

Link thumbnail

Your weekly farm news update

web-extract.constantcontact.com

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
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

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

Link thumbnail

Christmas trees in demand

buff.ly

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…
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

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.
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 3
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

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
View Comments
  • Likes: 10
  • Shares: 8
  • Comments: 8

Comment on Facebook

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..

View more comments

Subscribe | Advertise

Small farmers raise concerns about CanadaGAP

Record-keeping isn’t as onerous as it seems, says specialist

January 1, 2020 byTom Walker

VERNON – Government efforts to provide greater assurances of food safety are creating apprehension among smaller farmers regarding the additional work they will face in order to satisfy customer requirements.

Randy Irwin, corporate retail operations manager with Vernon-based Nature’s Fare Market, sums up the situation well.

“The problem with CanadaGAP is that it is government-supported but not government-operated,” he says. “And it’s not mandatory, but increasingly that is the direction it appears to be going.”

The increased emphasis on safety doesn’t sit well with Wolfe Wessel of Green Croft Gardens in Grindrod.

“Does that mean I haven’t produced any safe food for the past 30 years?” he asks. “I’m a little offended.”

Wessel, a mixed vegetable farmer, says that the amount of detailed paper work required to achieve CanadaGAP certification – about an hour each day – is simply not worth the effort unless he increases his prices. And that’s not feasible.

“There is a certain point where people will not pay more,” he says. “They will give up and go to Wal-Mart and buy a Chinese carrot.”

Wessel has sold to Nature’s Fare in the past, but he’s not sure he will be able to continue.

Nature’s Fare promotes organic, local and community. With locations across the Okanagan and the Lower Mainland, it’s in a position to source from smaller local growers.

“Local organic growers are our lifeline,” says Irwin. “We have a mandate in our produce department to source local first, regardless of the price.”

The formula has worked for the company since its founding 25 years ago, but the recent purchase of the company by Buy-Low Foods, part of the Jim Pattison Group, may bring changes.

While the company has always required its organic produce to be certified, it’s still developing a policy for CanadaGAP.

“We are currently engaging a dialogue with all of our stakeholders as we assess CanadaGAP and the other certifications which our local growers are currently involved with. We wish to continue to foster the long-standing relationships we have built with our local partners and ensure our customers have access to the very best local organic produce.”

Too detailed

John Hofer, who runs Wise Earth Farms in Kelowna with his partner Brenda Paterson, says they won’t be embracing CanadaGAP.

Wise Earth produces 35 different vegetables through the growing season. Hofer says CanadaGAP requires detailed records for each vegetable as well as each variety.

“We supply rainbow carrots as well as regular carrots, and each type requires a different set of record-keeping,” he notes.

Wise Earth could scale back the number of crops it grows, but that isn’t its business model.

Hofer says CanadaGAP is a step towards European standards that allow for maximum traceability. That’s not a bad thing, but he doesn’t think it should put undue constraints on small farmers like himself and Wessel. They shouldn’t be forced to act like large-volume, commodity producers.

“Our farmers’ market customers know us for the variety of produce that we sell,” says Hofer.

He plans to focus more on small independent stores in the Kelowna area.

“I get it if your produce is going to end up in Ontario,” he says. “But our vegetables never leave the Okanagan. … We are seeking out those that want to support local.”

BC Ministry of Agriculture food safety specialist Elsie Friesen is the province’s key trainer and a strong advocate for the program. She says CanadaGAP doesn’t necessarily limit what small producers can do.

“Ultimately, yes, the fewer the crops (or the same family of crops) makes it easier,” she says. “However, it is only the very specific items for specific crops that differ that need the extra attention.”

She said specific practices such as pesticide sprays on particular crops or fields will require separate documentation, but that’s understandable from a traceability standpoint.

“It makes it easier to do inventory accounting, and ensuring the correct pesticide was sprayed as per label requirements,” she explains.

She emphasized that growers can choose the form of record-keeping that suits them.

“It is up to the producer to decide how to keep records, as long as records are kept by which the auditor can trace the product from seeding to spraying to harvesting, and transportation to buyer,” she says.

And growers don’t have to use the forms that are provided.

“If you have an invoice from the supplier that lists the specific chemical that you purchased, you could write a spray record on the back of the invoice and a harvest date and that would be acceptable to the auditor,”  she says.

“Growers need to come out to workshops,” says Friesen, who will discuss CanadaGAP at the Pacific Agriculture Show in Abbotsford at the end of January. “And they should come more than once.”

 

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

The perfect solution for farmers on the go

CanadaGAP expands options

CanadaGAP participation drops

New round of traceability funding available

BC considers making premises ID mandatory

Sheep

New year, new funding

Traceability regulations expected next year

Sheep

Traceability regs to include animal movement

Previous Post: « Processing plant will cut transportation costs
Next Post: Cherry growers see record crop losses in 2019 »

Reader Interactions

Copyright © 2023 Country Life in BC · All Rights Reserved