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Originally published:

November 2018
Vol. 104 Issue 11

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Stories In This Edition

Dairy pays price in new trade deal

USMCA uncorks wine sales

ALC crippled while province mulls revitalization

Editorial: Think Big

Back Forty: If wishes were horses, beggars would ride

Viewpoint: Antibiotics are important tools for producers

Farms scramble as thousands of jobs go unfilled

Farmers’ institutes set to meet in Vancouver

Poultry growers adjust to reduced antibiotic use

Traceability regulations expected next year

UFV consolidates two centres

Plowman in the making

Letters: Animal welfare monitored

Success starts with a solid business plan

Turkey growers look to boost markets

Dairy sale

Strawberry growers rank fruit quality highest

Westcoast Holsteins brings home the prizes

Cannabis raises new workplace concerns

Tasty!

Ag Briefs: Cannabis conference alongside PAS

Ag Briefs: First Nations farms funded

Ag Briefs: Cannabis grower breaks ground

Ag Briefs: harvest conflict results in fewer plow match competitors

Pilot project in Delta supports perennial crops

Uvic research seeks perfect picking time for wine grapes

Ag council wants to get farmers CHATting

Sidebar: Remember to CHAT

Fleeced

Buying stations gain ground

Snow joke

Triple Threat

Meat processing review fails to meet expectations

Livestock transport under scrutiny by activists

Ranching program grads ready for next field

Yields high as cranberry season runs late

Tour features multi-generation farms

Horse Power

Edible flowers show promise for BC growers

Retirement blossoms into flower nursery

Research: Sunflower pollen can help improve colony health

Woodshed: The countdown begins for Kenneth, Deborah

4-H BC: Funding helps advance initiatives

Wannabe: Choosing gratitude

Jude’s Kitchen: Roots and keepers

 

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7 days 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

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Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

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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...
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2 weeks 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

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Your weekly farm news update

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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
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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

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Christmas trees in demand

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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…
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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.
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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
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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..

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Traceability regulations expected next year

Proposed changes regarding movement of livestock will have significant implications for producers

October 29, 2018 byJackie Pearase

ARMSTRONG – The Canadian Cattle Identification Agency wants farmers to get ahead of new traceability regulations expected to come into effect next year.

CCIA general manager Anne Brunet-Burgess has worked on the regulations since 2015 and the due date has moved several times, but she now expects the first draft to be published in spring 2019.

“Everyone can read them once they’re posted,” she says. “There will be a 75-day comment period where anyone and everyone can make comments.”

The document is currently classified but Brunet-Burgess encouraged BC Sheep Federation members attending their annual general meeting in Armstrong on September 28-29 to get informed.

She expects some changes to the regulations when the comment period ends but she’s confident the second draft will go into effect in 2019.

“There’s a one-year implementation period so that’s basically self-enforcement, no fines,” adds Brunet-Burgess. “But it’s that one year where we have to get our poop in a group and make sure everyone knows what they’re supposed to do and make sure everyone knows how to do it and support them on this before it is actually a for real thing.”

She says traceability is currently a book-end system with indicators (or tags) issued at birth and retired upon death of an animal. The new regulations aim to fill in the blanks.

Livestock movement will be tracked

“The middle part is what’s coming, which is the movement piece. And that, again, is going to be a huge impact on all livestock producers. Every movement of every animal will have to be reported,” she says.

A critical component of the new regulations will be having a premises identification (PID) number to identify all sites that receive regulated animals including farms, abattoirs, fairgrounds and veterinarian clinics.

Brunet-Burgess encourages producers to contact the BC Ministry of Agriculture to obtain one or more PIDs before the regulations come into effect and to update their Canadian Livestock Tracking System (CLTS) account with this information. (Anyone ever issued a tag has a CLTS account, which is accessible by calling 1-877-909-2333 or at [www.canadaid.ca].)

The good news is that PIDs proved to be effective for BC farmers and ranchers during the last two summers of record-breaking wildfires, and the majority of producers now have them.

“Producers themselves are talking about the usefulness of PIDs. So that’s great to hear,” she says. “Folks do not see the urgency of getting one if they don’t think they need it.”

Reporting of animal or carcass movement will require reporting within seven days including the information of departure and arrival PIDs and a licence plate number or other identification of the means of conveyance.

Brunet-Burgess suggests that farmers and ranchers acquaint themselves with the movement reporting requirements and do some practice runs before next year.

Prince George sheep and cattle ranchers Roma and Jim Tingle are concerned that the new regulations will be overly onerous, hard to enforce and lay yet more costs on farmers.

“We have so many small producers with just a few who know about these changes,” says Roma Tingle. “That concerns me a lot because there’s no way to police this. There’s going to be no way to get to these people and people cannot afford the time and, to some extent, money to do this.”

The sheep federation’s outgoing president Valerie Gerber sees the changes as a necessary evil but also worries about how they’ll affect farmers.

“We’re already so busy trying to make a living,” says Gerber. “I don’t know how it’s going to pan out.”

Brunet-Burgess says the CCIA is well aware of producers’ concerns, particularly the added cost, and although they do not lobby government, others are bending politicians’ ears.

“I can tell you that there’s been a group of very dedicated producers lobbying on behalf of all species and all producers to come up with a brilliant solution on this,” says Brunet-Burgess.

 

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