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JUNE 2023
Vol. 109 Issue 6

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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

www.countrylifeinbc.com

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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Vet shortage persists

March 23, 2022 byKate Ayers

High veterinary school tuition costs and competition for spots pose challenges for students and producers.

The situation is so dire that some Prairie producers cannot access vets to regularly check herd health, says WestGen Group CEO Chris Parry, speaking at the organization’s annual general meeting, March 22.

The situation is one that’s been ongoing in BC for several years, with rural and remote areas being particularly affected.

In response, Chris Dolbec of Oliver, whose daughter attends the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, is petitioning the BC Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training.

Dolbec wants the province to subsidize more seats for BC students. Right now, there are 20 seats at the college reserved for BC. Provincially funded students pay $11,000 a year; additional students from BC pay $68,000.

But when the University of Calgary opened its Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 2019, an additional 20 seats became available because Alberta shifted its support to students at the new school.

This change opened more seats for the other Western provinces in 2020, but BC declined funding and the seats were made available to all domestic and international applicants. The cost for BC to take Alberta’s 20 seats would be an annual $8.3 million.

Dolbec says this makes the difference in tuition between subsidized and non-subsidized seats at the college especially unfair. While spots are available at the college, the province refuses to ante up.

Dolbec says improved accessibility to vet school could help mitigate the vet shortage.

Some non-subsidized students graduate with high debt loads and are forced to move where the cost of living is low or choose to care for small animals, where the pay is often higher than for large animals.

The BC Labour Market Outlook predicts that 770 job openings will be become available for veterinarians through to 2029. A 2019 Canadian Veterinary Medical Association survey, requested by the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training, showed that 65% of BC veterinary employers would hire at least one veterinarian in the next two years and would hire another vet immediately if candidates were available.

“The ministry understands the challenges that veterinarians, their support staff, and people are experiencing with respect to seeking small and large animal care,” the BC Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training said in a statement to Country Life in BC. “British Columbia, like many other Canadian jurisdictions, is currently experiencing labour market shortages, and continues to work towards providing made-in-BC solutions to resolve them in the short, medium, and long-term.”

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