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Originally published:

MAY 2020
Vol. 106 Issue 5

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Stories In This Edition

Rapid response

Worker health crisis

Spring melt floods Cariboo

Foreign Labour an essential service for fruit growers

Editorial: Watershed moments

Back Forty: COVID-19 will be a reality check for many

Viewpoint: Register now, question later to keep water rights

COVID-19 has varied impact on poultry sector

Social distancing

Honey producers keep focus on research

Beekeepers stung about import issues

Sidebar: Advocating for technology transfer

Farmland values facing headwinds

IAFBC defers major decisions

BCAC focuses on public trust with lower budget

AgSafe governance set for a shake-up

COVID-19 leads to oversupply of dairy

BC Fairs positive as large events banned

Peace growers facing multiple challenges

Co-op considers four-way fix at crossroads

Surprise audits to double

Co-op focuses on cutting costs, increasing sales

Volatility from plant shutdowns could hit BC

Island farmers renew request for local abattoir

Meat processing capacity stable despite closures

Direct marketing saves producers’ bacon

Small producers ride the online sales wave

Farm equipment dealers keep sale smoving

Strawberry growers pin survival on levies

Sidebar: Blueberry and raspberry AGMs postponed

Raspberry growers target fresh market, quality

Apple soda breaks ground in saturated market

Chilliwack family cracks open direct sales

EFB-resistant trees not out of the woods

Distillery shows resilience as it adapts to market

Home gardeners overwhelm seed companies

Sidebar: Commercial seed supply affected

Research: Viruses pursue unique strategies to evolve

Moisture sensors are not created equal

Woodshed: Kenneth gives new meaning to social isoluation

Farmers’ markets go online as channels shift

Farm Story: Pandemic forces a hard pivot to stay in the game

Cheesemaker adapts to coronavirus restrictions

Jude’s Kitchen: Stay-healty food in uneasy times

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1 day 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 😊

3 days ago

... See MoreSee Less

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3 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 Cattle...
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4 days 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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5 days 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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Worker health in focus

Orchards, wineries step up

The Western Agricultural Labour Initiative is expecting to play a greater role in managing workers this year. SUBMITTED / BC WINE INSTITUTE

May 1, 2020 byPeter Mitham

OLIVER – With foreign and domestic workers starting to arrive in the Okanagan for another season, growers are grappling with provincial health guidelines designed to limit the spread of COVID-19.

“It’s going to start the first week of May for grapes, doing some shoot-thinning in vineyards,” says Ron Forrest, the BC Fruit Growers Association liaison who connects domestic workers, including hundreds of Quebec youth, with local growers each summer. “People should start coming in between the first week of May and the third week of May.”

Given this year’s anticipated labour shortage, he was on the ground by mid-April, scouting out local campsites – legal and illegal – for workers. While the workers will be in high demand this year, the communities where they work have also voiced concerns about the seasonal influx.

Several local mayors and the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce have all expressed fears regarding domestic migrants. Some residents worry they could incubate disease in their encampments and facilitate the spread of COVID-19 in the Okanagan.

While several provinces require new arrivals to self-isolate for 14 days, even if arriving from within Canada, BC has opted for a far more liberal regime. It has so far rejected the implementation of checkpoints or travel restrictions within the province.

However, Quebec, which has the highest rate of known infections in the country, has stringent regulations on the movement of people.

“Such travel should be confined to trips for medical reasons and work when teleworking is not possible,” Quebec regulations state. “In order to protect the most vulnerable populations, checkpoints will be established to limit travel into and out of certain territories.”

Restrictions wanted

Growers are working to address the concerns. A key element is the Loose Bay Campground on Secrest Road in Oliver, which typically sees about 300 workers living there during the summer. Cherry grower Greg Norton was instrumental in its development and fellow grower and friend Allan Patton chairs the Loose Bay Campground Society, which runs it. The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen designated it a campground for seasonal workers in 2017. Campers pay $5 a day or $30 a week.

“Most places don’t really have any accommodations, especially down south,” says Forrest. “One of the most important things that we have to do is get Loose Bay going.”

Several upgrades have improved servicing at the campground and more are planned this summer to ensure campers respect public health orders when it opens on May 1.

“We’re going to try to add WiFi and washing machines so people don’t have the need to go down to town that often,” says Forrest.

Local officials say Loose Bay residents will be treated as a single group.

Training required

Provincial regulations governing farm workers during the pandemic were finalized on April 6. Workers must receive training on COVID-19 protocols prior to beginning work, including sanitization. The rules require employers ensure adequate distancing on the job, including during breaks, access to handwashing stations and sanitizer, and recommend providing every worker with a personal picking bucket or whatever tools they need.

“Where it is not possible to provide personal tools, the shared tools and equipment must be wiped down and cleaned with a disinfecting agent such as disposable wipes or a diluted bleach solution between uses by different employees,” the rules state.

“If you share a ladder, you’ve got to be able to wash a ladder,” says Forrest, noting that the boxes workers fill with fruit are another conundrum. “They fill it up, and then one person takes it in their hands and takes it to the tractor. How are we going to do this? Are we going to have to sanitize them before? After? These are all things that we’re going to have to figure out.”

To support on-farm measures, AgSafe BC recently made COVID-19 workplace safety materials available on its website. These include prevention procedures, an exposure control plan and employer protocols for a pandemic. Safety notices for workers and signage is also available.

Providers of essential services are protected by provincial order from liability in the event workers, by their own “gross negligence,” become infected.

However, BCFGA warns growers to expect lower productivity this year as a result of public health rules.

“Planning for lower production may be prudent,” it advised members, encouraging them to avoid sinking too much effort into their least-profitable blocks. “On the other hand, it is expected that with reduced supply, produce prices will be increasing.”

The extra cash could come in handy, as strict guidelines governing foreign workers have upped the cost of that option for growers this year. Charter flights from Mexico to Vancouver, including transfer to the Okanagan, is expected to be upwards of $1,200 per worker. An initial flight of 157 workers landed at Vancouver on April 16, and the province expected up to 1,000 workers by April 30. An additional 3,000 were expected to follow.  All told, the province welcomes about 10,000 foreign farm workers each year.

The province is covering the cost of housing and meals for incoming foreign workers during the 14-day isolation period required arrival. Ottawa is also providing employers with $1,500 per worker to cover other costs, including the $900 in wages owing during the quarantine period.

Delays in the arrival of those workers may mean some tasks go unfilled, while some workers may opt not to come during the pandemic. Another slice of the local workforce – students on working holiday visas – have been shut out by border closures. They typically account for about 15% of orchard workers.

“I think we’re not going to have enough people,” says Forrest. “One thing we’re looking at is, hopefully, some locals. That’s what we would like to have.”

While farm work would be a steep learning curve for people who might be used to working at local hotels and restaurants, the opportunities exist.

“When I first came to the Okanagan, I would be picking beside locals,” says Forrest. “This year, I’m thinking there’s no jobs at McDonald’s or anything, so hopefully we can get a few of them to come and help us.”

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