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Originally published:

FEBRUARY 2022
Vol. 108 Issue 2

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Stories In This Edition

Grain prices hit chicken growers

Farmers helping farmers

Groundwater deadline firm

IAFBC takes over environmental programs

Editorial: Spring shadows

Back 40: Old tractors pull loads of memories

Viewpoint: Animal agriculture is in the crosshairs

Dairy farmers assured recovery funding on its way

BC SPCA hits pause

Soaring fertilizer prices add to cost pressures

Higher milk prices, costs raise stakes at retail

Growers face recertification challenges

Ag Briefs: Omicron forces rescheduling of ag shows

Ag Briefs: Sumas Prairie farmers sue government

Ag Briefs: BC Tree sells another property

Weather deals another blow to berry growers

Cherry growers assessing winter damage

Grape growers grapple with cold damage

Sidebar: Grape bud hardiness index

Farmers face delays from lab closures

Forage council sets sights on growth

Farmers step up in emergency operations

The birds come first at B Jack

Ranchers waiting for federal fencing funds

Integrated control strategy keeps predators at bay

Sidebar: By the numbers

Peace producers work to expand meat processing

BC goats to benefit from genetics investment

Robson Valley family realizes its dreams

Creamery builds a taste for local connections

Research: Scientists learn how plants respond to heat stress

Blueberry growers on the hunt for pollination options

Viewpoint: Diversity, equity, inclusion is an ongoing process

Farm Story: Positive results arent always sensational

Sweet

Woodshed: Clay makes his intentions known to Ashley

FCC gives 4-H clubs a financial boost

Jude’s Kitchen: For your sweetie

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3 weeks ago

It’s been four years since the last tulip festival was held in Abbotsford, but this year’s event promises to be an even bigger spectacle than ever. Spanning 27 acres along Marion Road, Lakeland Flowers will display more than 70 varieties of the spring blossom, including fringe tulips and double tulips, the first of six months of flower festivals hosted by the farm. Writer Sandra Tretick spoke with Lakeland Flowers owner Nick Warmerdam this spring to find out how the floods on Sumas Prairie in 2021 have had an impact on his business plan as he transitions from wholesale cut flower grower to agri-tourism. We've posted the story to our website this month. It's a good read.

#CLBC #countrylifeinbc #tulipfestival
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Tulip grower makes the shift to agritourism

www.countrylifeinbc.com

ABBOTSFORD – On a bright sunny day in early April, Nick Warmerdam points out his office window at No. 4 and Marion roads to a spot about half a kilometre away across the Trans-Canada Highway.
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Omg 🥹 Jared Huston let’s go pls

4 weeks ago

Farming, like any other job.. only you punch in at age 5 and never punch out 🚜 ... See MoreSee Less

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Easton Roseboom Levi Roseboom🚜

4 weeks ago

The province is allocating $15 million to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. for a perennial crop replant program benefitting tree fruit, hazelnut, berry and grape growers. The program aims to cover 100% of plant removal costs and 75% of replanting costs. Funds are also available for sector development. The new program replaces a suite of sector-specific replant programs and recognizes the importance of sector adaptation in the face of market, disease and weather challenges. ... See MoreSee Less

The province is allocating $15 million to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. for a perennial crop replant program benefitting tree fruit, hazelnut, berry and grape growers. The program aims to cover 100% of plant removal costs and 75% of replanting costs. Funds are also available for sector development. The new program replaces a suite of sector-specific replant programs and recognizes the importance of sector adaptation in the face of market, disease and weather challenges.
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4 weeks ago

Just a week after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials revoked the last primary control zones established in the Fraser Valley to control last fall’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a new detection on April 29 at a commercial premises in Chilliwack underscored the risk of a spring wave. This is the first new detection since January 22, also in Chilliwack, and brings to 104 the number of premises affected since the current outbreak began April 13, 2022. The disease has impacted 3.7 million birds in BC over the past year. ... See MoreSee Less

Just a week after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials revoked the last primary control zones established in the Fraser Valley to control last fall’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a new detection on April 29 at a commercial premises in Chilliwack underscored the risk of a spring wave. This is the first new detection since January 22, also in Chilliwack, and brings to 104 the number of premises affected since the current outbreak began April 13, 2022. The disease has impacted 3.7 million birds in BC over the past year.
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Any other details for FVN and chillTV please? radiodon11@gmail.com

4 weeks ago

The province is contributing $3.2 million for upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station in Abbotsford that was overwhelmed during the November 2021 flooding on Sumas Prairie, part of a collaborative approach to flood mitigation in the region. During a press conference at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food offices in Abbotsford today, the province said a collaborative approach that includes First Nations is needed as Abbotsford pursues a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy due to the potential impacts on Indigenous lands. Agriculture's interests will be represented by technical teams within the agriculture ministry. ... See MoreSee Less

The province is contributing $3.2 million for upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station in Abbotsford that was overwhelmed during the November 2021 flooding on Sumas Prairie, part of a collaborative approach to flood mitigation in the region. During a press conference at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food offices in Abbotsford today, the province said a collaborative approach that includes First Nations is needed as Abbotsford pursues a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy due to the potential impacts on Indigenous lands. Agricultures interests will be represented by technical teams within the agriculture ministry.
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I sure hope part of that money is to educate the people in charge of the pumps and drainage system! They just relayed on computers and weren’t even physically monitoring the water levels. I’ve lived in the Fraser Valley my whole life and the old guys managing that system know how to do it. The new generation just sit behind computer screens and don’t physically watch the water levels. That system works very well when you do it right. The Fraser river levels are very important. The system is designed to drain the Sumas Canal (the part that runs thru the valley) into the Fraser. When they let it get backed up it put pressure on the dyke and the weak part burst. Simple science. And yes, the dykes need to be worked on too. Abbotsford has not been maintaining properly for years.

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Soaring fertilizer prices add to cost pressures

Close management will have several benefits this year

Global demand and production constraints are contributing to a substantial increase in the price of fertilizer this year. FILE PHOTO

February 1, 2022 byPeter Mitham

ENDERBY – Higher costs for fertilizer and other inputs are forcing BC producers to pay closer attention to where they spend their money this year.

Statistics Canada’s industrial price index pegs the price of chemical fertilizer at 225.7 in November, up from 97 a year earlier. That’s a 133% increase, with the sharpest rise happening since September. The increases have been driven by global demand and production constraints, including in Canada.

“We are seeing what in the industry we’d call a tightness in the supply chain on nitrogen fertilizer in particular,” says Ken Clancy, president and CEO of Okanagan Fertilizer Ltd., which operates bulk blending plants in Enderby and Williams Lake. “Everything that we’re hearing from North American producers is that they’re sold well into April and May already.”

This isn’t the first shortage Clancy has encountered in his 30-year career. The past decade has seen two major price spikes, one about seven years ago and the other during the financial crisis of 2008-2009.

But this year, a truck shortage is further complicating supply issues.

“It’s been extremely difficult for us to get trucks lined up, and either ship product into our fertilizer plants or to ship product out,” he says. “The whole supply situation is really, really complicated and difficult right now.”

The challenges were flagged in a presentation Christophe LaFougère, who oversees the dairy practice of international consulting and market research firm Gira Food, made to the BC Dairy Association, January 19.

Nitrogen fertilizers depend on natural gas, and soaring gas prices in Europe have prompted at least one major producer to shut down production. Others have scaled back output until gas prices fall back to reasonable levels.

“The major fertilizer producers have reduced, by around 40%, their fertilizer production, not to mention those who have closed their plants,” he says, noting that this could reduce forage production and in turn milk yields. “We tend to think there will be a problem with fertilizer this year, and that would mean we could see a slow reduction … in the yield per cow.”

Clancy doesn’t expect BC producers to scale back, however. Despite a doubling in prices and backlogged orders, fertilizer remains a better deal than feed.

“We haven’t seen a lot of reduced demand because of the high prices,” he says of fertilizer use. “It’s still economic to do it, even with these high prices on fertilizer, because the price increases on the commodities that they’re growing more than offset the prices on fertilizer.”

However, many may take a second look at how they use inputs.

“This is a good year for farmers to be managing their crop production and their fertilizer use quite intensively,” says Clyde Graham, executive vice-president of Fertilizer Canada, a national trade association with 50 member companies across Canada.

The association encourages farmers to use the right source of fertilizer at the right rate, the right time and the right place to get the biggest bang for their buck.

“Working with a certified crop advisor is important to get the best value out of every dollar spent on fertilizer,” adds Graham.

Strategic use of synthetic fertilizers is also an important element of environmental management, he says. Using less also means more for the industry as a whole.

Clancy says fertilizer suppliers are working to ensure domestic fertilizer supplies keep moving. While most of Canada’s phosphate fertilizers are imported, Canada is typically a net exporter of potash and nitrogen fertilizers.

“[Companies] are doing their level best to make sure that farmers get the quantities and the types of fertilizer that they need for spring seeding,” he says. “It’s really important that growers, as soon as they can, provide their agro-retailer with information about the kind of crops they’re growing … so they can plan for servicing their needs.”

Clancy, for his part, doesn’t expect any of his customers will be short this year.

“I do think we will be able to meet the needs of all our customers here this year. It’ll be a little bit more hair-pulling, a little bit more complicated,” he says. “Having said that, we’re still a couple of months away from spring.”

 

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