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Originally published:

October 2018
Vol. 104 Issue 10

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Stories In This Edition

Sheep thrills

Farm employers on edge

Right-to-farm case upheld

Snow puts the brakes on Peace grain harvest

Editorial: The hands that feed us

Back Forty: Saving farmland fruitless without water

Op Ed: US could learn a thing (or two) from Canada

Piece-rate study sets stage for payday changes

Photo: Day at the Farm

Berry growers report decent growing season

FIRB posed to set live BC chicken prices – again

BCYAF grants support key 4-H initiatives

Cherry growers hit hardest by wildfire smoke

Ag Briefs: Winner

Ag Briefs: Right to Farm Act review cancelled

Local governments can’t undermine ALR rules

Winfield grower has ambitious cannabis plans

Province funds land-matching program

BC Fresh expands to meet national demand

Challenging year fails to daunt new producer

Corn trials focus on lower heat units for BC

When the right thing turns out to be wrong

Wildfires prompt local response planning

Mixer-feeder offers all-in-one feeding option

Non-traditional forage mixtures promising

Small farmers network targets knowledge gap

Hazelnut renewal enters second phase

Research: Scratch that itch

Partners announced for farmers’ market trail

FV land limitations means higher density

Fair lives up to its farm roots

Pumpkin growers use crop to reach out to public

Wannabe Farmer: The usual gives plenty of cause for thanks

Woodshed: Wishful thinking as Caribbean holiday nears

Jude’s Kitchen: Fall heralds heartier meals, yummy appies

 

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4 days ago

The Great Spallumcheen Farm & Food Festival and North Okanagan Plowing Match is happening this Sunday, September 24 from 10-3 at Fieldstone Organics, 4851 Schubert Rd, Armstrong. The outdoor festival features tastings and a market brimming with local food and beverage vendors, a horse and tractor plowing competition and vintage farm equipment displays. ... See MoreSee Less

The Great Spallumcheen Farm & Food Festival and North Okanagan Plowing Match is happening this Sunday, September 24 from 10-3 at Fieldstone Organics, 4851 Schubert Rd, Armstrong. The outdoor festival features tastings and a market brimming with local food and beverage vendors, a horse and tractor plowing competition and vintage farm equipment displays.
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Patti 😊

7 days ago

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7 days ago

The top five issues the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity identified in a recent survey were the cost of food, inflation, the cost of energy, keeping healthy food affordable and the Canadian economy. “We are seeing that environmental concerns are not in the top 10,” says Amy Peck, manager of the Canadian Cattle Association’s public and stakeholder engagement program. “If you are concerned about being able to afford to feed your family, the environment becomes less important.” ... See MoreSee Less

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Ranchers get the backstory on public perception

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VERNON – Ranchers might be concerned about how the public sees their industry, but a producer-funded team at the Canadian Cattle Association has their back. Amy Peck, manager of the Canadian Cattleâ...
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1 week ago

BC Tree Fruit Co-op has sold its Lake Country packing house as part of its long-term plan to consolidate operations. The sale, to an undisclosed buyer, closed on August 31, 2023 for $15.8 million. ... See MoreSee Less

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Lake Country packing house sold

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BC Tree Fruit Co-op has sold its Lake Country packing house as part of its long-term plan to consolidate operations. The sale, to an undisclosed buyer, closed on August 31, 2023 for $15.8 million.
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Who bought it ffs ?

Ted Nedjelski Karen Turner

One of my first jobs was apple grading in a packing plant in Vernon

Vivian, is this where you worked?

I’d hear the company that owns the big Cannabis company that owns the green houses all around this packing plant was buying up everything around to expand. Wonder if it’s them that got it.

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1 week ago

The federal government has committed $1.81 million over the next three years to support the BC Poultry Association's preparation for direct participation in responses to future outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the province. “The persistence of the virus in wildlife and recurrence of outbreaks globally, presents additional risks during the migratory bird season in North America later in 2023,” the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Vancouver advised in July. For more, visit www.countrylifeinbc.com/ai-risk-rises-with-fall/ ... See MoreSee Less

The federal government has committed $1.81 million over the next three years to support the BC Poultry Associations preparation  for direct participation in responses to future outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the province. “The persistence of the virus in wildlife and recurrence of outbreaks globally, presents additional risks during the migratory bird season in North America later in 2023,” the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Vancouver advised in July. For more, visit https://www.countrylifeinbc.com/ai-risk-rises-with-fall/
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Wildfires prompt local response planning

Bulkley Valley residents prepare for the inevitable after the worst fire season on record

October 2, 2018 byDan Mesec

SMITHERS – As wildfires in BC’s Central Interior seared the land and sent homesteaders, farmers and ranchers scrambling to evacuate animals, their neighbours to the northwest sprang into action.

It didn’t take long for rural residents in the Bulkley Valley to open their pastures to anyone who needed it to house livestock or provide much-needed hay and grain to animals displaced by the fires.

The events also proved that many were unprepared for the ferocity of what is now the worst wildfire season in BC history.

With that in mind, many rural residents are now facing the grim prospect that intense wildfires are a fact of life and preparations for next season have already begun. Soon after the first evacuation notices went out near François Lake and Fraser Lake, the Northwest Forest Fire Support Network (NWFFSN) launched to support those displaced by the fires and tend to evacuated livestock.

“I remember watching the forest fire scene in the Bambi movie as a kid and wondering ‘what are the animals behind the fences going to do?’ said Deanna Bell, a Houston resident who grew up on a farm. “So a group of us got together to see what we could do to help. We started a Facebook page and a GoFundMe account and ended up on Global News and a bunch of newspapers and have already paid out nearly $25,000. Every cent of that money has gone towards the animals, or towards the feed or people hauling feed.”

Bell says they are trying to help as many people as possible and have already organized dozens of shipments of feed and found temporary housing for animals from as far away as Telegraph Creek. Although they’ve been successful in helping locate and provide animal feed and hay for several weeks, the challenge now is equipping farmers and ranchers for the winter. It’s not an easy task.

“People’s fences are burnt, their pasture is burnt, their hay is burnt; I asked one lady, who’s got 30 horses, what they will need for hay for the winter,” Bell said. “She needs 210 bales of hay at 1,200 pounds a piece. If you do the math, that’s $18,900. That’s for one producer.”

Although Bell says it’s going to be tough to ensure every farm and ranch has what they need to take care of their animals over the winter, she and other members of the NWFFSN are prepared to help.

In communities like Houston, Hazelton and Smithers, people are pulling together to relocate animals, load trailers full of hay headed east and

co-ordinate with the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako to ensure those who need support get it.

The aggressiveness of the 2018 wildfire season has alarmed many in the region.

About 200 kilometres west of Burns Lake in the Bulkley Valley, where smoke lingered for a few days but never experienced the brunt of the fires, many ranchers and farmers are worried about the years to come and wonder how they will protect their lands after hearing about the devastation just a couple hundred kilometres away.

“With the fires this summer, everyone in rural areas is really spooked,” said Monty Bassett, a former rancher near Smithers. “Because we are in between municipalities and so spread out, it’s a low priority for the government. So we came up with the idea of starting some kind of fire response unit.”

Bassett and about 20 other ranchers and farmers outside Smithers in Driftwood, are holding meetings in preparation for how they’ll work together to develop an effective first-response unit to ensure if fires do make it to the Bulkley Valley, they don’t get out of control before the BC Wildfire Service can respond.

Equipment and access to resources like training, hoses and water pumps are just some of the plans they hope to bring up once they meet with government officials later this fall. One idea that seems to be gaining traction with the community is utilizing an old water tanker as a would-be fire truck to put out potential brush fires before they become a major problem.

“When you have these monster fires and they can send ash kilometres away, I think it’s time we start protecting ourselves,” said Bassett. “Years ago, there was a barn fire and a bunch of us ran to put it out. After the fire we thought the community should have a centralized fire truck. I think it’s time to revitalize that idea, as we’re all assuming these wildfires will just continue.”

 

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