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Originally published:

March 2019
Vol. 105 Issue 3

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Stories In This Edition

Ten-year plan

Simon Answerth

Province boosts ag spending

It’s a draw!

Well registrations lag in advance of final deadline

Editorial: Vice grip

Back Forty: Snow days make good days for seed selection

Viewpoint: Farmers need to prepare for annual snow melt

Smooth start to season as foreign workers arrive

Sidebar: Province mulls piece rates

Late winter has some Okanagan growers on edge

Ag show attracts near-record attendance

Ag Briefs: Traceability funding available for producers

Ag Briefs: Cattlemen’s launches webinar series

Ag Briefs: Grant winner announced

Labour remains a priority for fruit growers

Dairy, aquaculture take home awards at gala

Farmers need to prepare for uncertainty

Ag critic listens to concerns at farmers’ institute

Growers are responsible for workers’ safety

Robotic milkers sized up during dairy tour

Safe, high-quality silage depends on preparation

Young farmers crack open new vending concept

Diversification makes orchard a landmark

Going green boosts ranch’s credibility

Ranchers need to match forage with herd needs

Tru-Grit

Reducing waste will save money on winter feed

Producers question new Indigenous rights law

Hosting TRU students a way to give back

Livestock co-op provides selling, buying options

Sidebar: Market set to stay steady

Research: Bluetongue outbreaks expected to increase

Filling a niche for gourmet mushrooms

Regulations, housing key issues in Langley

Sheep producers seeing value in genetic program

Above and beyond

Vegetation fundamental to farms, landscape

Studies continue on forage, corn crop pests

4-H BC leader singled out

Growers go with the grain of beer revival

Agri-tourism has plenty of room for growth

Rose stem girdler poses threat to cranberries

Site prep critical for healthy hazelnut orchards

Sidebar: BC renewal program opens up

Wannabe: Renewal comes with a new generation of farmers

Mentorship gives Kelowna grower a headstart

Woodshed: Deborah and Doug McLeod turn up the heat

A good place to meet up

Jude’s Kitchen: Celebrate spring by eating outside

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1 month 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

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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

1 month 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🚜

1 month 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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1 month 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

1 month 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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Ten-year plan

Province rolls out new ag waste regs across BC beginning in Hullcar

Manure spreading

February 26, 2019 byDavid Schmidt

ABBOTSFORD – It took a decade to develop the new Agricultural Waste Control Regulation and it will take another decade to fully implement it.

The BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy (BCMoE) released the new Code of Practice for Agricultural Environmental Management (AEMCoP) January 23, with the first provisions to take effect, February 28, 2019. The AEMCoP replaces the AWCR which had been in effect since 1992. Work on the new regulations began in 2009, with the first public consultations held in 2012.

“We had 25 agricultural associations involved in joint government-industry working groups,” BCMoE clean technologies director Chris Jenkins told farmers at the Pacific Agriculture Show in January.

The new regulation is intended to improve waste management practices, improve clarity and enforceability, outline clear expectations and outcomes and better align with agricultural practices.

“We’re not telling you how to do things; we’ve outlined the outcomes that need to be achieved,” Jenkins said.

Instead of the one-size-fits-all approach of previous regulations, the new regulation has different rules for different scenarios.

“The requirements are science and evidence-based,” BCMoE senior environmental manager Margaret Crowley said. “Some requirements are universal and others are site and/or commodity-specific.”

To accommodate all the definitions and provisions, the AEMCoP totals 45 pages, including schedules and appendices. Rules are much stricter in high-risk areas, such as vulnerable aquifers and areas with high soil nitrate and phosphorus levels.

Farmers will need to be “much more aware of where they farm and how they farm,” says BC Agriculture Council environmental technical advisor Geoff Hughes-Games. “Producers are going to have to do a lot more work to determine which sections apply to them.”

Crowley says BCMoE already has maps of sensitive aquifers and phosphorous-affected areas on its agricultural environmental management webpage and is working with the BC Ministry of Agriculture to develop workbooks and risk assessment tools.

“We need to know what would be helpful to you,” she told farmers at the PAS.

Generally satisfied

Industry is generally satisfied with the new regulation.

“They listened to our concerns and that’s all you can ask for,” says BC Dairy Association chair Holger Schwichtenberg. “It’s not perfect but in the end, it’s fair and manageable.”

“We’re okay,” adds BC Cattlemen’s Association general manager Kevin Boon. “We will have to do something but most of our ranches won’t have to make major changes. Our big issue was access to water and we’ve got that.”

BC Chicken Growers Association president Dale Krahn agrees, noting most poultry producers already meet most requirements.

“We support good environmental standards,” BCAC executive director Reg Ens states, noting he particularly likes the implementation timeline. “It ensures adequate time for us, government and professionals to handle the workload that is coming.”

First up

First up is the Hullcar aquifer recharge area. All agricultural operations of five hectares or more must have a nutrient management plan (NMP) in place before the 2020 growing season.

Over the next three years those requirements will expand to include all livestock and poultry operations of five ha or more and five or more animal units located above vulnerable aquifers throughout the province. By 2024, NMPs will also be required of all horticultural operations greater than 30 ha located above vulnerable aquifers.

In 2025, all agricultural operations of at least five ha located in phosphorus-affected areas will require NMPs.

Crowley stressed NMPs need to be developed by either a qualified professional or a person experienced in nutrient management.

“If you already do an NMP as part of an environmental farm plan, it will cover everything we want,” she said.

The timeline may make it appear most farmers don’t have any immediate concerns, but that is not the case.

“When the regulation comes in on February 28, there is an expectation that anyone who applies nutrients to their land has some basis for doing that,” Hughes-Games points out, stressing the regulation applies to both conventional and organic farms and includes manure, compost and inorganic fertilizer.

As a minimum, farmers should have a basic soil test (about $45 to test for N, P, K and soil pH) for each field and keep a record of all nutrient applications. Soil tests need to be taken at least every third year but may be done on a rotation, e.g., a farmer with six fields could test two fields during each of the three years.

While most setbacks have not changed, buffers from watercourses have increased. Farmers must now maintain a 1.5-metre setback for commercial fertilizers or injected manure and a three- metre setback when applying manure or compost other than by direct injection. Although a proposal to apply buffers to property lines has been eliminated, there is a requirement that nutrients not be allowed to go onto a neighbouring property.

“The bottom line is you can’t allow nutrients to leave your property,” Hughes-Games states.

“We don’t want leachate and contaminated water,” noted BCMoE clean technologies policy specialist Josie Beruldsen.

The regulations include specific requirements for temporary field storage of nutrients, seasonal manure applications, confined livestock and use of wood waste.

The regulations still allow farmers to compost manure, spoiled crops or mortalities and even allow them to bring wood waste and other products onto the farm as long as they are for use as nutrients or soil amendments on the farm but the rules on process and use have been tightened up.

Schwichtenberg, Boon and Ens say the biggest question marks are cost and enforcement.

Schwichtenberg admits the regulations are “worthless” without enforcement but wonders how that will look.

Boon says ranchers just want to be treated fairly.

“We’re concerned with how our few truckloads of wood waste are dealt with compared to the big piles of wood waste at the sawmills.”

“We are still not clear on the economic impact (the AEMCoP) will have on some, if not all agricultural operations in the province,” Ens says. “Our push is to get government to provide additional resources to help farmers implement the changes required by the new regulation. The EFP program is already fully subscribed.”

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Hullcar report delayed

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