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Postmaster, Please return Undeliverable labels to: Country Life in BC 36 Dale Road Enderby, BC V0E 1V4CANADA POSTES POST CANADA Postage paid Port payé Publications Mail Post-Publica-tions 40012122Vol. 109 No. 11The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 NOVEMBER 2023 | Vol. 109 No. 11RED TAPE Water licence fight highlights need for change 7 APIARISTS Beekeepers keep the emphasis on local stock 13 DROUGHT Record sale volumes shrink BC herd 19 PETER MITHAM CHILLIWACK – BC’s rst case of highly pathogenic avian inuenza since April has been detected on a commercial farm in Chilliwack. Canadian Food Inspection Agency ocials made the announcement October 21, quickly establishing a primary control zone around an egg farm in Rosedale. Approximately 8,000 birds were impacted. “We are now in red biosecurity,” said Amanda Brittain, communications manager with the BC Egg Marketing Board. The industry had previously stepped back to a yellow biosecurity level but four detections in Alberta this fall had placed BC growers on higher alert. Disease management has been the priority since the industry’s emergency response team demobilized this spring. Testing over the summer indicated that the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the virus behind the outbreak had showed signs of becoming endemic in wild populations, with several cases detected in wildlife in recent months. The return of the disease to commercial premises prompted BC chief veterinarian Dr. Theresa Burns to issue an order October 20 requiring all commercial poultry to be kept indoors due to the environmental risks. To address the risks, the province staked $5 million this spring designed to help livestock producers address disease. Conor Hamilton, sales manager at MGH Equipment of Okanogan, Washington, demonstrates a leaf removal machine at CF Fruitstand in Coldstream. The demonstration in September helped growers understand how opening up the canopy can improve the colour and shelf appeal of apples, part of a series of extension events to support the quality of BC apples. TOM WALKERAvian influenza returnsKATE AYERS OKANAGAN FALLS – BC ranchers and farmers can finally tap into a recovery program addressing losses from this year’s historic drought and wildfires. Ottawa responded to requests for support from the Western provinces on October 20 with a $219 million AgriRecovery program cost-shared with the provinces. BC’s portion of the program will see livestock, forage and honey producers Ottawa delivers disaster supportRanchers welcome financial aidMake ‘em shine!Eligible producers u1-800-661-4559www.tlhort.comForage & Turf Seed • Plant Nutrition Crop Protection•Supplies•ServiceRooted in your community® since 1973Egg farm depopulated u
2 | NOVEMBER 2023 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCTo date, $4.2 million has been spent on business planning and training, equipment purchases needed to respond to an outbreak, and the development of business models to address AI as well as African swine fever, foot and mouth and other risks. An additional $1.8 million in federal funding followed in September specically to help the BC Poultry Association prepare for a greater role in future outbreak response eorts. The latest detection pushes the total number of birds aected in BC since 2022 closer to 3.7 million. Compensation to BC producers impacted by avian inuenza likely exceeded $50 million, according to an analysis of data from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The federal government reported payments exceeding $107 million to aected producers across Canada as a result of outbreaks in 2022 and 2023, following an Access to Information request by Postmedia, published in Ontario Farmer. eligible for up to $71 million in support. “Any assistance we can get right now is definitely appreciated. Some of the ranchers are hit pretty hard,” says BC Cattlemen’s Association president Brian Thomas. “Drought has hit parts of the province that it’s never hit before, like Vancouver Island, Fort St. John and Vanderhoof.” As part of the framework, farmers and ranchers are eligible for reimbursement of up to 70% of such costs as livestock feed due to decreased pasture availability, transportation costs related to moving livestock feed and water and re-establishing forage crops damaged by wildfires. Thomas said BC producers affected by wildfire and drought had been anxiously awaiting Ottawa’s response to the province’s request in July for AgriRecovery assistance. During federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay’s visit to the province on October 10, which included a meeting with Thomas and other representatives of the BC Agriculture Council, Thomas questioned what appeared to be delays at the federal level and urged a prompt response to give producers certainty. MacAulay acknowledged the time-sensitive nature of the request and said an announcement would be forthcoming. Billed the 2023 Canada-British Columbia Wildfire and Drought AgriRecovery Initiative, the program offers support for extraordinary feed costs related to loss of access to pasture, including 70% of transportation costs for the relocation of livestock to feed and water and payments of up to $160 per breeding animal sold. Where producers have been affected by wildfire, support is available for alternative grazing requirements as well as up to $80 per head to re-establish safe winter feeding facilities and general cleanup. So-called “extraordinary wildfire-related costs” including vet services, non-insurable irrigation and infrastructure losses, labour to repair livestock fences and reestablishment of tame forage are eligible for up to 70% coverage, as are costs related to lost bee colonies, apiaries and related equipment. Long time coming “It took a long time to get this through and it would have been much better if we’d had it a month or two ago,” says BCCA general manager Kevin Boon. “A lot of guys have been holding off as long as they can on downsizing their herds and this will give them some information that they need to be able to make more informed decisions as to what they are able to successfully feed throughout the winter.” While the support is welcome, producers have already been forced to make tough decisions as pastures dried up and dugouts lowered. “The cattle industry is going to look a little different in BC and probably Alberta and parts of the Prairies that were hit hard,” Thomas says. “Our calves that everybody sells usually in the fall are about a month ahead of what they were last year and the year before.” Boon says much will depend on the recovery of soil moisture levels and the renewal of pastures. “It might end up being that if it’s dry next spring, it was the best decision they made,” Boon says of this fall’s downsizing. “[But] we’re not going to have the replacement heifers to breed next spring. That building of the herd is going to be set back another year. That’s the part for concern – is how do we rebuild and what [will] the cash flow for those ranches look like next year?” Throughout this summer’s drought, the province pointed farmers facing a decline in revenue to AgriStability. It did so again in announcing the new AgriRecovery initiative, noting, “186 BC farmers have received more than $7.2 million in support through targeted advance payments from the federal-provincial AgriStability program.” The province is also revising emergency management legislation. u Eligible producers could see reimbursement up to 70% of related costsu Egg farm depopulated Family Farm Friendly Financial Planning Services.Holistic financial planning for your family farm now and into the future. 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We apologise for the error.On October 3, the government introduced legislation proposing a more proactive approach to emergency management, with an emphasis on disaster risk reduction, and formally recognizing First Nations' inherent right of self-government in relation to emergency management. Unique risks It also recognizes the unique risks and demands of producers during emergency situations. “We understand the importance of the agriculture industry, and the connection between animals and their owners in emergency management planning and response,” the BC Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness says in a statement to Country Life in BC. “The new legislation will require risk assessments to give special consideration to animals that may be susceptible to hazards. Local governments will also be required to develop plans for the evacuation and care of people and animals, including livestock.” In addition, the province is updating the regulatory framework for the Disaster Financial Assistance program to meet the evolving needs of people, farmers and communities. A public consultation is underway that closes December 31, with discussion papers available online [http://enga.io/b821wFdYE]. With files from Peter Mitham
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 3Program lets small-scale producers spread their wingsPETER MITHAM ARMSTRONG – Residents of BC’s Okanagan Valley will soon have two new commercial egg producers shipping to grocers, with the BC Egg Marketing Board’s recent selection of Chris Grohmueller of Armstrong and Sajid Hameed of Salmon Arm as new entrants. “Both Sajid and Chris are already well known in their communities for the quality of eggs they produce from their small flocks,” says BC Egg chair Gunta Vitins. “They have solid business plans as well as dedicated customers and we’re sure that with the extra hens provided by the New Producer Program, they are going to be successful egg farmers.” The two farms will be eligible to grow their operations to 3,000 hens through the program. Both farms were registered with BC Egg with the long-term hope of expanding production. “It was in the blood,” says Hameed, who grew up on his family’s farm in Pakistan and has worked in the poultry industry for 20 years, first with feed mills then with broiler-breeder and egg operations in Canada. Since 2015, he has run his own small-lot farm in Salmon Arm and now has 399 layer hens whose free-range eggs he sells at the Kelowna farmers market. “Free range was the best option for me, and I had a good opportunity with my farm because we have lots of area where my birds can graze,” he says. “There is a huge requirement, especially for free range, because there are very limited free range facilities in the Interior.” Relations with neighbours have been good, and they’ve welcomed his expansion. The opportunity to expand through new entrant quota appealed to Grohmueller, who grew up on a squab farm in Abbotsford and raised squab in the Okanagan until the pandemic shut down restaurant sales. The farm then pivoted to sweet corn and pumpkins, and looked to other poultry for its barns. “We transitioned pretty quickly,” Grohmueller says. “The first summer after getting rid of our squab we experimented with a batch of pullets, raising laying hens. And that’s really what got us into it.” While it wasn’t his intention to enter egg production, one of the farm’s customers decided to move north and wanted to sell back the layers he’d bought. “That came with a couple of their customers and we expanded on that,” Grohmueller explains. “We went beyond the 100 birds so we got our small-lot permit, and started running our 399 birds.” Growth led it to seek a grading station licence in 2022 to expand retail volume. “Then the new entrant program came out, and here we are,” he says. “It’s an opportunity for us. It played right into what we were already doing. It just allowed us to grow quite a bit more.” In addition to eggs, the farm also continues to raise laying hens, expanding from its initial 500 pullets to nearly 8,000 a year. It also raises about 4,000 ducks a year. BC is home to 150 egg farms, 80% of which are in the Fraser Valley. The new Okanagan quota adds layers to the province’s food security. “Having more local grading stations up here is a huge benefit to the economy,” Grohmueller says. Both growers will begin exercising their new quota next year. “In 2023, the goal was to start new egg farmers in areas outside of the Fraser Valley,” BC Egg says. “In order to prove that the applicants are capable of looking after hens, only people with a small lot permit would be accepted.” The program received four applications this year, all of which were reviewed by a committee to ensure applicants demonstrated a capacity to care for hens and run a small business. Applications meeting the requirements were entered into a random draw. Natalie and Chris Grohmueller are expanding egg production at their farm in Armstrong, one of two new producers receiving quota from the BC Egg Marketing Board to serve the Okanagan market. FILEOkanagan egg producers eye expansion FOR BAGGED or BULK ORDERSDarren Jansen Owner604.794.3701organicfeeds@gmail.comwww.canadianorganicfeeds.comCertified by Pro-Cert Organic Systems Ltd.BC AGRICULTURE COUNCIL INVITES YOU TO THEBC AGRI-FOOD INDUSTRY GALATickets on sale November 8, 2023www.bcac.caJanuary 24, 2024Abbotsford, B.C.www.bcac.ca
Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, that portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with reasonable allowance for signature will not be charged, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographical error which advertises goods or services at a wrong price, such goods or services need not be sold at the advertised price. Advertising is an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at any time. All advertising is accepted subject to publisher’s approval. All of Country Life in British Columbia’s content is covered by Canadian copyright law. Opinions expressed in signed articles are those of the writer and not necessarily those of Country Life in British Columbia. Letters are welcome, though they may be edited in the interest of brevity before publication. All errors brought to our attention will be corrected.36 Dale Road, Enderby BC V0E 1V4 . Publication Mail Agreement: 0399159 . GST Reg. No. 86878 7375 . Subscriptions: $2/issue . $18.90/year . $33.60/2 years . $37.80/3 years incl GSTThe agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 Vol.109 No. 11 . NOVEMBER 2023Published monthly by Country Life 2000 Ltd. www.countrylifeinbc.comEvery weekend in October is critical to the success of our u-pick pumpkin patch. We campaign vigorously and augment a wide variety of pumpkins with an extensive scarecrow display and the opportunity for children to interact with ducks, piglets, a pen of friendly goats and Meg the stick-fetching border collie. Weather permitting, we also oer 30-minute hayrides around the farm and a chance to view the cow herd from close range. On sunny days, with a backdrop of turning leaves, a wagon ride to the cows and their pasture is a must-see for more than half of our customers. The trips always include a short stop to explain the physics of alluvial soil formation, point out the locations of ancient riverbanks, and explain that all the acres of green grass would look like the driest lawn in the city if it weren’t for the water licence that allows us to irrigate. After a brief history of our 43 years here, the topic turns to the current state of agriculture in BC. Figures from the 2021 Census of Agriculture are used to paint a picture of the ongoing decline in the numbers of farms, operators and farmed acreage. Inevitably, the riders are shocked to learn that 40% of all of the farms in BC gross less than $10,000 yearly and that 75 cents of every dollar of farm income comes from another source. The biggest eye-opener is when they learn the only reliable increase in agriculture is in the age of farm and ranch operators: that a 70-year-old farmer is more common than one under 35, and the average farmer in BC is someone pushing 60 years of age, probably grossing something less than $50,000 and subsidizing every dollar earned on the farm with three dollars from elsewhere. Hence the dearth of young farmers. From here they are given a then-and-now comparison of agriculture in and about their own community: how total production has fallen by at least 70% in the past 40 years; how virtually all of the infrastructure that supported it 40 years ago has disappeared; the loss of a vegetable grading and marketing venue; the closing of all the abattoirs for any livestock or poultry; the dairy plant gone; the only large animal veterinarian long retired, and how this aects not just farming but the economy at large. For example, when the dairy plant closed, 17 full and part-time jobs went with it as well as all the local goods and services it used to purchase. All of that economic activity was replaced by the sale of a single cup of coee every other day to the truck driver hauling the raw milk away. We wrap up the hayride conversation speaking about food democracy and how food production is almost always a response to consumer choice. The choice to buy a tomato of foreign origin is a vote in favour of the kind of farming that produced it and the supply chain that got it here. Before the dairy closed, it received enough milk to supply half of local demand, but people bought just a quarter of what it processed. Had one in three consumers bought local, 75% of our local milk would have found a home and in all likelihood the business, as well as the jobs it provided, would still be here. We end by thanking everyone for coming and thereby casting a vote for local agriculture. We ask how many of them would be there if the pumpkins were a crop of turnips? Not many, as it turns out. Most of the participants are surprised and concerned by all of this and some ask how it might change. Good question. One not easily answered. “Buy local” is the easy answer from agriculture, but it raises questions and concerns from the consumers. Like what, where and when. As most producers know, growing something is often the easiest part of the equation. Selling enough of it for enough money is where the math gets dicult. It’s all moot without customers. Perhaps a frank dialogue with some of them could spark a collaborative and innovative means of meeting the needs of both sides. Bob Collins raises beef cattle and grows produce on his farm in the Alberni Valley. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada.4 | NOVEMBER 2023 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCA sense of purposeSomewhere deep in the family photos, many of us will have one of the original generation whose legacy lives on in our own farm. It might show them in their Sunday best for a formal portrait, or in everyday clothes as a friend or relative snapped a shot for the record. Granny, as we called her, was born on one of the hundreds of small, mixed dairy farms of her era. The rail siding where cans of the farm’s milk were collected for processing in town was named for her family. Granny, however, took to music. When women were invited to become Voluntary Aid nurses in the First World War, she signed on, caring for soldiers returning from Europe and playing piano for them. One of the convalescents became her husband. On doctor’s orders, he took up orcharding for his health. There’s a photo of them under the cherry trees that summer, newlywed but not yet with child. Granny holds a cluster of cherries while Reggie (he would die before any of us could call him a more familiar name) does his best to restrain their dog leaping towards the photographer. All this less than ve years after his experiences at the Somme, where he was wounded, and Vimy. Conversations about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD, once known as ‘shell shock’) among veterans and mental wellness among farmers are common today. Photos show nothing of an individual’s interior life, but one wonders what was going through his mind as the bucolic snapshot was taken. Did farming settle him after his war experiences? And when he left the farm the following year, was it with a sense of fullment, or disappointment that they wouldn’t continue? The photo doesn’t tell us, but it does capture a happy moment – one of hope after war, and anticipation of the future that lay ahead. A future marked, hindsight shows, by a sense of purpose for each other and their community. Whatever their inner troubles, these were secondary to being of service to others. As the famous psychiatrist Karl Menninger observed, “Generous people are rarely mentally ill people.” But generosity is fullled within community. Few farmers do so without family, the one community permitted when public health restrictions suspended so many others during the pandemic. The toll continues to be felt in reduced Hayride reality is a head-shaker for visitorsThe Back 40 BOB COLLINSPublisher Cathy Glover 604-328-3814 . publisher@countrylifeinbc.com Editor Emeritus David Schmidt Associate Editor Peter Mitham news@countrylifeinbc.com Advertising Sales & Marketing Cathy Glover sales@countrylifeinbc.com Production Designer Tina Rezansoff We still remember, PW!volunteerism collectively and lower mental wellness individually. Reggie returned to service in the Second World War, privy to enemy threats along Canada’s coastline. The responsibilities eventually killed him. This Remembrance Day, as we remember those who served, let us also remember to live generously, watching out for one another in the communities peace makes possible.
Narrow margins an industry-wide concern New BC dairy study lays a foundation for a solution that benefits everyoneCOUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 5conrmed what we knew anecdotally – costs have risen faster and higher in BC than in other parts of Canada. The report found that, on average, dairy farmers lost money in 2021, and things got worse in 2022. The factors driving this challenge are numerous. BC has had three years of multiple large-scale natural disasters that have contributed to poor growing conditions, lost feed, damaged infrastructure and higher feed transportation costs. The cost of feed rose almost 35% from 2021 to 2022 while fuel increased 33.5%. While most BC dairy farmers are weathering challenging conditions, some have been pushed out of the industry by these economics. Longer-term, ongoing losses aren’t sustainable for any business. Just as concerning, breaking even means postponing investment in long-term growth, new capacity and technology. If BC and the rest of Canada are going to continue producing local food while making the investments necessary to meet sustainability goals, we must nd solutions that ensure farmers are also nancially sustainable. This is imperative to attract the next generation of producers. To that end, BC Dairy actively engages the province to ensure it’s aware of the challenges we’re facing and working with us to nd solutions that decrease the costs of regulation and taxation. The BC Agriculture Council is raising similar issues of rising production costs impacting all agriculture in the province. Nationally, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture is making producers’ case to the federal government. As readers of this publication know, our sector is supply-managed. National supply management remains an important system providing stability and predictability for both farmers and consumers, which ensures production of dairy and other perishable food continues in all regions of our country. A vibrant Canadian food system with abundant local food needs local dairy producers. It’s no secret Canadians are struggling under rising costs – including farmers. Whether producing dairy, poultry, berries or vegetables, the price we’re all paying for fuel, feed, fertilizer and labour is up. Rising interest rates are adding thousands of dollars a month to borrowing costs, which is impacting young farmers especially. On my own farm, we have made several signicant investments in recent years, including an irrigation system for our forage crops to help us adapt to the increasing prevalence of drought, and a robotic milking system. Rising interest rates have driven up the cost of the debt we’ve taken on to nance those investments at the same time we’re grappling with input costs rising faster than farmgate milk prices. As a result, we’ve had to undertake signicant renancing. I’ll be honest – it’s tough and, at times, disheartening. But it’s also not an unusual story. BC Dairy recently compiled a report detailing the business costs for dairy production in this province. It Viewpoint HOLGER SCHWICHTENBERGWe are sharing the business cost study with our colleagues and stakeholders across Canada, including the Canadian Dairy Commission. Our study used a dierent methodology than the Canadian Dairy Commission’s annual cost of production report, which establishes farmgate pricing nationally using a weighted average across Canadian provinces. Ours was more focused on costs specic to BC, looking in-depth at individual farmers’ nances. The farmers who participated in this study put signicant time and eort into providing us this level of information. I would like to extend our gratitude to them for this commitment. Their contribution was important, providing us with the data needed to verify the challenges our sector is currently facing and inform our conversations with decision-makers about how to bring us back to protability. Our vision at BC Dairy and the Western Milk Pool is “better together for Canadian dairy.” To me, that means any solution to these issues needs to be a win for all of us – all dairy farmers in Canada, but equally, our customers and other farming sectors, as well as government. The goal of protecting local food production is too important for any other approach. Holger Schwichtenberg is a second-generation dairy farmer in Agassiz and chair of the BC Dairy Association. Together with his wife and three sons, he farms 210 acres and milks 160 cows. He’s passionate about environmental leadership, serving on the Climate Action Initiative provincial steering committee, proAction environment pillar working group, and the provincial Environment Farm Plan Advisory Group. He is president of the Kent Recycling Program and a commissioner for the Agricultural Land Commission. 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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 7Water licence fight highlights need for changeProvince shifts groundwater oversight to new ministryKaty and John Ehrlich are appealing an order that cut them off from their historic well after the province was unable to locate their original groundwater licence application. They're hoping a change in ministry heralds a more collaborative relationship with farmers. SUBMITTEDPETER MITHAM DUNCAN – A well-loved farmstand and restaurant on Vancouver Island hopes a change in oversight of groundwater management will lead to a more collaborative approach to resolving licensing issues. Katy and John Ehrlich of Alderlea Farm on Vancouver Island have run their award-winning farm for more than 20 years, growing a variety of vegetables and small fruits which are sold roadside, through a subscription program as well as served in their on-farm restaurant. In 2020, they led a groundwater licence application as existing users under BC’s new licensing regime in order to secure their farm’s historic water rights. The online application was, to all appearances, submitted – one of a handful received that year – and they went back to farming. All seemed good until this summer, when drought conditions prompted requests for voluntary reductions in water use. Preliminary visits by natural resource ocers were complimentary of their drip irrigation system. But in mid-July, ocers delivered an order under Section 93 of the Water Sustainability Act requiring them to shut o the well because the province said their water use was unauthorized. “We are very conscientious about our watering,” says Ehrlich. “We had conservation ocers come out and they said, ‘Oh wow, you’re good here; my boss will have no problem with what you’re doing.’ Then all o a sudden this order was presented.” Within days, the Ehrlichs had a cistern installed and began trucking in water. A hydrologist was also hired to help them le a licence application as new users so they could resume using their well. But they also applied for a stay of the order that cut them o – one of several led this year regarding water shut-os. “Water is costly, and there’s no way we could irrigate our crops with shipped-in water, so we applied for a stay,” Ehrlich explains. “A stay was granted because of the irreparable harm this order would create for us.” The stay set the scene for an appeal of the order, with a prehearing conference taking place before the BC Environmental Appeal Board on October 19. The attitude of the lawyers from the BC Ministry of Forests, which has managed the transition to the new groundwater licensing regime, was decidedly adversarial. “[They] were really clear it wasn’t solutions-oriented,” she said. The attitude is one reported by water users across the province, with several criticizing the uninching attitude of natural resource ocers who showed v4200W Model ShownDESIGNEDFOR HARSH CONDITIONS• 34” high mouldboard• Spring trip on cutting edge• Bucket edge mount or Qtach available• Replaceable, reversible steel cutting edge• Replaceable, reversible rubber cutting edge (OPTIONAL)• Skid shoes optional• 36” deep fixed endplates• Available in 10’ 12’ 14’ widths• 2 Year Commercial WarrantyMax Operating Weight 25,000 LB.• Spring trip on cutting edge• 34” high mouldboard• Lateral float• Two angle cylinders• Hydraulic 35º angle either direction• Replaceable, reversible steel cutting edge• Replaceable, reversible rubber cutting edge (OPTIONAL)• Skid shoes• Cross-over relief valve protection• Heavy duty construction• Available in 9’ 10’ 12’ 14’ widths• 2 Year Commercial WarrantyMax Operating Weight 25,000 LB.1.866.567.4162 www.hlasnow.comup in black Kevlar vests to serve Section 93 orders to what the province described as “suspected unauthorized users” or – as in Westwold – turn o irrigation infrastructure where licensed users resisted curtailment orders issued under Section 88 of the Water Sustainability Act to protect salmon. “Our experience is that regulatory agencies are there to work as a team with people,” Ehrlich says. “We can Province quiet uWEEKLYFARM NEWSUPDATEScountrylifeinbc.comcountrylifeinbc.comnrycococounnttrrrylifeinbcryylifeinbcif iylifeinbcVAN DER WAL EQUIPMENT (1989) LTD. 23390 RIVER ROAD, MAPLE RIDGE, BC V2W 1B6 604/463-3681 | vanderwaleq.com The World’s Most Durable Manure SpreaderBuild it strong. Keep it simple.
8 | NOVEMBER 2023 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCu Change in oversight 'necessary and natural,' province saysOIL & FILTER SALEmore.brandt.ca/john-deereStock up this fall!Ensure a smooth transition to seeding next spring with the John Deere Oil & Filter Sale. Stock up and save to ensure the best performance at the lowest price.• Get a jumpstart on preventative maintenance.• Avoid downtime during peak season.• Get the best wear protection with genuine John Deere parts.For more information, visit:October 15 – November 15John Deere Oil & LubricantsSelect John Deere Filters10 % OFF12% OFFbe the best we can by working with the regulatory agencies.” The stay shows that a more reasonable approach is possible, something she hopes will follow the mid-October transfer of responsibility for watershed management to the aptly named BC Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship (WLRS) from Forests. “I think they will have a dierent place that they’re coming from to implement this,” Ehrlich says. “I’m hoping the new ministry will handle this in a dierent way.” The province has not indicated if any changes are forthcoming. A statement to Country Life in BC framed the shift as part of a “necessary and natural” restructuring of resource management in BC. Transferring responsibility for groundwater licensing to the new ministry is simply the next step in that process. Water management branch sta attending a local watershed group meeting in Vernon on October 20 described the change as primarily one of oversight. Wait and see While the change in ministry is promising, Haley Argen of Nature Tech Nursery in Courtenay is waiting to see what it means for growers. She has long felt more could be done to manage water wisely across vulnerable watersheds. She draws water from the Tsolum, one of four watersheds where irrigation of forage crops was curtailed under Section 88 orders this summer. The restrictions frustrated several local growers, with a delegation urging the regional district to step in and lead a comprehensive approach to water management that included forest management companies and other stakeholders. Argen wasn’t part of the delegation, but she feels the new ministerial oversight could make a dierence. “I've always thought it made no sense for the Water Sustainability Act to be managed by the same ministry as manages our forests when the currently poor forest practices in BC have such a huge negative impact on our freshwater resources,” Argen says. “But whether it will be better for farmers is another question.” A primary concern is how the new ministry will triage the thousands of cases of unlicensed water use across the province. Of about 20,000 known wells in BC whose owners were eligible to apply for licences as existing users prior to the March 1, 2022 deadline, just 7,711 applications were received. Argen hopes there will be collaboration with sta in the agriculture ministry to ensure agricultural water use is given priority, so long as the operations are making ecient use of water. There is also the question of the thousands of applications awaiting decision, not only from existing users but those who – like the Ehrlichs – submitted applications as new users after being issued cease-use orders. As of October 23, just 2,411 groundwater licenses had been issued, including to new users. The backlog in decisions is estimated at up to four years, and the deluge of applications from the majority of well owners who have yet to apply has yet to arrive. “Imagine what’s going to happen next year when those other 60% of people are presented with an order,” Ehrlich says. “If they continue in this way, it’s going to be a big, huge dark cloud over food production.” John and Katy Ehrllch check the irrigation lines watering their vegetable beds, now fed from a cistern required after an order to stop using their well. SUBMITTED
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 9Dairy producers not making money from milk salesReal estate on the table as producers retrenchThe future is not looking good for the dairy sector as inputs and land costs continue to erode any potential for prot. The sector is using a new cost of production study make its case to government."MYRNA STARK LEADER Are you looking for Sales or Service for your Lewis Cattle Oiler?Contact Steve Major to reserve a date: majorss@telus.net | 780.524.8880We are planning a trip through your area in the near future.PETER MITHAM ABBOTSFORD – The nal results of a cost of production survey BC’s dairy sector undertook last year has conrmed the sector’s dire straits. Producers in BC are losing an average of 48 cents per kilogram of butterfat, a loss that rose to $4.19 per kg when o-farm revenue, cattle sales and other income is factored out. Based on 2021 data from a select group of 27 of the province’s 469 dairy farmers, the losses have almost certainly increased over the past two years. “It’s almost a perfect storm for dairies in BC at the moment, and that moment started probably three or four years ago when you think of trade deals that were signed internationally, then you start thinking of successive natural disasters that impacted dairies right across the province,” says BC Dairy general manager Jeremy Dunn. “Now we’ve got high ination, high interest rates on top of that, and these are creating scenarios that are very challenging for our dairy farmers across BC.” Production costs were highest in northern BC, at $28.10 per kg, and lowest in the Interior, at $17.33 per kg. The most signicant input cost province-wide was feed, at 21% of expenses, followed by labour at 7%. But in the Lower Mainland, home to 16 of the survey’s participants, land costs were a key factor. “The really high cost of land coupled with the interest rates creates a much higher debt and payment burden, and capital burden, for producers here in the Lower Mainland,” says Dunn, noting that diversication opportunities are limited by the land base. “A dairy farm has a more diversied revenue stream in some other parts of the country than you do in the Lower Mainland,” he says. “The close proximity to the market and a lot of those things have been helpful, but currently in the economic climate it’s those additional business streams that are helping dairies in some other parts of the country.” This includes feed production, which many farmers in the Lower Mainland have to truck in, this year at some expense due primarily to fuel costs. “The more you have to buy feed for your cattle, the more it’s eating into your margins,” Dunn says. “There’s one dairy that we’ve sold barley to in the past and he plans to keep buying from up here,” says Maclcolm Odermatt, a grain producer near Baldonnel. “He trucks it all down, but with the price of fuel it’s pretty tough right now on him.” A key hurdle for producers is cost recovery given the clout processors and retailers have in the market. While the farmgate price of milk is set by the Canadian Dairy Commission following an annual cost of production study, this year’s increase of 1.77% was vetoed by retailers, who said it ran counter to federal eorts to hold the line on grocery prices. Dairy Farmers of Canada, which represents the provincial dairy groups in Ottawa, approved the request, which will up the pressure on BC producers. Some are looking to sell assets while others may simply exit the sector. High interest rates means renancing is more costly than two years ago, and revenue simply isn’t keeping up. Gord Houweling, who spent 30 years dairy farming before joining BC Farm and Ranch Realty Corp., says the past two years have been “extremely challenging” for producers. But before selling out, most farmers will seek ways to pay down debt to reduce servicing costs. “The bulk of farms that need to deleverage begin with small parcels of land if they have those,” he says. While it’s tough to say there’s been an increase in such listings, BC Farm and Ranch has several dairies listed for sale while other producers have sold animals and quota and kept their land. Dunn says the acute challenges facing producers in BC are being taken seriously by the Western Milk Pool, because of the ripple eects local hardship will have regionally. “Cost of inputs are rising at a faster rate in BC than in some other parts of the country,” he says. “[We] are trying to create a climate where our producers can have more economic stability.” In particular, the sector is asking government to carefully consider the nancial impacts new policies will have on the sector. “It is currently the top issue we are raising with the provincial government on a regular basis, to be very mindful of the business sustainability that dairy farmers are living in,” he says. 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10 | NOVEMBER 2023 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCView over 100 listings of farm properties at www.bcfarmandranch.comBC FARM & RANCH REALTY CORP.Buying or Selling a Farm or Acreage?GORD HOUWELING Cell: 604/793-8660GREG WALTON Cell: 604/864-1610Toll free 1-888-852-AGRI Call BC’s First and Only Real Estate Office committed 100% to Agriculture!PROFESSIONAL SERVICESCountry Life in BC team wins national awardsLife in BC received top honours in the opinion category. Collins won silver in the opinion category this year for his observations on the impact climate change is having on the trees that stand watch over his farm in the September 2022 paper. On the reporting side, Sandra Tretick won gold in the current aairs category for “Fallow deer rattle Mayne Island farmers,” a November 2022 report that delved into the decades-long issue precipitated by a once-promising livestock venture endorsed by the province. This year also saw a rst-ever success in the business/economics writing category as Kate Ayers won gold for her report on farm co-operatives in the May 2022 paper and Tracey Fredrickson received silver for her October 2022 report on the inux of new arrivals – but not necessarily farmers – to rural communities during the pandemic. All was gold on the photography side. Hannah Willms of Rose Prairie won gold in the landscape category for her photo of sunowers in the October 2022 paper. Regular contributor Myrna Stark Leader handily won both the people and production categories, with minimal quibbling from the judges with respect to cropping. In the people category, Stark Leader won with her photo of Colleen Roberts planting vegetable seeds in a greenhouse at Peak Cellars Country Life in BC came away with a record nine awards from the annual Canadian Farm Writers Federation competition on October 5. The paper’s team of writers and photographers came out tops in the opinion, current aairs and business writing categories, and swept the top spots in the photography classes. Reprising last year’s success, columnist Anna Helmer won gold for her March 2022 column, “Spring demands the old heave-ho,” which appealed to the judges for its sensitive take on the adjustments 100-lb sacks of seed potatoes force on the aging on-farm workforce. Together with Bob Collins’ gold awards in 2020 and 2021, this marked the fourth straight year Country Expert farm taxation adviceApproved consultants for Government funding throughBC Farm Business Advisory Services ProgramEnderby 250-838-7337Armstrong 250-546-8665 |t1VSDIBTFBOETBMFPGGBSNTt5SBOTGFSPGGBSNTUPDIJMESFOt(PWFSONFOUTVCTJEZQSPHSBNTt1SFQBSBUJPOPGGBSNUBYSFUVSOTt6TFPG$BQJUBM(BJOT&YFNQUJPOT$ISJT)FOEFSTPO$1"$"-PSFO)VUUPO$1"$"5PMM 'SFF1-888-818-FARM |www.farmtax.comRossworn HendersonLLPChartered Professional Accountants - Tax Consultantsartered Professional Accountants - Tax ConsultanCALL FOR AN ESTIMATE LARRY 604.209.5523 TROY 604.209.5524 TRI-WAY FARMS LASER LEVELLING LTD.IMPROVED DRAINAGE UNIFORM GERMINATION UNIFORM IRRIGATION FAST, ACCURATE SURVEYING INCREASE CROP YIELDS We service all of Southern BCAg Briefs PETER MITHAMWinery in Lake Country. A photo of Tantalus Vineyards assistant vineyard manager Scott Walsh harvesting grapes for ice wine uncorked gold for Stark Leader in the production category. In choosing between the two, however, the judges picked her photo of Colleen Roberts as its photo of the year, the second year in a row Stark Leader and Country Life in BC have won the honour. This year’s tally of awards tops last year, when the paper came away with eight awards. The annual Canadian Federation of Farm Writers awards honour the best in agricultural journalism across Canada. —Peter Mitham BC farmland values flat BC farmland values held the course in the rst half of 2023, Farm Credit Canada reported October 4. The mid-year update indicated a cautious approach to land purchases and spending generally, which FCC chief economist JP Gervais credits with slower demand and, in turn, appreciation. “With higher interest rates, elevated farm input costs and uncertainty regarding future commodity prices, producers are being cautious with their investments and capital expenditures,” he says. Provincial property transfer data indicate broadly lower sales activity for farm properties during the rst half of this year. Sales were down 53% overall, led by a 95% drop in transactions in the Fraser Valley. The valley is home to some of the most expensive farmland in Canada. Tight operating margins have prompted some producers to list assets, but few have been buying. The Thompson-Nicola and Nanaimo regions saw declines of 77% and 71%, respectively, while the Okanagan-Similkameen, Peace and Cariboo regions saw declines of 63% to 67%. The at growth in BC farmland values during the rst half of this year follows an increase of 8% last year. Nationally, farmland values increased by an average of 7.7%, led by Saskatchewan at 11.4%. — Peter Mitham Poultry farm loses appeal A poultry farm has lost its appeal of orders to stop drawing water from an aquifer in the Koksilah watershed. A hearing at the end of June resulted in a decision posted mid-September by the BC Environmental Appeal Board that rejected a request by broiler producer Triple W Farms Ltd. of Duncan for a stay of the orders, permission to continue drawing water from its unlicensed well through the end of 2023 and for the purpose of setting water aside for future use. “I nd that the Board does not have the jurisdiction to grant the remedies set out in the Appellant’s notice of appeal,” board chair David Bird writes. A stay does not rescind an order, Bird explains. Triple W, which activated its well in 2019 and was advised in June 2022 that its use of groundwater was unlawful, would have no right to draw water even if a stay was granted. Moreover, the decision-maker regarding licensed water use is the local water manager, not the appeal board, meaning the board could not grant the farm a right to draw water. “The [Water Sustainability Act] does not grant the Board the jurisdiction to make this determination before the water manager has rst made their decision,” Bird writes. The orders required the farm, which produces 35,000 birds a cycle, to construct a dugout for water storage. It also planned to reduce production during the summer months in view of low streamows in the Koksilah. — Peter Mitham Re “ALR policy review shows room for improvement,” Country Life in BC, October 2023 The best review of the current ALR situation to date. Special thanks to Matt Henderson. In my opinion, the present provincial government still is blind in understanding that there is little value in preserving farmland when you don't protect the farmer. The original promises when the ALR was sprung on us have still not been implemented. Oh, they tried, with plans to fulll their promises for a guaranteed “cost of production” plan, but nothing ever materialized. In my opinion, the original error lies in the allocation. In 1973, the Richmond and Greater Vancouver area was losing valuable farmland to development at a rapid rate. To control this, the ALR was born. To simplify the issue, it was decided to place it over the whole province. This was a curse on us farmers. City dwellers showed their strong approval, giving the government the feeling they've done it right. Those who were aected were ignored. Fifty years later, it's still a plague on 90% of our province’s geography. To correct this issue, the best solution now would be to keep it in place through the Fraser Valley and remove it from the rest of the province. As Matt has so aptly expounded, there is absolutely no need for such legislation throughout BC when decisions are made by those in Victoria and Burnaby who don't live the rural lifestyle nor understand it. I'm condent each city, municipality or regional district who truly understands their situation can rule and make specic decisions for themselves. Henry Wiebe, Kelowna Letters Thumbs up
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 11Nursery sector pays tribute to Hedy DyckDyck credited for success as BCLNA celebrates 70 yearsRONDA PAYNE LANGLEY – The BC Landscape and Nursery Association (BCLNA) celebrated its 70th anniversary September 28-29 with events and activities at Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Langley campus. Growers, retailers, landscapers and wholesalers came together for the opportunity to learn, share and celebrate not only the industry’s accomplishments but the late Hedy (Hedwig) Dyck in a special industry tribute. “We are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the BCLNA, which is a huge accomplishment, and we’re celebrating Hedy Dyck,” said board chair Paula Baxter to more than 70 attending the closing session. “We had the most well-attended past-president’s meeting we’ve ever had. It was really spirited and insightful.” Twelve past-chairs, ranging in terms from as far back as 1988, came to the front of the room in recognition of their shared accomplishments over the decades. Notably missing was Dyck, who passed away on August 24. Indomitable spirit It would be impossible to celebrate BCLNA’s success without including the indomitable spirit of Dyck, who served the organization for more than 20 years. Although she retired from her role as chief operating officer in 2022, she continued to be a consultant and advocate for the association. “Seventy years is a long time for our association. Definitely a lot is because of Hedy,” said past-chair Jeff Foley. “She got the association through some tough years. She did a heck of a lot. We all owe her a ton for what she accomplished.” He noted that Dyck often made hard decisions because “they were right” for the industry even when they were unpopular among the members. “It’s amazing on how many levels Hedy made an impact,” added past-chair Heike Stippler. “That whole big voice, big industry support, was paired with being The BC Landscape and Nursery Association paid special tribute to former chief operating ofce Hedy Dyck during its 70th anniversary celebration. Dyck passed away August 24. BCLNAcountrylifeinbc.comThe agricultural news source in BC since 1915.personal, social and community-oriented.” Dyck also brought new members into the fold, even when they didn’t immediately see the benefits, according to another past-chair, Mike Mills. “We were just a small garden centre up on the Sunshine Coast, but she brought us in, she got us involved,” he said. “She was always honest and straight-forward. She made that job [of chair] very easy.” Dyck had a sign in her office that said, “I yell because I care.” According to numerous guests who spoke about her, that caring can’t be denied. Her Dyck’s husband Don joined the crowd at the closing reception, which included a specially crafted beer made by KPU’s Brewing and Brewery Operations program. Tours Prior to the reception, delegates went on one of three bus tours; two for propagators and growers of annuals, perennials and indoor plants as well as one for landscapers. Seminars spanned a range of issues including those geared towards foreign worker challenges and other hiring and training matters which paired nicely with the mix- and- mingle job fair. Pest management, marketing and trade and innovation also featured in the full gamut of seminars while an outdoor demo zone gave attendees the opportunity to ask questions and try out equipment from several manufacturers. THE LAST THING YOU NEED IS A FEEBLE TRACTOR.4700 Global Series Utility TractorsQuality Pre-Owned Tractors & EquipmentCHALLENGER MT545E full load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140,000 JAYLOR Mixer Wagon 4575 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,500 MF 1742 tractor, AWD with cab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27,500 MF 4609 tractor with 931 loader, 2215 Hours . . . . . 49,000 MF 4707 4WD, LDR, LOW HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,000 MF 4708 tractor/loader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,500 MF 6713 tractor, cab, AWD, 207 hrs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92,500 MCCORMICK X5.40 cab tractor, low hours . . . . . . . 60,000 TURBOMATIC 600 lt sprayer with side cannon . . . . 8,500 VICON fertilizer spreader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,500 WALLENSTEIN M130 manure spreader . . . . . . . . . 17,500 WN WL60T articulating loader 2018 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85,000Expect more. Get more!T7042 TelehandlersThe T7042 offers 7m lifting height with 4.2 t payload and is configurable with two powerful engine variants. The main focus of operational work tasks is heavy material handling, precise stacking work at great heights, good reach when pushing material, and permanent activities when filling systems. The Best View Cabin provides a guaranteed perfect all-round visibility.
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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 13Beekeepers keep the emphasis on local stockBorder, shipment woes make local bees a priorityServing the Okanagan and Fraser Valley We’ve been proudly family owned and operated since opening in 1976. And with two blending plants, we’re one of BC’s largest distributors of granular, liquid and foliar fertilizers. Our buying power and proximity to the Fraser Valley makes us the logical choice for truckload shipments. OKANAGAN FERTILIZER LTD 1-800-361-4600 or 250-838-6414TOM WALKER ABBOTSFORD -- The BC Honey Producers Association held its annual meeting and education days in Abbotsford, October 13-15. Over 200 beekeepers attended the hybrid event that streamed in-person sessions live to members further aeld. The conference theme “journey to health, growth and sustainability” t the current position of the industry, says BCHPA president Heather Higo. “As a member of the BCHPA board I am especially proud of the actions that we have been taking through our tech transfer team to address all three of these topics,” she says. “Our Tech Transfer Program lead Nuria Morn has developed a strong rapport with beekeepers and is supporting them to assess their colony health, to learn about queen-rearing and to visualize ways in which they can grow their business.” The annual business meeting included director and committee reports as well as an update from the provincial apiculturist and elections for rst and second vice-president and secretary. The education sessions on bee health discussed the latest treatments for varroa mites and diagnosing problems with queens. Sessions on being self-Offshore bees ureliant and diversifying your operation were aimed at those who are growing their business. Several speakers as well as a special roundtable focused on pollination services, with a special focus on work in blueberries. Higo gave a nod to the support Leonard Foster’s lab at UBC and Erika Plettner’s lab at SFU give the sector. “The benets of having research labs in our province working on bees extends far beyond the individual projects or questions answered,” Higo says. “The training and outreach from research labs become a huge ongoing benet to the beekeeping community.” Nationally, overwintering losses this spring were 45.5% of all colonies. Drought this spring and summer and a record wildre season had the potential to challenge honey production this year, but Higo says producers saw little impact. “Surprisingly, our bees YOURHelping YouHelping YouWEEKLY FARM NEWS UPDATESSignSign upup for for FREE todaFREE today.BC beekeepers want to see more local suppliers of honeybees to help them rebuild colonies each spring instead of having to rely on foreign sources. MYRNA STARK LEADERTRACTOR TIME VICTORIA 250.474.3301 4377C Metchosin Rd. 30 mins from Victoria and 15 mins from Hwy#1 in Metchosin.HANDLERS EQUIPMENTABBOTSFORD 604.850.3601 339 Sumas WayHOUSTON 250.845.3333 2990 Highway CrescentMORE Built-in WeightFinancing programs are subject to change at any time..Mahindra 2655
14 | NOVEMBER 2023 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCu Offshore bees an ongoing issue have generally fared quite well and honey production in many areas has not suered at all,” she says. But the issues weather created for other sectors did impact bees, Higo explains. “Some crops ripened very early and in some cases the heat caused owers to be too dessicated to be much of a nectar source for our bees, let alone produce any fruit,” she says. Import issues The perennial reliance on oshore stock to populate local hives remains problematic. Many beekeepers had pre-ordered queens from California. These were initially refused at the border due to technical issues with their certication, and although they eventually made it through, the delay aected production of beekeepers’ nucleus colonies. “It’s always a stressful time when you are relying on outside stock,” Higo says. “We hope eventually to be able to produce more stock, both queens and bees, in BC to ll more of that gap in supply.” The rst seven months of this year saw Canadian beekeepers import 58,000 kg of bees valued at $6,375,000 and 342,800 queens with a value of $15 million, notes Canadian Honey Council representative Stan Reist. “So if we are importing that amount of stock, there is lots of room for us to produce our own,” he says. On the honey trade, Reist says that Canada is both an exporter and an importer of honey. “Our imports are based on cheaper foreign honey that packers will blend with high-value Canadian honey to lower the price point in the grocery store.” Historically Japan has been the largest export market for Canadian honey at $25 million in 2021, followed by the US at $18 million. But Japanese packers have been testing our honey and imposing strict residue limits on quinclorac, a herbicide used to control cleavers, a weed on the Prairies. Canada lacks a maximum residue limit for quinclorac in honey, so Japan has established its own. It’s quite low, and has reduced imports. CHC estimates that the Japanese market may drop by 12 million to 16 million pounds. “Where is that honey going to go and what are people going to get paid for it?” Reist asks. Nationally, the value of honey production was down from a high of $278 million in 2021 to $253 million in 2022 and is set to fall further this year. This is due to a variety of issues, including the market price. The average price of honey in Canada is coming o a high of $3.25 a pound last year to something in the range of $2.30 to $2.45 a pound. “That’s an awfully large hit if you are producing thousands of pounds of honey,” Reist says. New pest pressure Adulterated honey continues to be a problem in the Canadian market including the rise of ‘vegan honey’ and ‘honey spreads’. The Canadian Honey Council is pursuing labelling requirements similar to those for maple syrup. “If it is not made by bees, you can’t put the word ‘honey’ on the label,” says Reist. A new pest has again made its way across the border into the Fraser Valley. Provincial apiarist Paul van Westendorp reports that there have been instances of small hive beetle detected in colonies. “In the last six weeks we have had reports from seven locations,” van Westendorp says. “You may recall that in 2016 we found small hive beetle for the rst time here in BC. We did extensive surveys, but it eventually petered out.” There were sightings again in 2018, van Westendorp says, but none since. “Perhaps it is weather-related, but American beekeepers who are renting their hives to Canadian blueberry growers for pollination have literally placed their hives three feet from the border along 0 Avenue,” he says. “It is well known that many of these colonies come from almond pollination work in California and may be carrying the small hive beetle.” This pest could create a very ugly scene in BC colonies, says van Westendorp. SHB can destroy honeycomb and contaminate the honey, causing it to ferment and become “slime.” “Luckily, in six of the seven cases, we have only found adults not brood (larvae), which are what causes the damage,” he says. All clubs across the valley and all commercial beekeepers in BC as well as Alberta have been notied of the risk of this federally reportable pest when bringing bees to the Fraser Valley, van Westendorp notes. If the beetle survives the winter, beekeepers can expect restrictions as colonies become active in the spring. “We are arranging for surveys and more sta to help with inspections of aected and adjacent apiaries,” van Westendorp says. “If we do nd positives there may be movement restrictions and quarantines of apiaries. The Prairie provinces may impose restrictions on wintering bees returning and the sale of bees would be prohibited until the quarantine is lifted.” Several speakers, including president Heather Higo, urged van Westendorp to initiate a widespread notication to all beekeepers either through the provincial bee colony registration or Premises ID. “I was one of the people who found small hive beetle in my colonies,” Higo says. “While I am condent that I have gotten rid of it because I am very diligent, there are three other beekeepers on my street and they had no idea to be on the lookout until I told them.” ABBOTSFORD1-888-283-3276VERNON1-800-551-6411Excellence Without Compromise: Your Expectation, Our Commitment. Trust Avenue Machinery for Authentic AGCO Parts.
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 15Pollination blues discussed by beekeepersHive losses outweigh benefits of blueberry workResearchers are working to gure out how bees and blueberries can coexist for mutual benet. FILEExtreme High DigestibilityHigh Disease ResistanceBranch & Tap RootedPerforms in Heavier SoilsRapid Re-GrowthVery High QualityExtreme High DigestibilityHigh Disease ResistanceBranch & Tap RootedPerforms in Heavier SoilsRapid Re-GrowthVery High Quality1.800.282.7856 terraseco.comTerra Seed Corp Tap Root with Branch RootProudly certifying Producers and Processorswithin BC and Alberta.FVOPA provides year round certification services compliant with the Canadian Organic Standards (CAN/CGSB) and in accordance with the BC Certified Organic ISO 17065 recognized program. Products may be sold Canada-wide and in international markets. FVOPA ensures an efficient, professional certification process for all farm, processing and handling operations. Inspectors are lOlA trained and qualified making FVOPA a leading Certification Agency.Message 604-607-1655Email: admin@fvopa.cawww.fvopa.caPhone 604-789-7586P.O. Box 18591Delta, BC V4K 4V7Phone: 778-434-3070 202-4841 Delta Street admin@fvopa.ca Delta, BC V4K 2T9 www.fvopa.ca Proudly certifying Organic Operators across Canada Fraser Valley Organic Producers Association (FVOPA) offers organic certication services for producers, processors, packaging and labelling contractors, distributors, and various organic service providers. We pride ourselves on exceptional customer service and we welcome new members year-round. FVOPA certies to the Canadian Organic Standards and to the Canada Organic Regime (COR). Certied products may bear the Canada Organic logo and be marketed Canada-wide and internationally. TOM WALKER ABBOTSFORD – Pollination of blueberries by commercial beekeepers is a classic catch-22 situation. Blueberries are the rst commercial crop to ower in the Lower Mainland, giving bees an opportunity to forage and build strength at the start of the season. Beekeepers also benet, earning around $200 a hive over the ve to seven weeks colonies are in elds. But there’s a catch – bee health often suers after the insects visit a blueberry eld. Many beekeepers avoid this work as a result, despite the early-season income it oers. “You have to deliver them at night, often in narrow wet alleyways between the rows and you are constantly worrying about their health,” says Peter Awarm, a Chilliwack beekeeper who says he didn’t make money in blueberry pollination this year. “I can nd other sources of income that may not be as protable but are less of a cost to my operation.” Researchers in blueberry-growing locations have been studying this dilemma for a number of years, and past BC Honey Producers Association education days have heard presentations on the topic. Awram was among the speakers at an all-day forum the association hosted October 15 that discussed ways to improve the situation for both groups. Blueberries are BC’s most valuable fruit crop, with exports of $238.3 million a year. Eective pollination by bees is key to better seed set, larger and therefore more valuable fruit and higher yields. BC Blueberry Council research shows that without pollination, high-bush blueberry yields in BC fall short by 30% to 50%. But if blueberries need bees, bees don’t always benet from blueberries. Awram says he sustained signicant losses from disease after his work in blueberries this year. “I had 700 hives that were infected with EFB (European Foul Brood) and I lost 60-70 pounds of honey from each hive,” he says. European Foul Brood, a larval disease, is often found in colonies after they have been in blueberry pollination. However, EFB is also found in colonies that have not been in blueberries. “It’s a very mysterious disease,” says Dr. Sarah Wood, University of Saskatchewan Pollinator Health Research Chair at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and is working with BC blueberry growers. “Highly virulent strains of EFB can be found in both blueberry pollinating and non-blueberry pollinating colonies,” Wood says. Blueberry pollen has a lower food value for bees than many other sources, but this isn’t considered a factor. “The blueberry pollen diet does not predispose bees to increased incidence of EFB,” she explains. Commercial production of blueberries requires a number of chemical inputs and exposure to fungicides and insecticides may have an impact on bee health. But research has shown it would take a lot to knock a bee down. “Exposure to one, two or three fungicides does not increase the incidence of EFB,” says Wood. “It takes four to decrease survival and it would be highly unlikely that a bee would be exposed to these concentrations simultaneously.” Wood adds that there is no established correlation between the strength of a colony going into blueberry elds and prevalence of EFB. “In a study I recently completed in the Fraser Valley, the strongest colonies going into blueberry pollination had the highest incidence of EFB coming out,” she notes. However, colony strength can be quantied in a number of ways and Wood says further research is needed. “We need to evaluate the eect of nurse bee-to-brood ratio to determine whether bees are strong enough entering the pollination period for blueberries,” Wood says. Provincial apiarist Paul van Westendorp, who chaired the forum, proposed a pollination model that he described as similar to strategies in place for almond production in California and hybrid canola in Alberta. “I am suggesting we adopt a more organized approach,” he says. “The idea is that both blueberry growers and beekeepers meet in the fall to negotiate conditions and pricing, and there is some independent inspection of the strength of colonies going into the elds.” Awarm says he supports the idea of the two groups meeting. “We need to talk,” he says. “After all, we are both farmers.”
16 | NOVEMBER 2023 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCApple crop down, but quality upFires, condensed season among challengesWhat this year’s apple harvest loses in quantity makes up in quality. Warm fall days with cool nights have added colour to this year’s crop MYRNA STARK LEADERBC Fruit Growers’ AssociationRepresenting Fruit Growers With Active Involvement In:Representing Growers Since 1889U Fruit and Vegetable Growers Canada (formerly CHC) - and 5 sub-committeesU FVGC Apple Working GroupU Canadian Federation of AgricultureU BC Agriculture Council (founding member)U Western Agriculture Labour Initiative (founding member)U Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC (founding member)U Okanagan Water Stewardship Council U SIRU Starling Control CommitteeU Tree Fruit Industry Stabilization Plan and 6 sub-committeesU Tree Fruit Production Insurance Advisory CommitteeU Business Risk Management Advisory Committee1.800.619.9022 info@bcfga.com w ww.bcfga.com KATE AYERS KELOWNA – BC’s apple harvest is slowly winding down, with estimates pointing to high quality but below-average volume. This year’s production is on track to be off 15% from the five-year average, thanks to a 5% decline in acreage as well as a late start to the season and the impact of last winter’s extreme cold. This could put the crop at for 78,435 tons. The growing season in the Okanagan started about two weeks later than usual, says BC Fruit Growers Association general manager Glen Lucas. In addition to extreme cold in November and December, orchards in Keremeos also suffered hail damage midway through the season. High spring temperatures affected yields in some varieties, too. “It was way too warm at 30°C,” says Mani Gill of Gill Family Orchards in Kelowna. “A lot of the blooms just dried up and the fruit didn’t get pollinated properly.” Gill grows Gala, Ambrosia, Spartan, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp and Red Delicious varieties. BCFGA initially anticipated a normal harvest this year, which is the case for some growers. Yield depends on location. Some producers are dealing with significantly lower production, while others are within normal range. “It’s quite variable between varieties, between locations in the valley, within orchards,” Lucas says, noting that even individual trees have checked production. “It’s quite a variable year.” At Gill’s operation, yields vary block by block. “The Granny crop looks good; overall, everything looks good,” he says. “The Ambrosia is probably the one that got hit the hardest. The tonnage looks like it’s lower than previous years.” Some farmers in Vernon have suffered complete losses on their Ambrosia trees, he adds. Despite the lower yields, in some areas, quality seems to be decent. Lucas predicts an “outstanding” year for colour, and he has not heard of any quality issues due to low light, pests or disease. “Quality is great,” Gill confirms. “We’ve had awesome weather in September – nice warm days and cool nights, so that’s helped a lot with the colour and sugars in the apples.” Lake Country’s Rose Hill Orchard also saw a slightly lighter but beautiful crop this year. “Our crop is probably a little bit on the lighter side, but we still had pretty good fruit,” says owner Angelique Slade Shantz. Rose Hill grows about 20 varieties of apples on 10.4 acres, including Gala, McIntosh, Spartan, Mutsu, Elstar and Ambrosia. “Honeycrisp, I’d say, were a little bit on the small side, but in general we're really happy with our apple quality this year,” Slade Shantz says. “The Royal Galas were a little on the light side, so we didn't have a ton, but the quality was very good.” Fewer pests Richard King of Bite Me Organics Farm in Kelowna saw one of his largest crops ever, thanks in part to young trees coming into production, larger apple size and fewer pests. “We had a lot less aphids, which is a problem that organic growers have,” King says. “There really is no effective control for them if they get away. Last year, 20% of the fruit was no good because of aphid damage and this year it is completely negligible.” Aphids tend to thrive in cool springs, so King suspects May’s warm weather staved off an infestation. King has also seen decent quality in his varieties, after what he describes as “pretty discouraging” results last year. “The quality of this year is really good. The flavour is great. … There are not very many defects, and the size is good,” he says. “It's been a much more satisfying year this year for us in terms of the quality and volume of fruit.” Growers faced challenges beyond the weather that affected their businesses this year. Visitation was down at Rose Hill Orchard in late August after the province restricted tourism during its wildfire response. “We were very fortunate we didn't have to evacuate,” says Slade Shantz. “[But] when the province asked the tourists to go home … it certainly had a huge negative impact on our business.” Between 700 and 1,000 people at Rose Hill’s third annual family fall festival helped offset some of the declines, however. Don’t forget to RENEW your subscription toCountryLife in BCn’t forget toRENEWur subscription toguntrye BC
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 17KPU is working in collaboration with nine partners to produce high-quality strawberries and blackberries out of season using cost-effective strategies with small carbon footprints. JAY SHAW 25.61 Acre Blueberry Farm | $2,150,000 17.74 Acre Farm | $2,100,000595 Acre Active Ranch | $3,800,000 34.8 Acre Cranberry Farm | $3,750,0004184 Humphrey Rd, Agassiz, BC8230 Upper Prairie Rd, Chilliwack, BC 5770 Spring Lake Rd, 100 Mile, BC 8450 Gibson Rd, Chilliwack, BCLEADER IN AGRICULTURAL SALES IN THE FRASER VALLEY WITH OVER 30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE4323 Humphrey Rd, Agassiz, BC 92.95 Acre Blueberry Farm | $5,575,000T 604 793 8138 | bryanvanhoepen.com |SOLD$3,500,000KATE AYERS LANGLEY – Researchers at Kwantlen Polytechnic University hope to advance year-round berry production in BC with help from a $1 million award from the Weston Family Foundation. Through the Homegrown Innovation Challenge, KPU’s Institute for Sustainable Horticulture will develop and demonstrate a small-scale proof-of-concept greenhouse over the next 18 months that presents a market-ready system that can reliably, sustainably and competitively produce out-of-season berries in Canada. “We realized during the pandemic that the supply chain wasn't always necessarily going to bring us what we needed, and we also couldn't get labour necessarily when we needed it,” says institute director and Innovate BC regional innovation chair Deborah Henderson. The Weston Family Foundation responded by launching a competition inviting researchers to develop systems that can sustainably produce berries year-round. KPU was one of 11 candidates that advanced to the second round of the challenge out of over 60 applications from across Canada. The team will focus on strawberry and blackberry production. To meet this challenge, researchers considered greenhouses, vertical farms, controlled-environment agriculture systems and opted for greenhouses because of the expansive existing infrastructure across Canada, including vacant cannabis greenhouses after industry contraction, Henderson says. “We thought, let's build on what we have,” she says. “It certainly is not a solution for the far north, but it's a solution for probably 80% to 90% of the Canadian population.” Two of the biggest expenses and challenges greenhouse growers face are energy and labour, which together make domestically grown berries non-competitive during the winter in Canada next to imported berries that can sell for as little as $1.75 a pound. “Some growers are trying to grow strawberries in a nancially sustainable way year-round in Ontario, and some have been successful in extending the season using greenhouses in BC, but the challenges are still the high costs of energy and labour,” KPU pursues year-round berry productionResearchers awarded $1 million Henderson says. “These berries have to compete with imports and the market price is set by the imports.” Currently, most greenhouse growers don’t have growing lights, which limits winter production, says BC Greenhouse Growers’ Association executive director Linda Delli Santi. “If it’s year-round, it has to be a lit greenhouse and there are kind of limitations to that in the sense of available electricity,” she says. “Very few of my members have lights.” In addition, electricity costs are high and rates are complex. By contrast, Ontario and Quebec have more year-round greenhouse production Research u
18 | NOVEMBER 2023 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCu Research will determine which technology offers best return of investmentCode of Practice for Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM Code) Updated Nutrient Management Plan Requirements You will need an NMP for the spring 2024 growing season if you are operating in any of the 21 vulnerable aquifer recharge areas identified in the AEM Code and you: apply nutrients (i.e., manure or fertilizers) to your land, and have a post-harvest nitrate soil test result of 100 kg N/ha (89 lb N/ac) or more, and you meet any of the following: • have a livestock or poultry operation with a total agricultural land base of five hectares or more; • have a horticulture operation of 30 hectares or more; or • your agricultural operation (poultry, livestock, or horticulture) is in the Hullcar Aquifers high-risk area and you have an agricultural land base of five hectares or more.As of July 15, 2023, five more vulnerable aquifer recharge areas are being phased-in for nutrient management plan (NMP) requirements: Cranbrook, Creston, Montrose, Nakusp and Williams Lake. In addition, horticulture operations of 30 hectares or more are now included as a type of agricultural operation that may need to develop an NMP. For more information and to find out if you are in a vulnerable aquifer recharge area, visit: gov.bc.ca/Agricultural-Environmental-Management or contact AEMCoPenquiries@gov.bc.ca.Additional information on NMPs and soil testing can be found at: gov.bc.ca/NutrientManagementthan BC because the growers in those provinces have specic electricity rates from their providers for use in food production. “We would like to see something like that to really embrace the use of lights in greenhouses,” Delli Santi says. “Production under lights adds value because it keeps your product in the grocery store.” Henderson says researchers hope to future-proof greenhouses using AI-driven robots, clean energy storage, lasers, dynamic LED lights and optical sensors to reduce pesticide use, manage diseases and improve greenhouse eciency. Biofertilizers will also be examined to reduce carbon inputs. Plant health is a project priority. Micro-sensor technology from Vivent SA in Switzerland can monitor and manage the microclimate around plants to optimize conditions and productivity. Ecoation Innovative Solutions, a North Vancouver company, is designing berry crop monitoring modules for its robotic camera-based, machine learning and AI pest and disease forecasting platform. Year-round fruit production is an objective for Saskatoon-based Star Group, which is supporting the project by providing a commercial growing site in Delta for some of the team’s trials, Henderson says. The work has fueled its interest in building a new greenhouse with all the technologies in KPU’s own research greenhouse, which would make year-round production more viable. Alternatively, growers could opt to upgrade select components to take their operations to a higher level of production and sustainability. KPU research partner Argus Control Systems is working on a model to assist existing growers determine which technologies will give them the greatest return on investment. “The entry points can be anywhere along the scale,” Henderson says. Overall, technological advancements in the greenhouse sector are moving fast and the Weston Family Foundation’s challenge has only quickened the pace. “There are 11 teams across Canada who are working on this problem right now, which is kind of unprecedented,” Henderson says. Those chosen are all working towards out-of- eason and at-scale berry production in Canada. This local research has value, Delli Santi says. “We adopt a lot of research out of the Netherlands,” she says. “... But there are regional dierences between the Lower Mainland of British Columbia and the Netherlands … so you have to tweak it.” Henderson hopes technological advancements will attract a new generation of worker to the industry. “I think it’s going to be very attractive to young people because ... physical agricultural labour is not, and this is why we import so much labour,” she says. “The jobs of the future are going to be managing the technology, which is probably going to be much more attractive.” A collaboration and networking day has been scheduled for December in Toronto. It will see four new teams formed that will move on to the last scale-up stage. The top four grantee teams will each be awarded $5 million across three years to build and demonstrate their system at farm scale in Canada and prove that the fruit and production methods meet set criteria. This phase will start in early 2025 and the foundation would like to have working models available by 2029. KPU researchers Deborah Henderson, left, and Li Ma, right, are working towards year-round berry production using state-of-the-art technologies. JAY SHAW
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 19Calves moving through the BC Livestock auction ring in Kamloops have been fetching record prices this fall, often exceeding $4 a pound. This is fuelling a reduction in replacement heifers that will leave the BC beef herd at least 20% smaller next year. BC LIVESTOCK BCHA President John Lewis 250-218-2537 BCHA Secretary Janice Tapp 250-699-6466 www.bchereford.ca Greenhouse Ground CoverGreenhouse FilmProtection NetsMulch Film Landscaping FabricsShade Nets Bale WrapsBunker CoversSilage BagsTwine & Net WrapsHay TarpsForage & Grain Seed1.800.663.6022office@silagrow.com5121 - 46 Ave S.E. Salmon Arm, BCPick Up & Delivery Only 112-18860 24 Ave. Surrey, BCVisit our website for informative content and detailedproduct descriptions.silagrow.comRecord sale volumes shrink BC beef herd KATE AYERS DAWSON CREEK – October cattle sales at BC Livestock Producers Co-op yards in Kamloops, Williams Lake and Vanderhoof have seen record volumes this fall, along with strong prices. “It's been absolutely unbelievable,” says Dawson Creek producer and BC Breeder and Feeder Association director Connie Patterson, who represents the Peace region. “There are a lot of people that are selling these cattle because of just not having enough feed and their dugouts are low.” The Kamloops sale on October 3 saw 1,380 head go through, almost double what the same sale saw last year. A week later, 1,500 head moved through followed by 1,350 head on October 17. The co-op expected to see another 1,700 head hit the sale ring on October 24. The Williams Lake calf sale on October 5 saw 2,400 calves hit the sale ring. Over 2,500 head of cattle were sold on October 6 in Vanderhoof, followed by 1,665 calves in a special sale October 13 and 563 head in the regular sale that followed. The fall cattle run began six weeks earlier than normal, but sale numbers haven’t really slowed down since February 2022, says Patterson, speaking from her oce at the Vold, Jones and Vold Auction Mart in Dawson Creek . “Anywhere between 500 and 900 cows are going through in a week,” Patterson says. High cattle prices are a motivator in a sector with tight margins. In addition, in August the federal government designated the Peace and dozens of other areas in BC eligible for the livestock tax deferral provision, which allows producers who sell at least 15% of their breeding herds due to extreme weather to defer a portion of sale proceeds to the following tax year when stock purchases may oset the income. “We sold two cull cows from our ranch in about the middle of August. One weighed 1,670 lbs and one weighed 1,650 lbs and we got $1.40 a pound for those,” Patterson says. The prices haven’t moved much since late summer, with most animals selling in the $1.30 to $1.38 per pound range, Patterson says. This compares to $0.08 per pound during the BSE crisis 20 years ago. “Last year, we were in the $1.20 range for the high end of the good slaughter cows,” Patterson says. “And now we’re almost $0.20 higher.” Prices have remained especially strong for cows and bulls due to strong consumer demand. “They're butchering them right o the bat,” she says. “The minute those cows get to the packing plants, they don't have a backlog. They're waiting for those cows to come to start butchering.” But prices aren’t the only motivator for producers. Many don’t have enough feed to get their herds through the winter, and demand for what is available has pushed up prices. “The feed is exorbitant. It's unbelievable. I don't think it matters where you go,” Patterson says. “A lot of our feed that normally ships out here down south to the dairies, that's hardly gone at all. We’ve bought all that feed and kept it home.” Patterson hopes this winter brings mild weather so animals won’t need as much energy to keep warm, and in turn burn through feed supplies faster. “As long as we don't have too many days of 40 below weather, we will be okay,” she says. “We're feeding a lot of pea, wheat, barley and oat straw and we're using molasses to go with that … because we're so short on hay.” The feed shortage has been a key driver of calf sales, and Patterson expects the BC herd will be at least 20% smaller going into 2024. “Normally we have people sell their steers and maybe the bottom end of their heifers and then keep the top end of their heifers and then sell them in February, March or keep them and put them on grass,” she says. “But that's not going to happen.” On her ranch, her family usually maintains a herd of 125 mother cows to have 125 calves on grass in the spring. This year, they’ve reduced their numbers to 90 head and didn’t keep any replacement heifers. Indeed, ranchers are making deeper cuts to their herds to be able to sustain their core breeding herd. “We’re out of pasture, so guys are looking to move the cattle through and get them into the feedlots as soon as they can, those market animals,” says BC Cattlemen’s Association general manager Kevin Boon. “Normally we would end up with a 10% to 15% reduction for replacement into the herd. This year we are upwards of 20% to 25%. … It’s one less mouth to feed and it will be easier for them to make it through and sustain the herd that they can.” Sale activity “absolutely unbelievable,” say producers
20 | NOVEMBER 2023 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCGrizzly mitigation strategy in the worksElectric fences must be up to spec, expert saysBearing up: Dairy producers Bryan Terpstra (left) and father Randy Terpstra of Wiebetter Holsteins in Creston stand with Gillian Sanders (centre) of Grizzly Bear Coexistence Solutions against an electric fencing system supplied by Jeff Marley of Margo Supplies with encouragement from the BC Ministry of Forests, represented by Sean O'Donovan (far right). SUBMITTEDHave you herd? VBP+ TrainingWorkshops or Webinarsare Free!Looking to learn moreabout how to raisehealthy beef cattle?Open to producers of allsizes!free to all beef producersin bc!email: audreycifca@gmail.com395 Kinchant Street, Quesnel, B.C. V2J 5A3Producers can apply for an advance on calves, yearlings, lambs, bison, forage and grain up to $1,000,000.00 with the rst $350,000.00 being interest free. Plus, interest relief through the Advance Payments Program is available to association members on their feeder cattle purchases.KATE AYERS CRESTON – Grizzly bears are no strangers to the Kootenays, and producers are no strangers to the damage they can cause to crops and infrastructure. “Bears around here are quite the problem, damaging corn and getting into storage sheds and ripping apart feed bags,” says dairy producer Randy Terpstra of Wiebetter Holsteins in Creston. After raising the issue for several years with conservation ocers, Terpstra coordinated with the BC Ministry of Forests’ sh and wildlife branch and local non-prot Grizzly Bear Coexistence Solutions to seek non-lethal mitigation strategies. The cost-shared program resulted in the recent installation of electric fencing around Terpstra’s dairy barn. “At my place the [fence] isn’t going up because they’re getting at the cows,” Terpstra says. “But [the branch is] worried that eventually the bears will get brave enough and try.” This could lead to an unexpected encounter in the barn, which the grizzly bear would most likely win. The pilot project at Terpstra’s farm is to try and keep bears outside of the farmyard entirely, says Grizzly Bear Coexistence Solutions founder and coordinator Gillian Sanders. “Every dairy I have been to in the province has deadstock available year-round. There is stored grain and brew mash and silage, all of which bears love to eat. And all of that is unsecured,” Sanders says. “With respect to the deadstock issue, we are talking about North America’s largest scavenger. And quite frankly, this is the role that grizzly bears play on the landscape. Part of their biological function is to clean up carcass material.” While the bears haven’t yet bothered Terpstra’s cattle, they have wrought havoc in his corn elds. He suspects there are a half-dozen bears on his back 50 acres. “If they get going in the middle of your eld, they can have a hay day,” he says. “Those cobs are fully ripe, and they just hunker down and munch away on that corn.” Ripe corn cobs present a tasty and convenient meal for bears before harvest, but bears have become prevalent from early spring after they emerge from the den right through to late fall. “Once the bears come out of hibernation, they start getting into our feed and being a bit of a pain. As soon as they wake up, they’re out prowling,” Terpstra says. That availability of food could increase the amount of time bears are active because they have access, Sanders says. The cause of increased grizzly sightings across the province this year could be due to a variety of factors, Sanders says. Wild berries were in short supply due to weather conditions, and bears go where the food is. However, electric fencing is an eective deterrent if correctly designed and maintained. “Electric fencing unto itself doesn’t equal a bear fence,” says Sanders, who has worked with producers for 15 years. “There are certain specs; the bear has to make contact with a hot wire where it’s going to learn its lesson to be deterred from that fence. You could have 20,000 volts in a wire, and that wire could just slide along the thick fur of the bear’s back, not reach the skin, not deliver a shock and not deter the animal.” A fence should make coexistence with grizzlies relatively simple, Sanders says. but producers need to be willing to put in the eort and nancial support would also help. The BC Ministry of Forests drafted a stewardship framework earlier this year to “improve conservation eorts and identify knowledge gaps” of grizzly bears. The public consultation period closed October 31 and a nal version of the framework should be released by year’s end. In the Kootenays at least, grizzlies aren’t endangered, they’re dangerous, Terpstra says. If producers have questions about bear fencing and coexistence strategies, they are encouraged to reach out to Sanders at [grizzlybear solutions@gmail.com].
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 21Boom time: Doug Riehl, left, stands with fellow corn judges in Creston, where forage crops performed well despite the dry summer. MCM Holsteins tipped the scales this year with 31 pounds of cobs, taking home the George Kepke Memorial Trophy. RACHAEL ROUSSINMatsqui Ag-RepairAbbotsfordNorthline EquipmentPouce CoupeHuber Farm EquipmentPrince GeorgeTHE HAY AND FORAGE TOOL SPECIALISTSHarvesting high-quality hay and forage is the focus of KUHN's hay tool innovation. Our commitment is to help yougain a maximum return on investment by providing products known for performance, reliability, and longevity.THE MOST COMPLETE HAY LINE | Cut • Dry • HarvestSave time, money and preserve hay quality with KUHN. Mower Conditioners Mergers Rotary Rakes Wheel Rakes Tedders Wrappers MowersVisit your local KUHN Hay & Forage dealer today!Invest in Quality®www.kuhn.comKATE AYERS CRESTON – The annual Corn Daze in Creston is an opportunity for local producers to connect, honour tradition and celebrate their year-long eorts. This year’s event, hosted by Randy Terpstra and his family at Wiebetter Holsteins on September 13, attracted about 50 producers. “It was well attended, and it was a nice day, too, so that helped. But people were anxious to get out of there and start chopping their corn,” says beef producer and corn judge Doug Riehl. Despite a dry summer, corn and other forages in the Creston Valley fared quite well and producers were generally happy with yields, especially Mark and Shannon Kostering of MCM Holsteins, this year’s winner of the George Kepke Memorial Trophy. Since its creation in 1995, the trophy has been awarded to a local farm with the most impressive corn crop. “It's cool … with a little [bit of] bragging rights,” says Mark Kostering. The Kosterings moved their farm from Chilliwack to Creston about three years ago due to high land prices in the Fraser Valley. The family now milks 200 head and grows alfalfa, barley, grain and corn. The Kosterings won the award despite a dry summer and extensive elk and grizzly damage, checking in with 31 pounds of cobs – well in excess of the standard 24-26 pounds. Judges Riehl, Bernie Meeks, Je Nimmo and Robin Edge-Partington measured the yield, height and weight of corn plants in a 43.5-square-foot area in each of 13 elds. They borrowed a boom truck from a local butcher to weigh the crops’ biomass and cobs separately. Kootenay forage corn fared well despite dry conditions. Creston, which is in the West Kootenay Basin, was rated Level 4 on the province’s six-level drought scale for much of the summer. “[We had] some early rains and a lot of guys got it in early and if you didn’t get it in early then you were kind of waiting for the rain to nish,” Riehl says. “But either way there was enough moisture.” On June 1, the area was still rated at Level 1. Two-thirds of dairies in the area irrigate, Terpstra says, but timely rains meant most corn elds did well this year. “We actually did quite well that way for moisture. So, the crops are good,” he says. Yet the annual Corn Daze winner often does not irrigate, Riehl says. Corn’s ability to thrive in the area makes it a solid hedge against drought and feed shortages. “About two years ago, there was a terrible drought, and I was just shocked that year how well the corn did because one of my [legume forage] elds was down to like 55% of usual,” he says. “And the corn, it looked just as strong as anything else. I’m a beef producer and used to be a dairy producer and I said I [must] get back into the corn just to sort of buer my feed supply because if you go through a drought … and the corn is still 90% to 100%, Creston field day offers ‘bragging rights’Corn yields decent despite dry conditions Corn u
22 | NOVEMBER 2023 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCu CornMarketing British Columbia to the World®www.landquest.comToll Free 1-866-558-LAND (5263)“The Source” for Oceanfront, Lakefront, Islands, Ranches, Resorts & Land in BC®Visit our WebsiteTHERE’S (POSSIBLY) GOLD AT THIS ACREAGE ON THE SEA-TO-SKY HIGHWAY!CHEZACUT RANCH AND BIG GAME OUTFITTER TERRITORY 105 ACRES OF NATURAL SERENITY YEAR-ROUND CREEK! GREENWOOD, BCDEVELOPMENT ACREAGE BORDERING CALGARY, AB - ROCKY VIEW COUNTYONLY PROPERTY ON THE LAKENORTH CARIBOO, BCALBERTA DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITYLAKEFRONT ACREAGE AND CUSTOM BUILT LOG HOME - CANIM LAKE, BC78 ACRE ESTATE: LUXURY LIVING MEETS NATURE’S EMBRACE - PRINCE GEORGE, BCJust one hour north of Pemberton on Highway 99 sits this fully treed acreage at a bend in Cayoosh Creek. There are only 8 private parcels from Mount Currie to Lillooet on the water frontage and spans both side of the road. $519,000private hydro power system. 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With a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts. $1,189,000SAM HODSON 604-809-2616 Personal Real Estate Corporationsam@landquest.comJAMIE ZROBACK 1-604-483-1605 JASON ZROBACK 1-604-414-5577 BC LANDPRO GROUPyou're kind of padding your risk.” Just over an inch and a half of rain on August 22 brought a few grass and legume forage crops back to life that previously looked sparse. “Second cut was pretty poor. It was down,” Riehl says. “The third cut in a lot of places actually is better than second cut.” On October 5, Riehl was baling third-cut silage, which was yielding well after about four inches of rain between August 22 and September 5. Terpstra has between 15% and 20% more silage crop, or 500 extra tons, this year compared to last season. Some of that increase is attributed to slightly more planted acreage, but it was mostly just a better yielding crop, Terpstra says. As of October 11, most of the silage corn was harvested in the Creston area, with a bit of grain corn and fourth cuts of alfalfa harvest wrapping up imminently. Overall, the Corn Daze event is a meaningful day for producers, Riehl says. “Farmers are often workaholics,” he says, “so if you can lure them out for a corn roast and some food and fellowship, kind of look at each other's places and crops, it's an uplifting experience.” Since 1995, the farm with the best corn crop in the Creston Valley has received the George Kepke Memorial Trophy. George and his brother Donald did everything together growing up, says George’s son and beef producer Ken Kepke. “They lost their father at a young age,” he says. “And they were always interested in farming.” For years, the brothers worked as millwrights at Creston’s Huscroft Sawmill but always dreamed of farming. In the winter of 1974, that dream became a reality when a local dairy farmer was looking to downsize his operation and oered the cows and quota to the Kepkes. The brothers, along with help from their families, built the barns and milking parlour themselves for an initial milking herd of 60. “Us kids were in our early teens – I think I was 13 years old then – and we worked right alongside them that whole summer, building enough of a barn to have a three-side opening milking parlour,” Kepke says. “On August 1, 1975, the cows came and the milk tank was in and ready to go and they started milking.” The brothers didn’t have a huge land base, but hay sales got them through for a bit and then they started watching what other farmers in the area were doing for feed crops. “They realized that ... we can grow a lot of tonnage of corn on a small acreage here. That's how they got into the corn, and they just had a ton of help from all the other dairy farmers in the valley,” Kepke says. Regardless of how good the corn was in a year, George and Don always strived for an even better crop the next, Kepke says. George passed away of a heart attack while milking cows on September 11, 1995. “We were in the milking parlour talking about the corn tour that was coming up and talking about corn harvest,” Kepke says. “It was a big deal for us every year to do the corn tour because you can see what the other guys are doing, and it was a really good time.” George always looked forward to the local eld day, so Kepke and his wife Lori sponsored a memorial trophy. Don passed away this spring of cancer, so this year’s award was a bit dierent than in the past. “It's now a memorial to all the guys, you know, all the farmers, all the old-timers that grew corn here and helped each other out in any way they could,” Kepke says. “It's more of a memorial for everybody who’s come and gone and farmed in the valley in the dairy community.” —Kate AyersGeorge Kepke Memorial Trophy honours farming history The 2023 George Kepke Memorial Trophy was awarded to Mark Kostering. JIM NIMMO
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 23Erickson farm owner Evan Davies speaking to visitors about his hazelnut trees, most of which are over 20 feet high seven years after planting. BRIAN LAWRENCEBRIAN LAWRENCE ERICKSON – Hazelnut production was the focus of a eld day Kootenay and Boundary Farm Advisors organized September 30 at two Creston Valley farms. Led by BC Hazelnut Growers Association president Zachary Fleming, approximately 15 participants from around the Kootenays saw both a edgling planting barely two years old and an established farm in production for several years. Fleming owns Pacic Coast Agriculture, which started growing hazelnut trees on 40 acres in Chilliwack in 2018. Pacic Coast began selling bare-root stock from its nursery in 2021. As a grower, the past ve years have been “a very fast learning curve” for Fleming; as an eater, they’re nothing new. “I grew up with them in my backyard,” says Fleming. “Everybody had hazelnuts.” The nuts were introduced to BC from Europe in the 1920s. Commercial hazelnut growing began in the 1950s and 1960s, with about 80% of production located in the Fraser Valley. But the hazelnut industry could have a future in the Creston Valley. The newer trees at Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery in Erickson are promising. Guests toured a four-acre section that owners Wes Johnson and Myran Hagenfeldt found wasn’t suitable for grapes. “This slope was not good for grapes,” says Johnson. “It holds the frost.” Passing beautiful old hazelnut orchards during a visit to Oregon, the couple were impressed. “[They] were amazing,” he recalls. Inspiration struck, and in 2021 they planted 435 hazelnut trees with support from the BC Hazelnut Replant Program, which covered about half of the trees’ cost of $11. Fleming said the program, now part of the Perennial Crop Replant Program, oers a good incentive to small producers wanting to diversify their crops, or processors wanting to develop a value-added product. It also osets the cost of replacing older trees with newer cultivars that are more resistant to Eastern Filbert Blight and other diseases. Both goals are the result of a severe decline in BC’s hazelnut industry, which was devastated by EFB in the early 2000s. To combat the blight, orchards in Oregon were replanted with disease-resistant cultivars from the Oregon State University breeding program. For ve decades, the program has selectively bred trees and then distributed them to growers and retailers, including Fleming. Hazelnut demand growing uHazelnuts are an opportunity for Kootenay growersErickson growers showcase the development of their treesYou shouldn’t have to worry about the longevity of your fence and wood infrastructure. 250.295.7911 TF 1 877.797.7678 bill@pwppost.com www.pwppost.com 1821 Crowsnest Hwy. Princeton, BC V0X 1W0 PWPFor over 50 years Princeton Wood Preservers has provided top quality fencing products for all types of farm and agriculture applications. fence postspoles grapevine stakestree stakestrellisingdoweled post & rail fencingrewoodThe PWP treatment process achieves a far superior penetration and retention quality than our competition. Increasing the lifespan of vineyard, orchard and fence line posts and poles to 2-3 times longer, saving you measurable replacement time and costs. Treating is wood-species dependant. Sapwood is the living softer outer layer of the tree and the heartwood is the dense inner core.Wood is a food source for bugs and fungus, so the sapwood layer must draw and retain the treatment process to meet quality standards.You can see on the PWP samples, our process penetrated and retained in the sapwood layer and the heartwood is untreated as it should be. Unlike our competitors product showing very little treatment penetration or retention.Preferred Supplier for British Columbia Ministries and Parks Canada.Our Competitor’s Product.Bill Everi“ You shouldn’t have to worry about your treated wood infrastructure.”Black CreekAsk For Us By Name PWP Premium & PWP Select at the following trusted dealers.
24 | NOVEMBER 2023 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCSave water, save energy, save labor and do a better job of irrigating. NELSONIRRIGATION.COM Automatically change the arc of throw on traveling Big Gun® sprinklers. Low pressure R2000FX Rotator® has unparalleled radius of throw. Maximize radius and uniformity with the R3030 Pivot Rotator®. R2000FXROTATOR®R3030ROTATOR®SR150 BIG GUN®ARC TIMERIRRIGATION TECHNOLOGY50 YEARSFIELD-PROVEN CONTACT YOUR LOCAL NELSON DEALER TODAY!BC’s average harvest peaked in 2006-2010 at more than a million pounds. It dropped to a low of 40,000 pounds as infected trees were removed and growers left the sector, but the replant program has supported a rebound. Between 2018 and 2023, 7,315 trees were removed from 62.5 acres and replaced by 67,777 trees on 338 acres, bringing the current harvest to almost 120,000 pounds annually. While selling hazelnuts wholesale may seem attractive to new growers, it doesn’t always deliver the best returns. Nuts fetch up to $1.50 a pound wholesale, but can sell for more than $7 a pound direct to consumers. “[The value] keeps snowballing further if you process them,” says Fleming. When starting a hazelnut orchard, pollination is a key consideration. Specic varieties are required for eective crop set, with pollen typically wind-borne about 150 feet to surrounding trees. At his nursery in Chilliwack, Fleming grows Jeerson, Wepster and Yamhill varieties, which can cross-pollinate. Timing is important for a good match. Some varieties can completely miss another variety’s cycle, although that’s not a problem for Fleming. “Some have no overlap,” he says. “In Chilliwack, they all overlap.” The nuts mature at dierent times, primarily because the husks develop at dierent rates. Yamhill is the earliest and Jeerson the latest. Harvest occurs by knocking them o the branches, pulling them o with a vacuum backpack or by simply letting them fall to the ground – the latter a consideration when pruning the young trees. “With a single stem, the nuts fall to the ground,” says Fleming. “With multi-stem, you get a nice crown, but the nuts get stuck in it.” Scaold branches create the bulk of the tree’s shape. Pruning to ensure three to ve point away from the trunk in opposite directions is ideal. They can be easily changed early in the tree’s life, though. “If you don’t like the scaold you have, cut them all o and start over,” Fleming says. “They’re going to come back twice as fast next year.” That said, buds develop in rst-year wood, so some caution is also required to ensure that nuts will actually grow. Year four, he says, is the rst year a harvest should be big enough to be economical. “If you are pruning heavily, it will be a year or two before the nuts are back,” says Fleming. “It’s better earlier, so you don’t lose your yield. When you’re looking at a new orchard, you get three years to make mistakes.” Hazelnuts trees are aggressive growers, so cutting the sapling to the ground and then allowing the best suckers to grow, likely faster than the tree did initially, is also an option. “It’s as much an art as a science — what I’ll tell you for this tree, I might contradict,” Fleming tells the crowd, and then demonstrated both by selecting branches to develop one tree’s canopy and then simply cutting o a weaker sapling at the base. After a couple of hours at Baillie-Grohman, the eld day group moved on to Evan Davies’ farm. A long-time Erickson resident, Davies previously ran a nursery and garden centre before moving to a farm with fruit trees and berries. He planted hazelnuts in 2016. Most of his three dozen trees are over 20 feet tall, with about 60% of them Yamhill. There is nothing high-tech about his harvesting method. “Everything just comes o by hand on this farm,” says Davies. “It’s just, at this point, how it’s done.” The demand for hazelnuts is increasing, and considering the drop in BC production, there is room for smaller producers to ll the gap. New growers would also help to meet local need with local product. Currently, over 60% of the world’s hazelnuts are grown in Turkey, and 25% of the global crop is purchased by Ferrero, the company behind Nutella, Ferrero Rocher and Kinder Surprise. In addition to being high in antioxidants and sequestering more carbon than annual crops, hazelnuts are a low-input crop that can even have other crops grown between the rows. “They’re grown minimally, which is an awesome thing about this industry,” says Fleming. And if those reasons aren’t convincing enough, the avour will be. “Hazelnuts taste delicious,” says Fleming. “That’s why I still work with them and love them.” u Hazelnut demand growingMYRNA STARK LEADER
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 25UBC associate professor Siyun Wang is working with AAFC research scientist Karen Fong to develop a green treatment for bacterial blight in blueberries. UBC FACULTY OF LAND AND FOOD SYSTEMSwww.tubeline.ca 1.888.856.6613@TubelineMFGFind us onTL360BF8000The TL360 high speed individual wrapper, is designed to wrap on the move. The TL360 allows operators to pick up and carry another bale while one is still in the chamber. The BF8000 SL is equipped with a loading arm and has a bale capacity of 2,500 lbs. The Bale Feeder can carry two bales, one on the table and one on the loading arm maximizing each trip to the field.Visit us online for complete listing of features and options.assemble a bacteriophage library that could contain more than 50 bacteriophages with diverse features, Wang says. “[If ] because of climate change or other factors, Pseudomonas syringae is actually able to evolve and develop resistance, then we will still have a solution to this problem,” she says. Spring launch The project launched in April 2023 with a budget of $243,199 funded through the province’s Genomic Innovation for Regenerative Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (GIRAFF) program. Work is ongoing to determine the best application method, considering effectiveness and feasibility. “I think a spray is definitely one of the ideas in the pipeline, and would probably be the easiest,” Fong says. The team aims to have a prototype of a phage treatment ready by the end of 2024, allowing trials on producers’ fields in 2025. “Regarding eventually having it being commercially available, we also have to obtain approvals for [use in] blueberry plants,” Wang says. “We're hopeful that in the next four or five years, we can actually see such a product being available commercially for the growers.” Craig Seale of Blueberry Junction in Abbotsford says producers need to take cost, return on investment, application timing and equipment into account before embracing any new crop protection tool. He would be willing to participate in trials when the time comes. The blight caused by P. syringae is a small concern in his blueberry crops right now compared to scorch. “I’m getting nailed to the wall by scorch,” Seale says. He would be all ears for green biocontrol options for scorch or mummy berry, which he feels deserve significant attention from researchers. Funding partners This bacteriophage as a biocontrol method is one of eight new projects that received a combined $1.84 million in funding from the GIRAFF program, which is a partnership between Genome BC, Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC and the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food funded by the federal and provincial governments. 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Pseudomonas syringae bacteria is a decades-old scourge of Fraser Valley blueberry fields, but UBC associate professor Siyun Wang and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research scientist Karen Fong have teamed up to tackle the foe. The research team will design, test and validate a novel bacteriophage formulation to treat the blight the bacteria causes and begin steps towards commercialization of the solution. “What this pathogen does is it … contaminates the crops early in the springtime and as a result, berry crops that are affected by this pathogen … will no longer be able to yield fruit,” Wang says. “It affects a lot of blueberry crops across the entire province of BC.” Currently, producers apply copper-based formulations to control the pathogen, but P. syringae has developed resistance to the treatment. “There is a real need and a real push to actually come up with alternative solutions that are not only ecofriendly, but also will help to mitigate antimicrobial resistance,” Fong says. The industry is looking to biological control using bacteriophages. The phages are naturally occurring viruses that can infect and kill bacteria. They’re appealing to industry because they’re sustainably sourced from the environment, non-toxic to humans, plants and animals and suitable for organic production. Moreover, unlike chemical interventions, bacteriophages can evolve with the target bacteria. If P. syringae begins to develop resistance to a phage-based treatment, the viruses would adapt to continue its killing ways. To add to the treatment’s robustness, the researchers will assess persistent P. syringae strains of concern in blueberries using comparative genetics to create a “phage cocktail,” Fong says. “That's using three or more bacteriophages together in combination to really try to suppress resistance or delay the onset of resistance as much as possible,” she says. The team will also look to
26 | NOVEMBER 2023 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCRangeland Equipment Ltd Cranbrook B.C. 250-426-0600 Timberstar Tractor Vernon B.C. 250-545-5441 Harbour City Equipment Duncan B.C. 778-422-3376Matsqui Ag Repair Abbotsford B.C. 604-826-3281 Northern Acreage Supply Prince George B.C. 250-596-2273Unlimited HourPowertrain Warranty0%FinancingCASHBack Offers*Cannot be combined with any other offer. Rebates and/or financing based on the purchase of eligible equipment defined in promotional program. Additional fees including, but not limited to, taxes, freight, setup and delivery charges may apply. Customers must take delivery prior to the end of the program period. Some customers will not qualify. Some restrictions apply. Unlimited Hour Warranty available only on non-commercial use. Offer available on new equipment only. Pricing and rebates in Canadian dollars. Prior purchases are not eligible. Offer valid only at participating Dealers. Offer subject to change without notice. See your dealer for details. © 2021 DAEDONG CANADA, INC. KIOTI CANADA.WE DIG DIRT
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 27MFG OF MINI SKID STEERS AND A VARIETY OF ATTACHMENTS INCLUDINGBRUSH MULCHERS | PTO POWER PACKS | FLAIL MOWERS | ROTARY BRUSH CUTTERSTREE PULLERS | FELLER BUNCHERS | EXCAVATOR ADAPTERS | SCREW SPLITTERS | STUMP GRINDERSAUGER DRIVES | TREE SPADES | TREE SAWS & SHEARS | BOOM MOWERS | TRENCHERS | PTO GENERATORSBAUMALIGHT.COMAdair Sales & Marketing Company Inc. 306-773-0996 | info@adairreps.comLocate A Dealer OnlinePTO GENERATORSPre-order your BaumalightGenerator now for delivery in8 weeks and get an 8% discount.Aphids in cranberries under the microscopeCranberry research piggybacks with blueberry studyRONDA PAYNE DELTA – When aphids are discussed as being a problem in fruit crops, cranberries don’t often make the conversation, but they’re front-and-centre for researchers from ES Cropconsult. A study in 2022 saw researchers focus on the life of aphids in the late season berries to gain a baseline of understanding that will support further research into the critters. IPM consultant and cranberry specialist Elizabeth Jeffs worked with ES Cropconsult in fall 2021 and early 2022 to develop the program. The main objectives were to document the prevalence of aphids in cranberries in the Lower Mainland and to identify the types found. “Aphids are a major agricultural pest in many, many other crops around BC,” she says. “Although aphids are a relatively minor pest in cranberries, we were just curious about any prevalence because there wasn’t much research around it. We were also curious about this particular species in cranberries.” Conducting the study in summer 2022 was ideal because entomologist and berry IPM specialist Michelle Franklin and her colleague Bryan Brunet of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) were working on a project to identify aphids in blueberries. It made it possible to piggyback the identification of aphids found in cranberries onto the existing blueberry research. “We decided we wanted to see, in general, what was the more prevalent species in cranberries,” she says. The top species was Ericaphis frimbiata (scamelli), the most commonly found species in BC blueberries. These were most commonly non-winged aphids rather than parasitized or winged aphids. Aphids behave differently in cranberries than in other berries and fruits. It could be because of the unripe fruit’s hardness, the composition of the leaves and vines or a variety of other factors. Scorch virus has been detected in Lower Mainland cranberry bogs and ES Cropconsult staff have observed plant yellowing and reduced vigour, potential symptoms in their work. However, piercing and sucking by feeding aphids is not yet correlated to reduced yields or plant decline like it is in other plants, nor is scorch spreading at the same speed observed in blueberries. While this study was small in scope, at present there are no indicators that cranberries are heading for a fall due to scorch-bearing aphids. However, the increasing risk of virus transmission makes any crop – even cranberries – a concern as a reservoir, if not a feeding ground. There is also a question of whether there could be damage to cranberry fields if aphid numbers were to climb. Jeffs collected a number of samples from five sites in Richmond, one site in Abbotsford, five sites in Pitt Meadows, one site in Maple Ridge, two sites in Delta and two sites in Surrey as well as from the cranberry research farm in Delta from June to August 2022. A total of 16 fields were sampled and the number and type of aphids on 30 uprights per field were recorded. The 66 sample vials were collected over four different collection days and sent to AAFC for identification. The Abbotsford field only had a collection in July while all other regions were sampled on three or four different days. “The majority of [aphids] we collected were from the first collect, so earlier in the season than the others. The levels peaked around late June to early July,” Jeffs says. This peak in aphid numbers may indicate aphids are moving to other crops, but that has not been determined at this point. The highest levels of aphids were documented in Richmond fields. “It’s important to keep our eyes on aphids,” she says. “Obviously, from this project, we’re seeing that aphids are in all our cranberry fields so it’s important to be aware of them.” The damage caused by aphids in cranberries is minor, and typically confined to the vines. Unlike scorch and other diseases seen in blueberries, aphids don’t appear to be vectors of cranberry diseases at this point. There is no harm to finished cranberries. The unfortunate thing is that there may be harmful levels of aphids in cranberries, but because this hasn’t been studied, these levels have not yet been identified. “We don’t know a lot about aphids in cranberries, so we don’t know about thresholds,” Jeffs says. “It’s not going to be like cranberry fruit worm or fireworm, where there’s a need for monitors or controls, so monitoring for aphids isn’t a major issue. As of now it’s a relatively minor pest.” AAFC plans to report on the molecular characterization of the aphids collected in cranberries. While ongoing studies aren’t planned, work remains to be done in terms of monitoring aphid levels in fields and the potential impact to cranberry crops as well as adjacent crops. Researchers suggest beginning future studies in May to allow for a greater volume of sampling over a longer period of time.
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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 29Funding uFunding from FortisBC will allow the Kootenay Livestock Association to grow its Agriculture in the Classroom program. SUBMITTEDKATE AYERS SKOOKUMCHUCK – The Kootenay Livestock Association received $15,000 this fall for its Agriculture in the Classroom program as part of FortisBC’s Community Giving Awards. Rancher, association director, education committee chair and program coordinator Karen Barraclough initiated the program eight years ago and is excited about the potential for expansion. “Even though we live in a fairly rural area, a lot of children have no experience in either having ever gone to a farm or seeing a vegetable grow,” Barraclough says. “And I think if we're going to work on food sustainability and availability, we have to get people interested in growing some of their own and getting interested in agriculture as a whole because if we don't, we're going to have no one to even grow the food for us.” Barraclough runs a 640-acre ranch that is home to a cow-calf herd and small feedlot in Skookumchuck. Through the Kootenay Livestock Association’s Agriculture in the Classroom program, which operates independent of the BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation, Barraclough visits elementary schools to teach students about where their food comes from and the process of getting food from the farm to dinner tables. Field trips to local farms allow students to see, touch and smell food production, Barraclough says. “You have to have hands on. You can't talk at children,” she says, comments backed by 35 years’ teaching experience. The new funding will support future eld trips and secure more support personnel to help Barraclough deliver programming, which she has mostly done on her own up to this point. “It can be used in so many ways because rst of all, to be able to pay just for the travel for people to go into schools and to take eld trips,” Barraclough says. “We were hoping to be able to subsidize some of our eld trips and to go to schools that are getting gardens and supply some of the tools that they need so that children can get out and actually do their own growing.” Barraclough has her sights set on expanding the program into junior and senior high schools to highlight agriculture’s diversity. The Kootenay Livestock Association was nominated for the award by Regional Education program in Kootenays gets funding boostFortisBC award will support the area’s Ag in the Classroom1-888-852-AGRI (2474) | info@bcfarmandranch.com bcfarmandranch.comVisit our website to view over $300,000,000 in acreage inventory.Gord Houweling-PREC604.793.8660gordhouweling@gmail.comRajin Gill - PREC778.982.4008rajin@rajingill.caJohn Glazema778.201.2474agri@bcfarmandranch.comGeorgia Clement250.378.1654georgiaclement_2@hotmail.comGreg Walton604.864.1610greg@bcfarmandranch.comGordie Blair250.517.0557gt.blair@live.caVeer Malhi - PREC778.241.7451virbinder77@gmail.comGordon Aikema250.306.1580gordon@bcfarmandranch.comSteve Campbell250.550.4321s.campbell.sells@gmail.comChristine Lybbert 604.230.6835marketing@bcfarmandranch.comRobbi-layne Robertson250.453.9774rlr@bcfarmandranch.comSusanne Walton604.309.9398sw.bcfr@gmail.comAlec Yun778.859.8011alecyun@icloud.comAmanda Leclair604.833.1594amandaleclair@live.comRuth Meehan604.309.2295ruthma.meehan@gmail.comTravis Walton604.226.9317travisjwalton@outlook.comAmy Brattebo-PREC604.613.1684realestate@amybrattebo.caGrant Beeton604.866.3342grant@bcfarmandranch.com250.273.7653Welcome to the team Andrew VerschuurFrom hobby farms to estate acreages to commercial farms, our teamhas you covered!
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Less Ash.CLAAS Early order on now!District of East Kootenay electoral area directors Rob Gay and Susan Clovechok. “Without this funding, many children may never truly experience and appreciate where their food comes from nor be inspired to produce some of their own food,” Clovechok says. “The KLA will now be able to spend more time organizing the learning opportunities and working with students rather than fundraising, and potentially create a foundation for a legacy of agricultural learning.” The Community Giving Award supports projects that promote safety, education, the environment Indigenous Initiatives and other important community projects. “Because we're spread across the province, we really like to support the grassroots organizations,” says FortisBC corporate communications manager Nicole Brown. “We do feel our dollars make more of a dierence at that level.” The North Okanagan Good Food Box and the Ann Davis Transition Society also received $15,000 through the FortisBC program. Since 2017, the Community Giving Award has supported over 20 organizations. Warning: this might be a dull one. Probably best to turn the page at this point and leave me to trundle along. I am not feeling sharp, and scintillating farming conversation topics are eluding me just now. Everything we are doing seems to have been covered in previous articles and unusually, we haven’t organized any massive last-minute fall projects that are going slightly badly, providing rich, natural fodder for stories. Nothing has even broken down. CanadaGAP has made me boring. I hate to blame them for even more. They are already being held responsible for myriad consequences resulting from our inability to focus on farming during a long summer of slogging through the compliance requirements. These consequences, just to hammer it home, range from crop ops to numbered mouse traps, a no-smoking sign on the inside of the cooler door (the inside!) and some several forms and checklists that now form an integral part of my life. CanadaGAP is the reason I am feeling unmoved by the joys of fall farming and doubt my ability to produce a readable product. Normally, fall is an exciting time for me, having entertained dreary weather fantasies all the long, hot summer. I love rain, especially misty rain from foggy skies and clouds that hide the mountains for days on end. Not only is it good for my complexion, but I am far less likely to overheat, which is good for my productivity. Of course, there’s always a healthy amount of pressure to be felt, or rather, relished. After all, winter is shortly to arrive, providing a nal, if unpredictable, deadline for all the eld work of fall. We churn through it, aiming for the nal job of garlic planting. In winning years, this is completed moments before winter makes the elds impassable. Moments. It’s very exciting. I normally rise to the challenges, gleefully eyeing my longjohns, admiring the fall colours (if they happen to be visible through the thick mist, no matter if not), and getting after it. This year, as I say, I am having trouble getting the revs up and I blame CanadaGAP. The problem is that I am still in recovery from going through the application and audit process. I haven’t had to prepare like that since university, and believe you me, that was a long, long time ago and I did not hold the same high expectations for myself that I do now. The other problem is that we don’t have our numbered certicate yet. It was meant to arrive 42 days after the on-farm audit which was, by the way, thorough but not nit-picky – a relative delight. I nd the absence of the contractually promised certicate to be evidence of an irritating double-standard. What is the problem, CanadaGAP? I thought you were rigorous, righteous and fair. It was impressive and expensive. Don’t let me down like this. So, I am displaying signs of low-level burnout and a lack of accountability: a state of mind that, left to itself, may indeed fail to recall the joys of autumn farm work. However, I suspect the old ardent farming spirit may not be too far buried after all, so I’ll administer myself a pep talk. Today is an excellent day to snap out of it. I have a premium crew helping me on-farm and there’s lots to do before the next rain. Properly pepped up, I know I can gure out how to get it all done while also maintaining motivation and general happiness. The advice to self: Use your superpowers, Helmer. The moments will reveal themselves and thou shalt pounce upon them with a glad heart. And perhaps send a quick, delicately worded enquiry to the good people at CanadaGAP. Anna Helmer farms in Pemberton and really should not have mentioned that there have been no breakdowns. Winter can’t come soon enoughIntense compliance requirements blamed for low-level burnoutFarm Story ANNA HELMER
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 31BC pumpkins weigh inPopularity growing Six-year-old Colt from Jaffray won top prize for his 510-pound pumpkin at the fourth annual Top Crop Garden Farm and Pet’s giant pumpkin contest in Cranbrook. SUBMITTEDFarm & Rural ResidentialProperties in the Peace Country are our specialtyAnne H. ClaytonMBA, P App AACI, RIAppraiserJudi LeemingBHE, P App CRAAppraiser250.782.1088info@aspengrovepropertyservices.ca www.aspengrovepropertyservices.caKATE AYERS CRANBROOK – From the Kootenays to the Fraser Valley and as far away as California, BC pumpkins have impressed crowds with their colour and size this fall. At Top Crop Garden Farm and Pet in Cranbrook, 2,300 people turned out on a rainy September 30 to see who grew this year’s largest pumpkin. “They supported local businesses, local vendors [and] money was raised for the Leslie Long [Rescue] charity,” says Top Crop chief operating ocer Brandon Calestagne. “So, it turned out to be a really great day.” Store owner Shannon Fisher hosted the fourth annual contest along with a live band and petting zoo for family entertainment. This year’s winner was 6-year-old Colt from Jaray, who grew the pumpkin with his grandmother Cindy Bolen. They grew a 510-pound pumpkin, which set a contest record, and took home the top prize of $500. “In the rst year, a 100-pound pumpkin would have been really impressive. So, you know, a mere four years later and now we're crossing the 500-pound mark,” Calestagne says. The event brings the community together to celebrate local growers, hard work and a good cause, Calestagne adds. “A day for fun and community is never a waste of time.” In Langley, Krause Berry Farms and Estate Winery hosted a weigh-o event on October 7. Vancouver Islander Kerri van Kooten-Perras won with her 1,152-pound Atlantic giant pumpkin named Walter. “After two years of an empty patch, I'm pretty happy with having something growing,” van Kooten-Perras says on Facebook. “... It was fantastic to meet other growers and see the enthusiasm for this crazy hobby,” The runner-up pumpkin weighed in at 1,028 lbs, grown by Trevor and Joanne Halliday of Maple Ridge. The couple entered three pumpkins in the event totalling 4,463 lbs. They also won two Howard Dill awards for the “prettiest pumpkins.” But the biggest pumpkin of the year was grown by Dave and Janet Chan of Richmond, who won the Hard Rock Casino National Weigh O in Sacramento on September 30. The couple claimed top honours for the heaviest pumpkin in North America with a gourd that squashed the competition at 2,212 lbs. In recognition of their accomplishment, the Chans took home a championship belt and $28,000.Einbock Tillage Equipment For Organic FarmingEconomical Reliable Low Maintenance Safe and Proven Order now for guaranteed next season delivery.Tine Weeders Row Crop CultivatorsRotary Hoes Camera GuidanceSystemsOrder now forguaranteed next season delivery.DELTA Drain Tile CleanersImproves Drainage & Conditions SoilEmail us today at: info@reimersfarmservices.com
32 | NOVEMBER 2023 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCDigger Dan(i) draws a winner in the water betWhen we left o last time, Kenneth had just upped the ante in a bet with Charlie Kramer, the water dowser, about whether there would be water where Charlie said to dig. Rural Redemption, Part 164, continues. Charlie Kramer said goodbye to Kenneth and Delta. He was still grinning when he walked up the stairs of the general store. Charlie lived in town, but he’d been nding water for so many years that everyone who had been around any length of time knew who he was. Junkyard Frank was sitting alone at the Coee Club table complaining to Lois the storekeeper how the Internet was making all the kids nowadays lazy and ungrateful. “You know, Frank, that’s exactly what they used to say about rock and roll and television when I was a kid,” said Lois. “And pool halls and movie pictures did the same thing in my grandparents’ day. Some folks are still saying it all started when they stopped strapping kids in school. Do you know any young people who are lazy and ungrateful because of the Internet?” “Just because I don’t know them doesn’t mean they’re not out there, Lois. I read where the basements in the city are full of them.” “And where did you read that?” asked Lois. “It was on the Internet,” said Frank defensively. Lois was about to point out the irony when Charlie came through the door. “Charlie Kramer, as I live and breathe,” said Frank. “What brings you this way?” “Same as ever,” said Charlie. “Finding water for someone, and looking for a friendly face.” “Sit down and look no more,” said Frank. “Grab yourself a coee.” Charlie pulled a chair up to the Coee Club table. “So, who’s looking for water?” asked Frank. “The lady living up in Corbett’s old place.” “Delta? I always thought there was a pretty good well on Corbett’s place.” “Dried up now it seems, but I got a good strong pull in the bush a little west of the house and marked a spot to dig.” “You gure they’ll hit a good stream then?” “I’d bet money on it,” said Charlie. “Any chance I could interest you in a ticket for the kids’ baseball lottery?” “Not really,” said Frank. “Seems like I just bought one three or four years back, and I never win on any of those deals anyhow.” “There’s a whole new batch of kids playing now, and you know you can’t win if you don’t buy a ticket.” Lois asked Charlie how long he’d been working with the kids’ baseball in town, anyhow? Charlie said according to the plaque they gave him last year, it must be 51 years now. Lois said she’d take a couple of books of tickets and sell them at the store. Charlie thanked her, then said if Frank bought one he’d take him along to the old Corbett place when they dug the new well. Frank said it would be a good idea and he’d bring his phone along because if Kenneth Henderson was involved, there was a good chance of getting a picture he could sell to Harriet Murray at the paper. Charlie said he’d bet money on it. ttt Kenneth phoned Charlie three days later. “I’ve got an excavator lined up for 8 tomorrow morning. Bring your $500.” “Bring yours, too,” said Charlie. Charlie and Frank pulled into Corbett’s old place just ahead of the truck and trailer hauling the excavator. The lettering on the side said: “Call Digger Dan Excavating.” Kenneth and Delta joined them as a woman in overalls and a high-viz vest climbed out of the truck. “Morning,” she said. “Is one of you Kenneth Henderson?” “I’m Kenneth. Where’s Dan?” “Dani will be here, don’t worry. How about you show me where you want to dig, and I’ll walk the machine over.” “Maybe we should wait for Dan.” “We don’t have to wait. I’m Dani. I’m the Dan you are waiting for. Dani as in Danielle. We spoke on the phone if I’m not mistaken.” “But I thought you were the owner’ s wife.” “Your mistake there, I guess. I’m the ex-wife of the previous owner. I took over the payments on all this and changed the name when he left. If it will make you feel better, I could call it Lazy Sean Excavating, tell you a couple of o-colour jokes and give you some long-winded excuse for why I can’t possibly be here until next week. Then you could pretend you are hiring the bone-laziest man who ever painted his name on a truck door. Or we can cut the chit-chat and dig a well. The clock is running and it’s your nickel.” Kenneth nodded mutely and pointed the way. Forty minutes later, the excavator was pulling up buckets of sand. Dani idled the machine down and climbed o to look into the hole. “What’s wrong?” asked Kenneth. “Nothing is wrong. I just want to see how much water I’m getting into.” “Water! What water? Where?” “Look at the bottom.” Water was pooling at the bottom of the hole. “It doesn’t seem like much,” said Kenneth. “Have faith, Mr. Henderson. It’s not much yet but its coming from below and I’m betting we’ll see more of it soon.” Woodshed Chronicles BOB COLLINS“Me, too,” said Charlie. By the time the hole was 12 feet deep, it was lling with water faster than the excavator could dig. Dani dug a landing for the excavator four feet deep. Twenty minutes later, she backed out of the landing and shut the excavator o. “I’m down about 15 feet, I gure, and that’s as far as I can go. I’d say you’ve got yourself a pretty promising well here, Mr. Henderson. Hats o to whoever picked the spot.” “It was Charlie,” said Delta. “He’s a dowser.” Dani introduced herself and shook Charlie’s hand. She wondered if he would take some of her business cards in case he might know anyone who could use her services. Charlie agreed and wondered if she might be interested in a rae ticket for the kids’ baseball? Dani nodded and turned back to Kenneth. “What’s your next move, Mr. Henderson?” Kenneth shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. Dani suggested he would need to install well rings and a lid which she could arrange to have delivered before noon. She said that while she was waiting for the well rings, she could dig a trench for the new water pipe and while she was at it she could dig one for the electrical line. Kenneth stared blankly. “You are planning to put in a pumphouse? Or were you thinking of a rope and pail?” “Yes, of course. A pumphouse,” said Kenneth. “Do whatever is necessary.” Dani nodded, pulled her cellphone out and ordered the well rings. They were due rst thing after lunch. Dani said if Kenneth had a plumber and electrician, they could install everything and she could backll it by quitting time. Delta said she’d call Al from Jiy Electric and asked Dani if she’d like a cup of coee back at the house. Charlie was standing at the edge of the new well. “Water’s only eight feet down and still coming up,” said Charlie. “Looks like you and I have a little business to attend to. We might as well get to it so Frank and I can be on our way and get out of your hair, eh?” “Fine,” said Kenneth tersely. “Here”. Kenneth handed Charlie a wad of new $50 bills, and Frank took a picture on his cell phone of the exact instant they changed hands. Charlie asked Kenneth if he’d had a change of heart about buying a lottery ticket for the kids’ baseball lottery. “Not a chance!” said Kenneth. ... to be continued Please send a _______ year gift subscription to _______________________________________________ Farm Name ____________________________________________________________________________ Address _______________________________________________________________________________ City _________________________________________________ Postal Code ________ _______________ Phone _________________________ Email ________________________________________________ Thousands of BC farmers and ranchers turn to Country Life in BC every month to nd out what (and who!) is making news in BC agriculture and how it may affect their farms and agri-businesses! 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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 33Bursary open for journalism and ag-related studentsFunding deepens student’s educational experienceTim Armstrong Memorial Bursary recipient Sarah MacDonald has found time to hone judging skills she rst learned as a 4-H member as she completes her Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness degree. PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARIJKA“Serving and Supporting the Community Together”PROVINCIALLY INSPECTED ABATTOIR B.C. #34ALL SIZES MARKET GOATS & LAMBS604.465.4752 (Ext 105)FAX 604.465.4744 ashiq@meadowvalleymeats.comRONDA PAYNE ROCK CREEK – Post-secondary education isn’t just about the education. While some see it as a coming-of-age era, Sarah MacDonald recognizes it as a time to experience things in a new light. As the 2022 recipient of the Tim Armstrong Memorial Bursary administered by the BC Farm Writers’ Association, MacDonald has found time to participate in livestock judging while studying – an old activity that provides school-life balance. “I’ve done it for ve years now and I love it,” she says. This surprised MacDonald’s family because when she was in 4-H and living on the family ranch in Rock Creek, east of Osoyoos, she participated in judging, but its infrequent nature made it a challenge. “I was a Type A type of kid and I wanted to be good at it, but I didn’t do it enough to be good at it, so that just frustrated me,” she explains. “But then, when I got to [Lakeland] College [in Alberta], we practiced twice a week and all of a sudden I saw myself progress much quicker.” Livestock judging isn’t part of her Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness program, but it keeps her open to growing relationships within the industry and around the animals and people she loves. She will earn her B.Sc. degree from the University of Saskatchewan in April 2024 but she’s not certain what she wants to do upon graduation. “I love agriculture wholeheartedly and I love primary production, but not so much that I want to be the sole producer on the ranching operation,” she says. “I call myself a ‘fair weather rancher.’ When the weather is beautiful, I am absolutely the person outside, but if it’s an ugly day, nope, I’m not leaving the house.” She was part of the management team of the Lakeland student-managed farm and served as the logistics manager for a concert at the school as well. She’s also been on the BC Cattlemen’s Association public aairs and education committee and was part of the executive of the BC Angus Association. After graduation, MacDonald plans to work in other countries for a year or two to broaden her experience of agriculture. She may take those experiences and integrate them with policy-driving roles within agriculture in Canada. “I’m thinking of something down the path of policy in agriculture in government legislation,” she says. “Just the last month and a bit, I’ve been taking a class at university called Food Economics and Consumer Behaviours.” The course explores things that drive consumer food choices and what that means to agribusinesses as a result. It includes reviews of sustainability, animal welfare, nutrition, local food and other current topics that inuence consumer decisions. “It’s kind of the reason I switched over to agribusiness, because I originally started in crop science and thought I was going to be an agronomist,” she says. “And when that wasn’t feeling right for me, I switched to agribusiness because I knew that it was a degree that was going to leave my options pretty open-ended so I could see what interested me and take it from there.” Having received the Tim Armstrong Memorial Bursary, along with other education funds, means MacDonald hasn’t had to work during her studies, freeing up time to participate in extracurricular activities like judging. “Bursaries have really helped me with giving me a little more exibility,” she says. The 2023 Tim Armstrong Memorial Bursary of $1,000 will be awarded to at least one student. It is open to British Columbia students who are enrolled in their second year or higher of a full-time agriculture or journalism program at a university, institute or regional college in Canada. The 2023 award application closes December 31, 2023. Selection is based on students’ academic merit and nancial need, which must be illustrated in their application. The fund that generates the award was created from contributions from the BC Farm Writers Association and like-minded individuals to honour Tim Armstrong’s contributions to the agriculture industry through journalism during his time as the publisher and editor of Country Life in BC, the province’s largest and oldest agriculture publication. Full details of the bursary application process are at [bcfwa.ca/bursary]. J.R. (Tim) Armstrong Memorial Bursary for Students in Agriculture or Journalism ProgramsApplication Deadline:December 31, 2023The Tim Armstrong Memorial Bursary is open to British Columbian students who are enrolled in their second year or higher of a full-time agriculture or journalism program at a university, institute or regional college in Canada.www.bcfwa.ca/bursary--links.htmlContact: Ronda Payne, Scholarship Chairronda.eyben@shaw.ca
34 | NOVEMBER 2023 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCFresh bread is the ultimate in comfort food, and November calls for comfort food. The smell of fresh bread baking is very nostalgic. Both these savoury breads are perfect for cool autumn days when there are fewer hours of light and the dark hours are longer each day. I have other recipes for beer quick breads, and several for zucchini quick breads of one sort and another, but this one is especially delicious. Great served with a meal-type soup for lunch or dinner. These English muns are just yummy and they can be popped into the freezer for future breakfasts or lunches. Before the last big zucchini is lost to fall frost, remember to grate some and pop it into a freezer bag in one-cup portions so you can make zucchini breads and muns throughout winter, when fresh zucchini is a summer memory. Soups and stews are the favoured type of dish now that the weather’s cooled down and my crockpot has come out of summer storage, ready to ll the house with delicious smells on my return from the day’s work or other activities. Such long, slow cooking of less tender, less expensive cuts of meat is perfect for a family with more mouths to feed. You don’t have to buy stew meat to make stew. You can watch for specials on lean cuts Fresh bread tops the list of comfort foodsYou can make this recipe of Cheddar & Zucchini Beer Bread your own by switching up the ours or even adding something extra. JUDIE STEEVESMO’S WHOLE WHEAT ENGLISH MUFFINSCHEDDAR & ZUCCHINI BEER BREADJude’s Kitchen JUDIE STEEVESThis is a moist, delicious, savoury bread that must be good for you because it has vegetables in it, right? Comfort food that’s great with a stew or spaghetti. Sometimes I add a spoonful of minced hot pepperoni to this. Vary the total our amount with some oat bran or whole wheat our for more nutrition, if you wish. 3 c. (750 ml) our 1 tbsp. (15 ml) baking powder 1 tsp. (5 ml) salt one minced garlic clove 2 c. (500 ml) grated cheddar 1 c. (250 ml) grated zucchini • Preheat oven to 350° F. • Sift or whisk the dry ingredients with minced garlic clove. Grate cheese and zucchini and mince chives and jalapeños, and mix into dry ingredients. • Drizzle honey over it and add the beer. You can use a hoppier beer, but I prefer one without quite so much avour. • Mix briey and scoop into a buttered bread pan. • Pour a little melted butter over the top and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out cleanly in the centre of the loaf. • Serve warm. of beef such as round or sirloin tip and chop it up for the stewpot or freeze it for another day. I buy such roasts when they’re on sale and cut them into inch-thick slices, like steaks; freeze them all on a sheet pan and toss them into a large freezer bag once they’re frozen. Then, it’s very quick to cut them into cubes for stew meat These are just a bit better than store-bought and they freeze beautifully, ready for a great breakfast treat any time. They’re perfect for eggs Benedict. 2 c. (500 ml) milk 3 tbsp. (45 ml) honey 2 1/4 tsp. (11 ml) instant yeast • Heat milk with honey to 105 to 115° F and add yeast. Let it sit for ve minutes. Beat in the egg and melted butter. • Add all the our and salt to the bowl of your stand mixer and put the dough hook on. Gradually add in the yeast mixture with the motor on low speed. • Once the liquid and dry ingredients are combined (I needed to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl), turn it up to medium speed and mix for about four minutes, or until the dough is smooth and sticky. • Scrape it into a lightly oiled bowl, oil the top of the dough and cover with plastic lm. Leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour, until it has doubled in size. • Punch down and turn out onto a oured surface. Divide into 16 equal pieces. • Roll each piece into a ball and atten each. Place on a sheet pan with a silicon mat on it, which has had a light dusting of cornmeal added, leaving room between for each to spread. • Cover with a tea towel and let rise for a half-hour to one hour. • Preheat oven to 325° F. • Use a heavy, cast-iron griddle heated over medium heat and gently set the unbaked muns on the hot griddle. Do not overcrowd the pan. Cook each for a couple of minutes on each side, until just nice and brown. Adjust the heat as needed. • Return them to the sheet pan and add more unbaked ones to the griddle, continuing until all are brown and partly-cooked. • Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 or 15 minutes, just until cooked through. Use a meat thermometer to check they have reached an internal temperature of 200° F, to ensure the inside is cooked. • Cool completely before opening them to toast. • It’s important to achieving the right texture to use a fork to split them before toasting. Just insert a fork into the side of each mun, moving to make more holes, all the way around, until they fall apart. • Makes 16. 3 tbsp. (45 ml) minced chives 1 tbsp. (15 ml) minced jalapeños 1 tbsp. (15 ml) honey 12 oz. (355 ml) beer 1 tbsp. (15 ml) melted butter1 egg 4 tbsp. (60 ml) melted butter 5 c. (1250 ml) whole wheat our 1 1/2 tsp. (7.5 ml) salt cornmeal, as neededor kebabs; slices for satés, stir-fries or strogano. In fact, before that steak is completely thawed is the perfect time for cutting thin slices to make tough beef tender to stir-fry. Actually, I do the same thing with those reasonably-priced whole pork loins, so I have pork in the freezer for satés, stir-fries, pork chops, kebabs or pork stew. It only takes a few minutes and a large freezer bag and you’ve saved yourself a tidy sum of money while creating some easy, ready-to-make meat options. And, fresh from the oven bread is the perfect companion.
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC NOVEMBER 2023 | 35TRACTORS/EQUIPMENTREAL ESTATEFOR SALEHAYHAYBERRIESIRRIGATIONFor Tissue Culture Derived Plants of New Varieties of Haskaps, Raspberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, Saskatoon Berries and Sour Cherries, Please Contact:DISEASE FREE PLANTING STOCK OF NEW BERRY CROPS 4290 Wallace Hill Road, Kelowna, BC, V1W 4B6info@agriforestbiotech.com250.764.2224www.agriforestbiotech.com NEW polyethylene tanks of all shapes & sizes for septic and water storage. Ideal for irrigation, hydroponics, washdown, lazy wells, rain water, truck box, fertizilizer mixing & spray-ing. Call 1-800-661-4473 for closest distributor. Manufactured in Delta by Premier Plastics premierplastics.com Feeders & Panels that maintain their value!ROUND BALE FEEDERS BIG SQUARE BALE FEEDERS FENCE PANELS CATTLE & HORSE FEEDERSHEAVY DUTY OIL FIELD PIPE CRADLE FEEDERS. Single big square or 2 round bales Outside measurement is 8 feet x 12 feet Silage bunk feeders For product pictures, check out Double Delichte Stables on Facebook www.doubledelichtefarms.ca Dan 250/308-9218 Coldstream DON GILOWSKI 250-260-0828 Royal LePage Downtown Realty Ltd BUYING OR SELLING OKANAGAN FARM, RANCH OR ACREAGE? COURTENAY HEREFORDS. Cattle for Sale: yearling bulls and bred heifers. John 250/334-3252 or Johnny 250-218-2537.PYESTERDAY’S TRADITION - TODAY’S TECHNOLOGYMANAGERS Phil Brown 250-293-6857 Catherine Brown 250-293-6858 ccr.princeton@gmail.com www.coppercreekranch.com PRINCETON, BC Raising registered polled & horned Herefords & F1s. BREEDING BULLS FOR SALE.LIVESTOCKLIVESTOCKIt’s the top linethat makes the Bottom LineBC SHORTHORN ASSOCIATION Scott Fraser, President Bob Merkley, BC Director 250-709-4443 604-607-7733DeBOER’S USED TRACTORS & EQUIPMENT GRINDROD, BCJD 1630 W/LDR 15,000 MF 165 DSL W/LDR, CANOPY 9,000 JD 5500 4WD, DSL, ROLL BAR & CANOPY W/LDR, 5,200 HRS SOLD! JD 6400 W/CAB & LDR SOLD! JD 1630 W/LDR 16,000 ED DEBOER 250/838-7362 cell 250/833-6699 CURT DEBOER 250/838-9612 cell 250/804-6147CUSTOM BALING 3x4 BIG SQUARES SILAGE BALING/WRAPPING ED DEBOER 250/833-6699 CURT DEBOER 250/804-6147EDVENTURE HAY SALES ENDERBY<dX`c1ZcXjj`Ô\[j7Zflekipc`]\`eYZ%ZfdfiZXcc1-'+%*)/%*/(+C@E<8;J1),nfi[jfic\jj#d`e`dld(*gclj>JK#\XZ_X[[`k`feXcnfi[`j%),;@JGC8P8;J1),gclj>JKg\iZfclde`eZ_M[WYY[fjcW`ehYh[Z_jYWhZi$8l^ljk@jjl\;\X[c`e\1Alcp).#)')' EQUIPMENT DISPERSAL • CARRO IRRIGATION REEL 110/400 (3.8” x 1300 ft hose). Honda motor drive. Nelson 150 gun. $12,500 • NH 520 manure spreader, c/w end gate, rear pan & top beater, side ex-tensions, mint condition, $13,750 • FIRESTONE radial 8000, 460/85R38 (18.4/R38) 70% tread, $950 • LOEWEN BOX SCRAPER, 3 pt, with rubber, like new, $800 • JD CLAMP-ON DUALS 18.4-38, $2,500 TONY 604-850-4718Craig Elachie ShorthornsGrant & Barbara Smith | Balmoral Farms 250.835.0133 craigelachieshorthorns@gmail.com 1802 Tappen-Notch Hill Rd Tappen BC V0E 2X3HAY FOR SALE Large quantities of 3x4 hay & 4x4 WRAPPED SILAGE BALES. Located in Salmon Arm. WE DELIVER. 250-804-6081SUMMERS 700 ROCK PICKER Almost New Condition $9500 Call Loren @ 778-241-1665 or loren@tavesfamilyfarms.com HAY/SILAGE, dry, well-wrapped, good quality bales for horses/cows; also well wrapped haylage and silage, good tight bales, $120/bale, volume discounts 604-825-9108DECEMBER DEADLINE NOVEMBER 18ADVERTISING THAT WORKS!2013 KUBOTA MX5100 850 hours. Has front loader & standard loader bucket. Tractor is in good working shape. Also has 84” HLA manual angle snow blade, Land Pride RCR 72” rough cut mower, a 3point rear blade & pallet forks for additional costs. Asking $35,000 for tractor & loader. Will-ing to entertain reasonable offers. Located in the Peace. Delivery possible. michelle@whiskeycreekranch.ca YOURHelping YouWEEKLY FARM NEWS UPDATESURg YougYouWSAvailable now, 4- 1/4 mile Used VALLEY, ZIMMATIC, T.L. PIVOTS, 3- Used 1,000 ft, 1,250 ft Hose reels, 10,000 ft 12 in 8,000ft 10 in HDPE, Steel pipe in all sizes used. Dealer for Pierce Pivots, T.L Piv-ots, lease your new or used pivot, Hose reels, RM, Idrio, diesel pumps, centrifugal, submersible, freq drives, pump stations, 30 years experience. Talk to Brock! 250 319 3044email us at subscriptions@countrylifeinbc.comHave you moved?Or has Canada Post changed your mailing address?
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