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Originally published:

May 2018
Vol. 104 Issue 5

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Stories In This Edition

Fraser Valley bee shortage overstated

Still waiting: ag waste regs

Cannabis shift delivers hit to vegetable sector

Peter’s legacy

Editorial: The straight dope

Back Forty: Our best friend deserves greater recognitiontory

Overheard: Farmers should embrace First Nations model

Change is coming, fast and furious

Foundation effective in fueling ag projects

New meat producer association launched

Sidebar: On board

Traceability regs to include animal movement

Report recommends FN approval on tenures

Province urged to regulate farmhouse size

Dairy group highlights industry needs on tour

Ottawa plays hardball with Agassiz leases

IAF showcases innovative ag projects

Neonics in water not from farm operations

Potato growers need to exploit opportunities

Spuds in tubs

Vegetable commission optimistic

Sidebar: Variety update

MacAulay grilled over farm labour issues

Apiarists want pollination income to count

Sidebar: BCHPA launches pollinator health study

Raspberry growers increase board size

Popham meets with berry growers

Hazelnut growers flush with optimism

Ranchers schooled in disaster preparation

Westgen eyes beef semen sales for growth

Big prize money draws big entries

Holstein auction sets new sale benchmark

North 40 bull tops Vanderhoof sale

Reclaiming market share in a global economy

Day-neutrals show promise for strawberry fields

Weather skews results in Peace variety trials

Salal berries have market potential

Vole control in blueberries

Wannabe: When tragedy brings us together

Watchful eye

Woodshed Chronicles: Henderson masterminds an apology

Jude’s Kitchen: Celebrate May with beef on the ‘barbie’

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1 month 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 month 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 months 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.

2 months 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?

2 months 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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Traceability regs to include animal movement

Farm to fork and everything in between will be tracked

Sheep

April 30, 2018 byBarbara Johnstone-grimmer

PENDER ISLAND – Traceability regulations are right around the corner.

The promise is something livestock producers have heard before, but this time the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says it’s the truth.

Sometime within the next year, regulations will require more than just an approved ear tag. Premises will have to be registered and movements of animals reported to the Canadian Livestock Tracking System (CLTS) if producers expect to purchase or sell livestock.

“Producers tell me that we’ve been talking about changes in traceability regulations for a long time and many are at the point where they just want to know what the regulations are going to be and what their obligations are,” says Canadian Sheep Federation executive director and Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) board member Corlena Patterson.

“We have a general understanding of the changes that are coming,” says Lisa Levesque, traceability and premises identification team lead for the BC Ministry of Agriculture. “The proposed regulations are federal so we are looking forward to seeing the details when they’re published.”

Patterson and Levesque are both members of the industry-government Regulatory Implementation Committee (RIC) formed to identify and prioritize actions to help prepare for a smooth implementation of the amendments to the federal health of animals regulations.

Regulations coming

Draft regulations should be released later this year, and a 75-day comment period will follow. The final regulations will likely be published and take effect sometime in 2019.

Traceability is the ability to trace an item – animal, plant or product – through the supply chain, from farm to  fork, backwards or forwards. The purpose is to provide accurate and timely information to reduce the impacts of a natural disaster, disease outbreak or a food recall.

In the case of a serious situation, such as a reportable disease like BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or ‘mad cow’ disease) or scrapie, animals would be traced back to the home farm and sites in between. Stock that came in contact with infected animals would also be identified through the tracing system.

The system depends on the traceability of animals, the premises where they’re located and movements between premises to be identifiable and tracked. Animal movements will have to be reported to the responsible administrator (with only a few exemptions), and a manifest (paper or electronic) that details the movement will need to accompany animals in transit. Subject premises include farms, auctions, assembly yards, fairgrounds, abattoirs and rendering plants.

These three parts to traceability – identification, premises, movements – allow the tracing of an animal through the supply chain.

If the system works well, the impact of an event on the livestock industry can be minimized and market access can be maintained.

BSE cost livestock producers across Canada upwards of $6 billion in 2003. Current estimates peg the cost of cross-species outbreak of a disease like Foot and Mouth at up to $45 billion.

The new regulations will address gaps in the current livestock identification and traceability system. Proposed regulatory amendments include identification requirements for goats, farmed deer and farmed elk, which increases the number of animals subject to traceability requirements. Regulations have already been in place for identification of bison, cattle, sheep and pigs.

The pork industry in BC and the rest of Canada is ahead of the pack with Pig Trace, a mandatory traceability system in place since 2014. The rest of the livestock industry currently has a broken system, however.

Sheep producers, for example, purchase approved RFID tags and the tag information is stored in the CLTS. Although producers are required to keep records of movements, they aren’t required to report to CLTS.

Moreover, livestock species that share diseases are not currently all subject to traceability requirements; the time to report an event is too long to support an effective response; information about the precise location of livestock is limited; and information on domestic animal movements is lacking.

The new regulations also promise to reduce the maximum time to report a tag replacement, movement or animal death to the responsible administrator from 30 days to seven.

In Canada, premises ID falls to the provinces. BC has made it voluntary but producers will need to register their farms and provide a premises ID number if they want to move livestock to other locations. Registration of the premises can be done by mail or online in a simple 10-minute process that provides producers with unique identifiers for their locations.

Premises ID proved its worth during last year’s natural disasters. According to the BC Cattlemen’s Association, the Cariboo wildfires resulted in almost full registration of its members within days last summer.

To report animal movements or purchases of new animals, producers and other livestock facilities will need to report to the CLTS system online or by telephone. The new Canada Agricultural Partnership (CAP) is expected to have cost-share funding available to assist individuals and organizations purchase equipment and management software to help make the reporting process as easy and accurate as possible.

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