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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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BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

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BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

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Congratulations!!!

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Congratulations Duncan and Jane Trott Barnett Well deserved recognition

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Congratulations to Duncan, Jane, and all the rest of the Barnett family!

Congratulations Duncan and Jane!!

Congratulations Jane and Ducan! Sandra Andresen Hawkins

Congratulations Jane & Duncan 🥳

Congratulation Duncan & Jane!!

Congratulations Jane Trott Barnett and Duncan!!!

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4 weeks ago

Grapegrower Colleen Ingram, who was recognized earlier this year as the 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association. “Given the devastation we have had over the last three years, I feel like this award should be given to the entire industry,” she says. Her story appears in the June edition of Country Life in BC, and we've also posted to our website.

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Industry champion named BC’s best grape grower

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KELOWNA – Colleen Ingram’s enthusiasm for collaboration within the BC wine industry is so great that when she was named 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association, she wanted to sh...
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2 months ago

From orchard manager to government specialist and now executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association, Adrian Arts brings a rare blend of hands-on farming experience and organizational leadership to an industry poised for renewal. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment for BC fruit growers, with Arts expressing enthusiasm about continuing the momentum built by his predecessor and working alongside a board that signals a generational shift in agricultural advocacy.

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Arts leads BCFGA forward

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A combination of organizational management and practical farming experience has primed the new executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association to lead the industry forward.
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2 months ago

A public consultation is now underway on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board. Key issues for dairy producers include transportation costs, rules governing shipments and limitations on supporting processing initiatives. Stakeholders have until May 31 to comment.

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Milk board undertakes review

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A public consultation on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board is underway as part of a triennial review required by the British Columbia Milk Marketing Board Regulation.
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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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