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Originally published:

JUNE 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 6

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Stories In This Edition

Growers hopeful as BC opens

Tender touch

Japanese bettle control pays off

Nursery sales rise as consumers stick close to home

Editorial: Prospering together

Back 40: A mammoth solution to climate change

Viewpoint: Teamwork essential to grow in the new normal

Wind machines in Surrey face blowback

Sidebar: Dispute resolution

BC Veg unveils strategic priorities as it looks ahead

Quick turnaround

Ag Brief: South Asia flight ban strands BC farm workers

Ag Brief: Oliver vintner dies

Ag Brief: Province delivers AITC funding

Letter: Well “registration” misleading

Province’s chicken growers see rebound

Pricing formula on horizon for poultry sector

Snooze and lose

Grain costs put pressure on livestock producers

PST applicable to horse hay sales

BC raspberry growers face global issues

Little cherry disease a big threat to fruit growers

Core knowledge lands Kelowna grower top award

Strategy needed for Crown forage resources

BC abattoir volume up 30% in 2020

Ranchers urged to plan ahead for a changing climate

Cidery ups game with orchard purchase

The milkman makes a comeback on Island

Short season doesn’t stall northern berries

Cariboo-Chilcotin sheep group formed

Viewpoint: Farm insurance crisis threatens landowners

Mushroom harvester enters final testing

Sidebar: BC mushrooms at a glance

Mushrooms add value to cut blocks

Farm Story: Diversity and inclusion extends to tractors

Equipment intentions fall

Hops and CBC-centric hemp come together

Research: Processed foods are convenient but at what cost?

Soil science key for Kootenay farm project

Research sheds light on late blight strains

Woodshed: Deborah keeps divorce news between friends

OK apples at core of social entrepreneurship

Jude’s Kitchen: To the sea in summer

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1 month ago

The province has extended the Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security Program deadline from June 1 to Aug. 31. The program helps farmers cover uninsured expenses caused by damages in the November 2021 floods, including cleanup, repair and restoration of land, barns and animal shelters, and water and waste systems; returning flood-affected land and buildings to a safe state for agricultural production; repairing uninsurable essential farm infrastructure; repairing structures such as livestock-containment fences; renting temporary production facilities; installing drainage ditches and land-stabilization materials; animal welfare activities such as replacing feed, transporting livestock, veterinary care and mortality disposal; and
replacing perennial plants not grown for sale. Program criteria and application forms are available online: buff.ly/3sVRF4G
... See MoreSee Less

The province has extended the Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security Program deadline from June 1 to Aug. 31. The program helps farmers cover uninsured expenses caused by damages in the November 2021 floods, including cleanup, repair and restoration of land, barns and animal shelters, and water and waste systems; returning flood-affected land and buildings to a safe state for agricultural production;  repairing uninsurable essential farm infrastructure; repairing structures such as livestock-containment fences; renting temporary production facilities; installing drainage ditches and land-stabilization materials; animal welfare activities such as replacing feed, transporting livestock, veterinary care and mortality disposal; and
replacing perennial plants not grown for sale. Program criteria and application forms are available online: https://buff.ly/3sVRF4G
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1 month 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 months 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.

2 months 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?

2 months 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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Wind machines in Surrey face blowback

Complaint lodged against blueberry farm about noise

Blueberry and fruit farmers depend on wind machines like this to protect their crops, but some neighbours don’t like the noise. FILE PHOTO

June 1, 2021 bySandra Tretick

SURREY – The BC Farm Industry Review Board received a formal noise complaint on April 20 against a blueberry farm in south Surrey.

According to reports in the Peace Arch News, the couple who initiated the complaint had moved to Morgan Creek from Vancouver in March and were kept awake several nights in a row that same month by what sounded like a helicopter going all night long.

It turns out the noise was coming from two Orchard-Rite wind fans that were being used to protect blueberries from radiant frost damage during a late spring cold snap. When the air cools at night, frost accumulates on plant surfaces causing damage to the delicate buds. If severe enough, it can kill the plants outright.

The owners of the family-run farm were approached for an interview but declined to comment to Country Life in BC about the specifics of the noise complaint because all parties have been advised not to speak to media while the matter is under review.

This part of south Surrey is home to a large number of blueberry farms and it isn’t the first time residents have raised issues with local farming practices. The Morgan Creek Homeowners Association lodged a formal complaint against another blueberry farm in the area in 2000 over the use of propane cannons to protect crops from birds. At the time, FIRB felt that education was a critical component in resolving urban/rural land use issues and identified the importance of education for new homeowners as to what it means to live in an active farming area. The complaint was dismissed.

The area is historically rural and the farm at the centre of the current complaint has been in operation since the early 1980s, long before development of Morgan Creek started in 1994. Other residential subdivisions soon followed.

When temperatures drop below -3°C during budding, the plants are damaged. At best, the yield is reduced. At worst, the farmer can lose an entire field. The wind fans causing the uproar were installed in 2005 for protection against such spring frosts.

Not uncommon

Noise complaints against blueberry farms are not uncommon. Propane cannons received a lot of news coverage over the years and numerous complaints to FIRB, resulting in a 2009 report reviewing the use and regulations of propane cannons in the Lower Mainland.

The difference with wind fans is that they typically operate at night, when sounds are already more apparent in the relative quiet, whereas propane cannons operate between dawn and dusk. Added to that, sound carries further on cold nights when they are more likely to be turned on.

Berries are not the only sector to be targeted by noise complaints related to crop protection. A 2018 FIRB decision regarding a noise complaint against Coral Beach Farms Ltd. from Lavington found that helicopters, frost fans, sprayers and blowers are standard industry practices in the Okanagan valley for drying cherries when rains threaten to split ripe fruit. The board noted, “from time to time, significant noise disruption remains and that this is unavoidable” and advised the farm to implement a series of recommendations to reduce the impact of farm-related noise on neighbours.

Once a notice of complaint has been filed, the resolution process kicks in.

“BCFIRB staff work closely with the parties to try and resolve complaints through a dispute resolution process,” says FIRB executive director Kirsten Pedersen, adding that the complaint proceeds to a formal hearing if dispute resolution doesn’t work out. “Prior to that, parties may work with ministry specialists or others to help resolve the complaint.”

FIRB does not have statistics on how many complaints are dealt with informally and doesn’t track the number of official complaints filed by people who recently moved close to a farm.

BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries berry industry specialist Carolyn Teasdale did contact the berry farm following the initial complaint and suggested the equipment be calibrated to start at -2°C as the type of blueberries grown on site can withstand -3° to -4°C at the pink-tip stage. Previously, the farm had been turning on the machines at 0°C.

The BC Blueberry Council also works closely with municipal bylaw enforcement officers and growers to ensure compliance with normal farm practices.

“In the majority of cases, we find growers are neighbour-conscious and do take the necessary precautions to carry out on-farm activities,” says BCBC executive director Anju Gill.

When it comes to the broader issues that arise when development and farmland have to coexist side by side, she takes a more circumspect approach.

“Perhaps the topic of suburban expectations and farming necessities require an intersectional lens to fully understand the complexity of the issue,” she says.

In the aftermath of the story in the local paper, community support for the blueberry farm was so overwhelmingly positive that it spurred a follow-up article focusing on the clash between urban expectations and rural needs.

Most of the more than 300 comments on the newspaper’s Facebook page and website community backed the farm’s use of the wind machines to protect their crops.

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