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JUNE 2023
Vol. 109 Issue 6

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4 weeks 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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Water fees questioned

Irrigation

April 24, 2019 byPeter Mitham

A rancher in Charlie Lake is questioning why farmers must pay to access groundwater when short-term use of groundwater is exempt.

Mark Meiers of MT Ranch near Fort St. John notes that the province’s Water Sustainability Act allows users to apply for a short-term permit. Such permits grant the holders a right “to divert or use water from a stream or an aquifer for a term not exceeding 24 months.”

Such permits allow the oil and gas sector to access millions of gallons of water free of charge, Meiers contends, something the average farmer for whom working the land is a way of life can’t do. Indeed, owners of existing wells who register with the province are liable for fees on extractions back to 2016, when the Water Sustainability Act took effect.

Meiers draws water for his livestock, and after registering his wells and seeking licences, he was stuck with a bill for $729.85.

“Anyone that is procrastinating on registering their water use, be warned,” he says. “You will be charged retroactively to 2016 even if you wait 10 years to register.”

Meiers concerns underscore the ongoing issues landowners have with the province’s efforts to introduce a first-in-time/first-in-right water management regime in BC. Difficulties have dogged the registration and licensing process since 2016, prompting the government to extend the deadline for registering existing wells at no cost three times. The latest deadline for obtaining a licence at no cost is March 1, 2022.

However, fees on water use will be owing from February 29, 2016.

Staff with the BC Ministry for Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development confirmed that basis for Meiers’ concern.

“The Oil and Gas Commission has the authority to issue use approvals under section 10 of the Oil and Gas Activities Act when the use is associated with Oil and Gas Activities Act permit,” it told Country Life in BC. “Holders of these permits are exempt from fees and rentals under the Water Sustainability Act.”

Ministry staff noted that the fees oil and gas companies pay are higher than for other uses, including agriculture.

Moreover, ministry staff typically recommend that oil and gas companies obtain a licence if they plan to draw heavily from a single source, or for repeated two-year terms.

“Since the Oil and Gas Commission received authority to grant water licences in 2014, the proportion of water used by oil and gas companies under licences has consistently increased while the proportion under short term approvals has correspondingly decreased,” staff said. “The majority of the water used for oil and gas purposes in each year since 2012 has been sourced from water licences.”

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