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Originally published:

March 2019
Vol. 105 Issue 3

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Stories In This Edition

Ten-year plan

Simon Answerth

Province boosts ag spending

It’s a draw!

Well registrations lag in advance of final deadline

Editorial: Vice grip

Back Forty: Snow days make good days for seed selection

Viewpoint: Farmers need to prepare for annual snow melt

Smooth start to season as foreign workers arrive

Sidebar: Province mulls piece rates

Late winter has some Okanagan growers on edge

Ag show attracts near-record attendance

Ag Briefs: Traceability funding available for producers

Ag Briefs: Cattlemen’s launches webinar series

Ag Briefs: Grant winner announced

Labour remains a priority for fruit growers

Dairy, aquaculture take home awards at gala

Farmers need to prepare for uncertainty

Ag critic listens to concerns at farmers’ institute

Growers are responsible for workers’ safety

Robotic milkers sized up during dairy tour

Safe, high-quality silage depends on preparation

Young farmers crack open new vending concept

Diversification makes orchard a landmark

Going green boosts ranch’s credibility

Ranchers need to match forage with herd needs

Tru-Grit

Reducing waste will save money on winter feed

Producers question new Indigenous rights law

Hosting TRU students a way to give back

Livestock co-op provides selling, buying options

Sidebar: Market set to stay steady

Research: Bluetongue outbreaks expected to increase

Filling a niche for gourmet mushrooms

Regulations, housing key issues in Langley

Sheep producers seeing value in genetic program

Above and beyond

Vegetation fundamental to farms, landscape

Studies continue on forage, corn crop pests

4-H BC leader singled out

Growers go with the grain of beer revival

Agri-tourism has plenty of room for growth

Rose stem girdler poses threat to cranberries

Site prep critical for healthy hazelnut orchards

Sidebar: BC renewal program opens up

Wannabe: Renewal comes with a new generation of farmers

Mentorship gives Kelowna grower a headstart

Woodshed: Deborah and Doug McLeod turn up the heat

A good place to meet up

Jude’s Kitchen: Celebrate spring by eating outside

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7 days ago

Farmland Advantage is receiving a $445,000 grant from the federal government. The program, the “brainchild” of Invermere cattle rancher Dave Zehnder, provides compensation to farmers for their conservation efforts to protect BC’s grasslands, riparian areas and wildlife habitat. The funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada under the Species at Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands (SARPAL) and Priority Places programs, will be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas appeared in our March 2022 edition and you can view it at ... See MoreSee Less

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Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

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INVERMERE – Farmers and ranchers in the Columbia Valley will continue to see rewards for taking action to conserve and enhance important riparian areas on their farms. The Windermere District Farmer...
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2 weeks ago

A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural Land Commission hosted in Langley Monday night regarding a proposal to include 305 acres controlled by the federal government in the Agricultural Land Reserve. More than 76,000 people have signed an online petition asking municipal and provincial governments to protect the land from development, and for the federal government to grant a long-term lease to the Heppells. Read more in this morning's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. conta.cc/3XYXw6k ... See MoreSee Less

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Your weekly farm news update

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The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 January 25 2023 Surrey ALR inclusion cheered A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural L
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Mike Manion Pitt Meadows City Councillor

2 months ago

Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand this season and prices remain comparable to last year. But the number of tree farms has decreased dramatically over the past five years and the province will increasingly need to look elsewhere if it wants to meet local demand. More in this week's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. ... See MoreSee Less

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Christmas trees in demand

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Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand, with high quality trees making it to market. “The market is good. We’ll probably outdo last year and last year was one of our best years…
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2 months ago

Another four poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley have tested positive for avian influenza over the weekend -- 15 in the last week alone. There are 60 farms currently under quarantine in BC, more than any other province in Canada and three times that of Alberta, which ranks second. Officials maintain the virus is being spread by dust and groundwater and not farm-to-farm transmission. No farms in the Interior have tested positive this fall. ... See MoreSee Less

Another four poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley have tested positive for avian influenza over the weekend -- 15 in the last week alone. There are 60 farms currently under quarantine in BC, more than any other province in Canada and three times that of Alberta, which ranks second. Officials maintain the virus is being spread by dust and groundwater and not farm-to-farm transmission. No farms in the Interior have tested positive this fall.
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Avian influenza virus can be killed by chlorine at no higher a concentration than is present in drinking water, so unless farms are using untreated groundwater in their barns I don't see how it could be a source of transmission. www.researchgate.net/publication/5594208_Chlorine_Inactivation_of_Highly_Pathogenic_Avian_Influen...

2 months ago

In a surprise move, Lana Popham -- hailed at the recent BC Dairy Industry Conference as a key ally of the agriculture sector -- has been replaced by Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis as part of a cabinet overhaul today by new BC premier David Eby. Popham will now oversee Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. The two ministers worked closely together following the atmospheric river events last fall. ... See MoreSee Less

In a surprise move, Lana Popham -- hailed at the recent BC Dairy Industry Conference as a key ally of the agriculture sector -- has been replaced by Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis as part of a cabinet overhaul today by new BC premier David Eby. Popham will now oversee Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. The two ministers worked closely together following the atmospheric river events last fall.Image attachment
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Goes to show how far-removed our current government is from the agricultural sector. To put someone in this position who has no farming background is a slap in the face to all of our hard-working producers.

Going to be a heck of a learning curve. Helping the agricultural community recover from the biggest natural disasters in history, handling the avian influenza outbreak that is threatening our poultry industry, dealing with a crisis in meat processing, managing ongoing threats from climate change, supporting producers who are facing unprecedented inflation in an industry with very slim margins to begin with..... to name a few of the challenges our new Minister will have to face all with one of the lowest budgets of any ministry. I wish her the best of luck but I hope she's got a lot of support around her.

Best of wishes in your new position

Congrats to Pam, cool to see a Fraser Valley based ag minister but also so sad to see Lana reassigned . I have no doubt she will do an amazing job in her new role.

Will be missed by #meiernation

Bryce Rashleigh

Nooooooo!

Lana did a shit job and now we have a minister with no farming background at all. Aren’t we lucky..

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Young farmers crack open new vending concept

Customized machine offers secure sales option for roadside egg sales

Kristin Poortvliet

February 26, 2019 byRonda Payne

AGASSIZ – Willem and Kristin Poortvliet were destined to become farmers, but farmers selling eggs from a vending machine wasn’t something anyone could have predicted.

The couple were small-lot egg farmers for nearly three years, selling eggs from a roadside shack on their Agassiz property. When the BC Egg Marketing Board awarded them quota as new entrants in 2017, they decided to continue roadside sales.

“I love selling to the public,” says Kristin. “There’s just a huge demand.”

The couple kept their original flock of 399 hens until December 2018, when their new barn completed. It features computerized control of feed and climate to ensure hen comfort, and there’s room for expansion. It received its first flock of 3,200 organic, free range hens in January.

Now, instead of selling eggs from the shack, they ship approximately 3,650 dozen eggs to Island Eggs in Chemainus every two weeks. But they also keep a portion to sell from a retrofitted vending machine in a steel container where the shack used to stand.

“I said I wanted to keep going with roadside sales,” says Kristin, noting that they sold 30 dozen eggs a day during the summer months as small-lot producers.

Often, the eggs disappeared within an hour. A small amount of theft contributed to the brisk movement, and that sparked the idea to change up the sales process.

“Willem thought, ‘what about getting a vending machine?’” explains Kristin.

They looked online and considered purchasing a machine from China, but local vending machine supplier Langley Wholesale Ltd. offered to customize a second-hand machine complete with a lifting arm so that egg cartons are rolled onto a shelf then lowered to the bottom opening of the machine without dropping or fear of breakage.

“They were quite excited to customize it for us,” says Kristin.

The refrigerated vending machine holds up to 50 cartons, each holding a dozen eggs collected within the previous 36 hours.

The couple used to sell 11,000 dozen eggs a year, but they’re not sure the new machine will yield as much in sales. Their organic eggs are as fresh as ever, but cost two dollars more at $5.

“Now we’re certified organic, so we have to charge more,” explains Willem. “The feed and certification costs us more.”

Farming is important to the Poortvliets. Kristin grew up with veal calves.

“I grew up in the barn. We were always out with my dad with shovels in our hands,” she says. “My mom would ask for help in the house and there would be no one there. We were all outside.”

Willem’s family was in horticulture. His parents had greenhouses in Canada and prior to emigrating from the Netherlands, his father worked in orchards. His parents continue to live in a home on the property where the Poortvliets live with their three children.

While it’s a long way off, the couple hope to pass the farm down to them, complete with the vending machine.

“We both love animals. Though there’s no chicken farming in our history. It’s just a great thing to do with a family,” says Kristin. “We knew we had to put a lot into it. It took a while to build it up. Even at the 400 [hens], we had to build up our customer base, but now we have that.”

Kristin says some customers would get their eggs from the shack, then show the chickens in the yard to their kids. She uses Facebook (Harrison Happy Hens) to show the world how the hens are doing and share tidbits about the operation. She manages the hens while Willem is at school studying social work.

“We just love that people can have a place to go where they can see chickens,” she says.

“It’s catering more to that buy local thing,” echoes Willem. “It was a long term commitment. It’s something we always wanted to do.”

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