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Originally published:

June 2017
Vol. 103 Issue 6

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Stories In This Edition

Vancouver tops BC in farm growth

Accident claims safety advocate

In Good Hands

Rain’s a pain, farmers say

Editorial: Fresh start

Back Forty: Census offers reality check

Viewpoint: Ranchers work ‘dam’ hard for public’s benefit

Agriculture council pledges to work with parties

Pork industry optimitic despite lean times

Vegetable commission priotizies trust, integrity

Fairs reach out-of-court settlement

Richmond sets large limit on farmhouse size

Drones promise to scare birds for berry growers

Small farm expo postponed

Ranchers resist expanding public roaming rights

Letter: Seasonal farm workers find

Canada a second home

Letter: Right to roam wrong

A national voice for greenhouse growers

Hothouse growers reduce risk with IPM strategies

Sidebar: Biocontrols cut costs

Training pregps advisors for growing demand

Hop growers hepped up about future

Controlling hop-loving pests necessary evil

YA mark five years of support small-scale ag

Wise Earth tracks numbers to plant savvy, sell smart

A wise approach to leases, labour and local

Garlic co-op pitched as supply, appetite expands

BC’s climate makes hardneck garlic a viable route

Northern athlete dives into beef marketing

Abattoirs target food safety, labour shortage

Volatile beef market raises questions, few answers

BC feedlot sector prepares cattle disease emergency plan

Drones ride a sky-high range in search of cattle

Spring fling connects sponsors with classroom outreach

Better management underpins farm improvement

Small farmers make it work in Alberni Valley

BCYF tour highlights fish and dairy management

4-H members on the quest for a future with food

Program delivery underway

Wannabe – All things big and small

Woodshed: How Henderson came to be at the end of his rope

Jude’s Kitchen: Summer patio treats

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4 days 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 weeks 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.

3 weeks 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?

3 weeks 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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4 weeks ago

A second BC flock has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the province reported this evening, April 25. The small backyard flock of chicken and ducks near Kelowna has fewer than 100 birds and is relatively isolated. This is the second backyard flock to be suspected of high-path avian influenza in the past week. The other, on Vancouver Island, was found to be AI-free. Amanda Brittain, chief information officer with the BC Poultry Association’s emergency operations centre, says the latest case is of minimal concern to industry because there are no commercial flocks within 12km of the premises. ... See MoreSee Less

A second BC flock has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the province reported this evening, April 25. The small backyard flock of chicken and ducks near Kelowna has fewer than 100 birds and is relatively isolated. This is the second backyard flock to be suspected of high-path avian influenza in the past week. The other, on Vancouver Island, was found to be AI-free. Amanda Brittain, chief information officer with the BC Poultry Association’s emergency operations centre, says the latest case is of minimal concern to industry because there are no commercial flocks within 12km of the premises.
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Viewpoint: Ranchers work ‘dam’ hard for the public’s benefit

fly fishing near Fernie BC

June 1, 2017 byKevin Boon

The one thing we can be certain about with water is that we will either have too much or not enough!

While we have seen some extreme flooding and overabundance of water flows in the province this spring, we can almost bet that come the heat of the summer, we will have a shortage of it somewhere and very likely it could be on one or more of these same waterways that are flooding now.Flyfishing benefits

This truly accentuates why we have a huge need within this province to store water. Water storage is not about anyone being self-serving or wanting to have control of something; it is all about managing one of our most precious and valuable resources.

Many ranchers throughout the province have built water dams and reservoirs that are critical for the sustainability of their operations. The water storage infrastructure that they have invested in over the past decades is more important now than ever before.

Climate change and the need to adapt to it is something that has taken place for millions of years. Now, however, we have some ability to help ourselves adapt to it and help the process. I see water storage as possibly the most important thing that we can do to help us adapt to these changes. This is not only essential to agriculture but for all of society’s needs.

For those in agriculture, it provides security in knowing that there is a supply of water that will be available to them when it is critical for the growth of crops and watering the livestock. It is about managing that water so that it reduces the impact on other users of the supply and gives them assurance of supply as well.

Recently, the BC Cattlemen’s Association and the BC Ministry of Agriculture commissioned a cost-benefit analysis of agricultural dams in BC. Aside from the benefits to agriculture for irrigation, livestock watering, forage production and as natural range barriers, these dams also benefit society with domestic water supply, sport fishing, habitat protection for wildlife and access to viewing them, fish migration, wildfire suppression and flood mitigation to name a few.

It is my belief that as we develop strategies to help us adapt to climate change, we have to factor in water storage as one of the key opportunities. I believe this storage will be essential to maintain our ability to feed the world as well as have a supply available for everyone’s security. Now is the time to increase our investment in water storage infrastructure.

Establishing value

This all comes at a cost – a cost that many take for granted because they do not realize who is responsible for what they are enjoying. When I fish at places like Tunkwa Lake near Savona, I can’t help but wonder how many of the other fishermen, campers or those who have a cabin or residence on the lake know that it is there because ranchers have made an investment in the building and maintaining of the dam?

As a society, we are thankful for that dam when there is a forest fire and the water is needed to fight the fire, or the ready supply when there is a road construction project requiring water.

BC is blessed with an abundance of water but it doesn’t always come when we need it most. With added investment in storage infrastructure, we can manage flows at critical times – including flooding. This means that when the fish are spawning, we can control the flow so there is enough for them and for the farmer who needs to irrigate his crops. Managing the flow through water storage would dramatically reduce the need to impose water restrictions at critical times for agriculture while helping the survival of the fish.

We must do a better job of informing society about what the grassroot producers in this province do as stewards of our land and environment. We need the public to understand how critical it is for society to share in the cost of the investment. Their responsibility has to go beyond creating regulations and understand the importance of what we do in building this storage.

The biggest job we have now is making sure we tell those who are not directly involved in agriculture what we do. By telling our story, I hope we will gain their trust and ensure we have the social license needed to be able to use all the tools we require to continue supplying them with the best and safest food in the world.

Kevin Boon is general manager of the BC Cattlemen’s Association.

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