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Originally published:

July 2018
Vol. 104 Issue 7

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Stories In This Edition

Sweet basil

Committee cancels meetings

Sidebar: Greater co-ordination; less conflict

Prince George packing plant gets further study

Sidebar: Co-op model lets producers pocket profits

Editorial: Buy the billions

Back Forty: Canada isn’t the cure for what ails US dairy

OpEd: Dairy industry will endure current trade issues

ALC allegations nix Delta farmer’s vision

Letters: Elk know no boundaries

Precautions taken against Japanese beetle

Great spring for nurseries

Chicken pricing formula isn’t right

Pitt crew

Criteria for Crown tenure still unclear

McClary’s leased to Aquilinis

Strawberries kick berry season off to good start

Food advocates grapple with rural-urban interface

Research updates presented to cherry growers

New farmers need to research livestock needs

Time for tea

Ag Brief: Farmers still waiting on new ag waste regs

Ag Brief: Drought watch

AgBrief: Good to meet ewe

Ag Brief: Staff change at FF/CF

Ag Brief: Market trail

Riparian restorations benefit from farm funding

Young Farmers network at Okanagan tour

Salmon Arm fleece brings top dollar

Perseverance, ingenuity aid haskap harvest

BC ranchers praised for wildfire response

Committee work pinpoints rancher priorities

Mentorship program helps expand horizons

Tour gives public insight to dairy farming

Island welcomes Angus breeders

Experts weigh in on future of raspberry cultivars

Preparation, customer service key to market success

Top 10 list for market success

UVF ag curriculum continues to diversify

Research: Going green

Buy BC relaunched

Farm camps for kids

Henderson continues on crash course

Jude’s Kitchen: It’s easy to make July veggie month

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3 days 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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2 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?

3 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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4 weeks ago

A second BC flock has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the province reported this evening, April 25. The small backyard flock of chicken and ducks near Kelowna has fewer than 100 birds and is relatively isolated. This is the second backyard flock to be suspected of high-path avian influenza in the past week. The other, on Vancouver Island, was found to be AI-free. Amanda Brittain, chief information officer with the BC Poultry Association’s emergency operations centre, says the latest case is of minimal concern to industry because there are no commercial flocks within 12km of the premises. ... See MoreSee Less

A second BC flock has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the province reported this evening, April 25. The small backyard flock of chicken and ducks near Kelowna has fewer than 100 birds and is relatively isolated. This is the second backyard flock to be suspected of high-path avian influenza in the past week. The other, on Vancouver Island, was found to be AI-free. Amanda Brittain, chief information officer with the BC Poultry Association’s emergency operations centre, says the latest case is of minimal concern to industry because there are no commercial flocks within 12km of the premises.
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Strawberries kick berry season off to a good start

Fraser Valley berries flourish under “ideal” conditions

July 1, 2018 bySean Hitrec

DELTA – With memories of the difficult spring of 2017 still fresh in their minds, farmers say strawberries are flourishing while while early predictions show blueberry and raspberry crops should match those of with previous years in the Lower Mainland.

“The size [this year] is as big as I’ve seen for strawberries,” says Kevin Husband of Emma Lea Farms on Westham Island, calling it the best crop he’s seen in 10 years.

Spring rains stopped at an ideal time for Husband’s 30 acres of strawberries to establish the proper root structure to support a large and delicious crop. Healthy fresh-market sales combined with warm sunny weekends for Husband’s u-pick operation were the pay-off for what he considers an ideal crop.

This is especially good news after last year, when yields were 30% down from average. A wet spring oversaturated his plants with water, which led to poor root systems.

“They didn’t form any roots because they didn’t have to,” he says, explaining that smaller roots mean reduced yields. “They just had a few berries and then the season was over.”

Blueberries suffered similarly low yields last year, and while this year is better, they didn’t come out of the winter unscathed.

BC Blueberry Council chair Jack Bates says his 90 acres of blueberries in Ladner are looking good so far. He isn’t the type of person to count his blueberries before they’re picked but he says the crop seems to be back on track after last year.

However, late winter brought hiccups. An unusual cold snap in February killed some young blueberry buds, seemingly at random, in some fields in the Lower Mainland.

“The [affected] buds, when they started opening, were all brown. And then they just kind of opened and fell off,” Bates says.

“On the positive side, weather conditions have been excellent,” he adds, noting that pollination was “great” this year. “Another small rain would not hurt us at all, but most guys are irrigating and getting water on.”

Blueberries in the Lower Mainland suffered from moisture and untimely rainfalls when their buds opened in 2017, preventing adequate pollination and reducing the crop to just 135.6 million pounds.

“Last year was a real downer year; the whole province was down 30-something million pounds. So hopefully we’ll be back up to our traditional production, but it’s too early to tell,” he says.

Bates says he’ll know more once harvest begins, and the impact of a late and untimely June frost on the low-bush blueberry crop in the Maritimes is clear. In some cases, 80% of blueberry crops have been lost. Bates hopes that will mean better prices for BC berries.

Raspberries were later than normal due to the wet spring last year, but like other fruit they’re expected to be on par with previous years, says Henry Mutz of Berry Haven Farm Ltd. in Abbotsford.

“At the moment, it looks like we are only about five days ahead of last year. We were expecting it to be like the strawberries, 10 days ahead,” he says.

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