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Originally published:

SEPTEMBER 2020
Vol. 106 Issue 9

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Stories In This Edition

Under one roof

Creating community in abundance

Farms to retain tax status

Armyworm keeps its distance this summer

Smile with your eyes

Fall back

Back 40: Finding what we need in a COVID-19 world

Viewpoint: Exports play a vital role in BC’s farm economy

Field days feeling the pinch of social distancing rules

Sidebar: Pacific Agriculture Show goes virtual

AgSafe makes changes to board structure

Makin’ hay

Metro Vancouver targets carbon-neutral future

Changes to land commission kick in this fall

Creston initiative keeps workers, town safe

Ag Briefs: Dairy industry selects new entrants

Ag Briefs: Top vet appointed

Ag Briefs: BC youth offer perspectives

Sheep producers told to bear with wildlife

Disease has sheep producers on defensive

Pandemic creates virtual season for 4-H clubs

Delta development puts agrihoods to the test

Three-tier system being floated for livestock watering

Short-term roller coaster for beef market

Beef prices up

Global outlook is bright for beef producers

Council supports efforts to improve water quality

New orchardist takes on key ministry role

Unprecedented rise in machine harvesting

Soft landings mean better blueberries

Province readers sprayer program for delivery

Wheat growers tap into heirloom grains

High-flying pans grounded by pandemic protocols

Farm Story: The right machine makes harvesting potatoes a breeze

Organic soil requirements need science, guesswork

Relay cropping checks all the boxes

Flower growers ponder COVID-19 impacts

Best practices must guide COVID-19 hiring

Woodshed: No place like home for Deborah and the dogs

Former caregiver brings donkey therapy to Island

No one leaves Abundance without a zucchini

Building community, building a future

Jude’s Kitchen: Harvest colours

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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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Under one roof

Ag ministry to oversee abattoir inspections

Donkeys, not dogs, work best to protect the flock from predators at Parry Bay Sheep Farm on Vancouver Island. PHOTO / PARRY BAY SHEEP FARM

September 1, 2020 byTom Walker

VICTORIA – The BC Ministry of Agriculture is taking over meat inspection in the province on December 1, consolidating oversight of the sector.

“Effective December 1, 2020, all slaughter activity licensed under the Meat Inspection Regulation for class A, B, D, and E meat slaughter licenses will now be regulated under the Ministry of Agriculture,” the province announced August 19.

“It’s about time,” says Nova Woodbury, executive director of the BC Association of Abattoirs. “It’s good news. We have been calling for more accountability and more oversight of D and E licences for a long time now. Having licensing and oversight of all slaughter facilities in BC being provided by the Ministry of Agriculture will be a benefit to all those involved in meat processing.”

A and B slaughter facilities are currently under the agriculture ministry. A provincial meat inspector observes the processing of every animal.

D and E plants, which are only allowed in 13 designated regions of the province, have been overseen by the regional health authorities and have no minimum inspection requirements other than a site inspection to obtain their licence.

Meat from D and E facilities can only be sold within the regional district where it was processed, and must carry a “Not Government Inspected. For sale only in the Regional District of ____” label.

The change also pleases Julia Smith of the Small Scale Meat Processors Association.

“This is something pretty much everybody involved in the meat industry agreed needed to happen,” she says.

The report of the province’s Select Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fish and Food, published in September 2018, called for the agriculture ministry to look for ways, “to expand current meat inspection and enforcement services.” A second recommendation required “the Ministry of Agriculture (or their designate) to increase resources to enable engagement with Class D and E licensed facilities to ensure increased inspections at those facilities, including slaughter.”

The latest government announcement lacked details, promising an intentions paper this fall. But it did recognize a number of benefits to moving all authority under the agriculture ministry, including new economic opportunities, strengthening the resiliency of the BC food system, streamlining administration of licenses, improving consistency in the administration of D and E licences throughout the province and increasing the frequency of inspections to ensure food safety and animal welfare are maintained.

“More inspections is a key,” says Woodbury, noting that some regional health authorities fail to inspect D and E plants even once a year.

She would also like to see the inspections review actual slaughter practices to ensure operators are slaughtering animals correctly.

The BC Association of Abattoirs looks forward to hearing details of the changes that will occur, particularly those related to “streamlining licensing to reduce administrative burdens.”

“We are interested to know if some of these changes will apply to the inspected Class A and B abattoirs to encourage more of them to open throughout the province,” she says.

Smith is optimistic that the changes will create opportunities.

“We are hoping that bringing everybody under the Ministry of Agriculture will remove the regional restrictions on sale and broaden the market opportunities for small processors,” she says. “Meat that is safe to eat in the Thompson Nicola region should be safe to eat in Squamish.”

But the current capacity situation across the industry worries Smith.

“We are disappointed with the pace at which this is happening and there is a real urgency now,” she says, noting that the province began discussion of D and E facilities in spring 2018. “All levels of processing in the province are running flat out.”

Farmers bought and raised more animals this year because of demand during the COVID-19 pandemic while others kept animals back to finish for themselves, she explains.

“There is a tremendous number of animals that are market-ready this fall,” she says. “I am begging for spring processing dates for my own animals already.”

The glut of animals will end up being processed some way, says Smith.

“We really hope that it will be in a facility with the proper oversight,” she says.

Regional health authorities retain responsibility for new Class D licences until December 1, but the agriculture ministry does not expect the transition in oversight to have any impact on licences in process.

 

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