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Vol. 106 No. 12

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 DECEMBER 2020 | Vol. 106 No. 12

POULTRY

ILT puts broiler farms on the defensive 9

TRUCKING

Island farmers frustrated by ferry waits 19

MEAT

Slaughter limitations forcing producers out

by PETER MITHAM

ABBOTSFORD – A shift to

home consumption as a result

of COVID-19 appears to have

favoured turkey growers, who

hope the trend will continue

through the Christmas season.

Public health restrictions

on private gatherings mean

smaller dinners but BC Turkey

Marketing Board general

manager Michel Benoit says

Thanksgiving sales point to a

steady consumer appetite.

“Storage stocks of whole

bird are down signicantly

(32%) compared to last year,”

he says, noting that smaller

sizes saw the greatest

movement. “We still feel that

there are a lot of turkey

products that are suitable for

smaller gatherings. We have

also heard some consumers

say that they will purchase the

same size bird they always do

and just happily have more

leftovers.”

The outlook for broiler

producers is more

complicated. While chicken

remains the most popular

meat in Canada, with nearly

1.3 billion kilograms

consumed in 2019, COVID-19

has made allocating

production to commercial

farms across the country a

dicult proposition.

“COVID-19 has been a real

challenge when it comes to

setting allocations,” BC

Chicken Marketing Board

executive director Bill

Vanderspek told growers at

their fall meeting October 28.

The initial phase of the

pandemic saw the

A $14 million upgrade of the Noble Creek Irrigation System in Kamloops has been shelved after property owners like Jon Peachey took exception to

the plan. The city would pay $2.8 million of the project, leaving $11.2 million to be paid by the 47 property owners in the service area. The proposal

would have left Peachey on the hook, he gures, for just under $2.6 million. The story is on page 7. PHOTO / MURRAY MITCHELL

Turkey sales strengthen

See SHIFT on next page

Abattoirs

eye

pandemic

funding

Recovery

money could

help relieve

processing

bottleneck

by BARBARA JOHNSTONE

GRIMMER

VICTORIA – A sudden inux

of funding from the $90

million provincial Community

Economic Recovery

Infrastructure Program

resulted in the submission of

several abattoir applications

to the rural economic

recovery stream in October.

CERIP is providing fully

funded provincial grants to

support economic resilience,

tourism, heritage and urban

Water ght

See NICOLA on next page

watertecna.com

Industry Experts

in Agricultural &

Greenhouse Irrigation

Langley 1.888.675.7999

Williams Lake 1.855.398.7757

NICOLA Valley facility could create access to markets across BC nfrom page 1

SHIFT to retail came with challenges nfrom page 1

and rural economic

development projects in

communities impacted by

COVID-19. Each application

has a grant cap of $1 million.

The deadline for applications

was October 29.

Some applicants heard of

the funding the week before

the deadline and scrambled

to get the necessary budget

and supporting documents

together at one of the busiest

times of the year.

“The Small-Scale Meat

Producers Association has

applied for $1 million to build

a Class A abattoir in the

Nicola Valley through the

Community Economic

Recovery Infrastructure

Program. It is our

understanding that details of

the program were released on

October 1 but this funding

was brought to the attention

of the SSMPA on October 20,

nine days before the

application deadline,” says

SSMPA founder Julia Smith of

Blue Sky Ranch in Merritt.

“Fortunately, we had

already undertaken informal

discussions with the Shackan

Indian Band about working

together to build such a

facility and had recently

completed a detailed

business strategy, so we were

able to put an extensive

application together on short

notice and obtain a Letter of

Intent from the band,” she

says. “In addition, we were

able to garner over 50 letters

of support from local farmers

and ranchers, community

members and aliated

associations and industries, as

well as municipal, regional,

provincial and federal

government representatives.”

Consumer demand for

local meat has been growing

steadily, with demand

boosted by the COVID-19

crisis. This represents an

opportunity to revitalize rural

economies through the

growth and development of

the small-scale meat industry

and meets the conditions of

the funding.

Many livestock producers

ship to Alberta for nishing

and processing in federal

plants. Livestock producers

nd it a challenge to scale

their businesses to a

protable size due to

bottlenecks at the abattoirs.

The proposed Nicola Valley

community abattoir would

provide custom slaughter and

cut and wrap services to local

farmers and ranchers. It

would be a government-

inspected Class A facility able

to provide a full range of

services for red meat

processing.

Producers are currently

hamstrung by a serious lack

of processing capacity.

“The proposed community

abattoir would be a rst-class

facility that would produce

the highest quality meat and

value-added products for BC

consumers while creating

numerous employment

opportunities for the local

community,” says Smith. “It

will also enable local farmers

and ranchers to grow their

businesses and create greater

opportunities to maximize

prot.

If successful, SSMPA hopes

to begin construction on the

facility in early 2021 with a

goal of being operational in

time for the busy fall/winter

season. (The program

requires projects to complete

by March 31, 2023.)

Mobile abattoir proposed

Another funding

application through the

program is for a mobile

abattoir that would serve

Galiano, Mayne and Pender

Islands. It would be multi-

species and self-contained

with potable water, a

generator, processing area

and cooler. If successful, the

project will be a cooperative

eort with farmers and

farming groups on the

southern Gulf Islands to

increase employment,

increase farm revenue,

encourage increased livestock

numbers and farm viability,

and accelerate economic

recovery and enhance

regional food security.

While applicants believe

the program is a step in the

right direction, they also

believe that regulatory

changes and more support

and opportunities such as this

are needed to remove barriers

and realize the industry’s

potential throughout the

province.

2 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

foodservice channel shut

down, consumer spending

shift and sporadic outbreaks

of COVID-19 at processing

plants.

“The problem with setting

allocation at that point was

that the shortage in

foodservice did not equate to

the transfer to retail; it wasn’t

equal,” says Vanderspek.

(Foodservice typically

accounts for 40% of demand

nationwide.) “In addition, it

was extremely dicult for the

processing sector to shift

gears and now package a

much larger volume for the

retail market.”

National allocations for the

A-163 and A-164 production

periods decreased 13% and

12%, respectively, but the cuts

weren’t allocated evenly. BC

production fell by 7.5% but

eastern Canada, which was

more impacted by the rst

wave of the pandemic, saw a

cut in the range of 15%.

“We haven’t seen negative

allocations in Canada here for

a long time, and it was quite

foreign for us,” Vanderspek

told growers.

A reduction in COVID-19

cases over the summer saw

Chicken Farmers of Canada

adopt a 2% reduction in

production for period A-165

(August 30-October 25) but

the outlook changed as case

counts of COVID-19 increased

in late August. Processors

contested an allocation of

0.5% over the base for A-167,

which begins December 20,

and Ontario growers asked

Chicken Farmers of Canada to

reconsider the decision on

October 26 as restrictions in

their region tightened.

Chicken Farmers of Canada

held rm, and while the

increase in A-167 means

production will increase in

eastern Canada relative to BC,

the system is serving its

purpose – however

imperfectly – in stabilizing

conditions for producers.

“As much as we’re not

happy with how this played

out, it’s a better scenario than

what could have taken place,”

says Derek Janzen, who

represents BC at Chicken

Farmers of Canada. “Going

into 167 and beyond, we’re

going to be faced with some

situations like that coming up

as well, and we have to make

sure we steer out of that. But

we’ve got to make sure we

stay united as provinces in a

national system, because

that’s the backbone of what

we’re doing here with supply

management. We can’t

become fragmented.”

Despite the concerns over

restaurant closures, take-out

options have kept chicken on

the menu.

“People aren’t ordering a

medium-rare steak to go,”

notes Vanderspek. “They’re

ordering chicken because it

travels well, it gets to the

home, you can reheat it.”

GD Repair Ltd

604.807.2391

www.tractorparts4sale.ca

Setting the record straight

Sustainability program delivers value to industry (November 2020)

identied Tantalus Vineyards as following organic practices, but its

vineyard is not certied organic; Re: Bigger, Better Egg Production,

the Big Dutchman Natura Step XL Aviary system at Nest Egg Farms

in Abbotsford is the largest installation of that particular system in

the world.

Orchardists forge

ahead following

late-season freeze

Growers continue to pick to

preserve tree health

Tahir Raza stands between rows of frozen Ambrosia apples in his brother Sajid's orchard. The apples look ne but

when cut open, the core is soft mush. PHOTO / TOM WALKER

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 3

Serving 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 250-838-6414

by TOM WALKER

LAKE COUNTRY – The Raza

brothers received the Golden

Apple award from the BC Fruit

Growers Association in 2016,

but this year has left them

feeling anything like winners

after an early frost combined

with snow hit their orchard.

“Mother Nature can sure

suck,” comments Sajid Raza,

bundled up against the cold

and barely recognizeable as

he drives by on his tractor

picking up bins of apples.

The Galas in the bin are a

good size and fully coloured,

but when Sajid’s brother Tahir

cuts into one, the centre is

discoloured and mushy. It’s

almost worthless.

Towards the end of

October, the Razas were

watching the weather, racing

to get their crop picked before

the rst frosts hit. One of the

most northern orchards in the

Okanagan, it takes longer here

for apples to achieve full

colour and avour than at

sites further south.

“The weatherman is not

always right,” Tahir says. “We

knew some weather was

coming, but we only had two

days warning of the freeze.”

He says they have fewer

seasonal workers from abroad

than last year and they were

only able to hire one local

person when they usually get

two or three. Friends in the

industry showed up with

some extra crews, but it wasn’t

enough.

Tahir estimates 650 bins of

apples (approximately 500,000

pounds) had yet to be picked

when the temperatures hit -

10° C across the Okanagan on

October 23-26.

That was cold enough to

freeze the apples. Some are

visibly damaged with black

spots that appeared a couple

of days after the freeze while

others have a pale yellow

discoloration that’s hard to

spot.

Sajid ships to Consolidated

Fruit Packers Ltd. in Kelowna,

which will pay him four cents a

pound for the damaged fruit.

While picking costs work out

to 12 cents a pound – making

it a money-losing exercise –

Tahir says the payment from

CFP will give the business

some cash. The fruit has to be

picked anyway to protect the

trees and support the growth

of new buds for next year.

“If the apples hang on the

tree and collect ice and snow,

their weight will break

branches and damage the

trees,” Tahir explains. “And

while they are still hanging on

the tree, energy is going into

the apple and not the buds

and we want the best bud

growth for next year.”

The range of microclimates

in the Okanagan means a cold

snap doesn’t aect all growers

the same way. The BC Ministry

of Agriculture says eight

producers in the north

Okanagan have submitted

notices of loss related to the

freeze. However, the ministry

says it is waiting on harvested

yield declarations and expects

to have nal gures in the

coming weeks.

www.rollinsmachinery.com

info@rollinsmachinery.com

Madeline Madeleine van

Roechoudt, president of

Dorenburg Orchards, also in

Lake Country but further

south than the Razas, had

one block left to pick when

the temperatures dropped.

But it was close to Okanagan

Lake, which moderates the

eects of local temperature

shifts.

“We tested the apples and

they were okay so we picked

and shipped them,” she says.

The freeze caps a tough

year for tree fruit growers.

Stone fruit growers were

impacted by a freeze in

February, then rains

hammered cherry growers,

resulting in record-setting

losses.

“[The cherry crop] was

hammered by rain as COVID

came along,” explains Warren

Saranchan, CEO of BC Tree

Fruits Co-op. “There were as

many as four hail storms that

damaged both cherries and

apples depending where you

were in the valley, and now

this freeze.”

Saranchan estimates that

just 5% of the BC Tree Fruits

crop was aected by frost.

Meanwhile, grape growers

appear to have escaped

unscathed. Most of the grape

crop was in and a bit of frost

will not usually aect grape

quality. Growers were initially

worried about vine damage,

but grape specialist Pat

Bowen of the Summerland

Research and Development

Centre says that grape vines

gain hardiness very quickly in

October. The frost at the end

of the month was late

enough that there shouldn’t

be any long-term eects.

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The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915

Vol.106 No. 12 . DECEMBER 2020

Published monthly by Country Life 2000 Ltd.

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Ho! Ho! Ho! PW!

Back to the future

Most people will be glad to see the end of 2020, a year that stands a good

chance of dening a generation in the same way the year 2000 did for

millennials. It may not have been the end of the world, but a lot of people felt

like they could see it from here. Yet people continued eating and drinking,

buying and selling, planting and building for the future. The things that were

essential continued. “This will go onward the same / Though Dynasties pass,” as

poet Thomas Hardy said a century ago in the midst of the First World War.

A reminder that there’s always opportunities for positive change came to us in

a letter from Hilda Born of Abbotsford, a retired dairy farmer who recounts the

critical role that women from BC made in the ght for equal rights for farm

women across the country back in 1980. Those old enough will remember that

Ronald Reagan had just defeated incumbent Jimmy Carter in the US election

against a backdrop of a hostage taking in Iran, and an energy crisis led Canada

to introduce the National Energy Policy as a recession took hold.

Born was one of a six women who boarded a plane for Ottawa on December 2

that year, angry that farm women could not get bank loans or contribute to the

Canada Pension Plan. It was only eight years earlier that inheritance laws

changed to allow daughters to inherit the family farm on equal terms as sons.

Quebec laws at the time still accounted farm women as little more than chattel,

she points out. When the group landed in Ottawa and caught a shuttle bus to

the convention venue, a civil servant exclaimed that none of them looked like

farm women. “Did he think we would head to the Chateau Laurier in our barn

boots?” she wondered.

The rst National Farm Women’s Conference urged federal agriculture

minister Eugene Whelan to change the Income Tax Act to allow farm women to

be paid for farm work, and to grant associated rights under the Canada Pension

Plan and unemployment programs. Moreover, lending rules needed to be

changed to extend credit to male and female farmers equally, and wives should

have the same rights as unmarried women in farm business partnerships.

The women were heard, and the changes became law on December 14, 1980,

Surely one of the most unexpected consequences

of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the public

support for politicians leading the charge to

vanquish

it.

October

24, BC

Premier

John

Horgan

led the NDP from a minority coalition toehold to an

overwhelming majority, winning 57 of 87 legislature

seats. Just a week earlier, New Zealand Prime

Minister Jacinda Ardern garnered 50% of the

popular vote and won 64 of 120 seats to form the

rst majority government in 24 years. On September

14, New Brunswick voters gave Premier Blaine Higgs’

minority Conservative government another seven

seats and a solid majority.

Each of these contests was considered a toss-up

before the arrival of COVID-19. All three leaders were

stalwart in leading the battle against the virus and

the economic challenges that came with it, and were

rewarded with a surge in popularity.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has seen a similar

rise in public opinion and is likely itching to try

turning it into a majority. Donald Trump, on the

other hand, was unable or unwilling to mount a

robust response to COVID-19 in the US. Given the

closeness of the US election, you have to wonder if

all the strident denial rhetoric and the absence of a

meaningful and eective pandemic response cost

him a second presidential term.

The takeaway from all these elections is eective

leadership is critical in times of crisis, and the public

will rally behind whoever can provide it. This was

certainly the case in BC where the government

quickly stepped behind the lead of provincial health

ocer Dr. Bonnie Henry. Dr. Henry and BC Minister

of Health Adrian Dix became the public face of the

provincial COVID-19 response.

The professionalism of Dr. Henry and the certainty

of the government’s approach inspired public

condence. Dr. Henry garnered the trust of 79% of

British Columbians and health minister Dix was close

behind at 71%. Those are heady numbers for any

politician, and when the government’s COVID-

related approval rating topped 80% last summer, the

writing was on the wall.

Timing is everything

Timing is everything in politics and numbers like

80% are unlikely to last for long, regardless of how

eectively the COVID pandemic is managed. As it

drags on, other priorities will capture voters’

attention. Ultimately, the pandemic will subside and

the government will have to face the economic

aftermath, along with drug overdoses, homelessness

and all the other ongoing challenges.

With a solid majority to see the government

through the rough patches to come, another

election is likely four years away.

The government’s support is drawn largely from

heavily urban ridings. Where does this leave BC

agriculture?

Agriculture has an indisputable relevance for

every person in the province, but individual realities

are often worlds apart.

Consider an Okanagan apple grown in Kelowna-

Lake Country and purchased in Vancouver-West End:

the grower is paid four cents for it and the consumer

buys it for 67 cents. Both are concerned: the

consumer because the apple is so expensive, the

grower because four cents is less than half the cost

of growing and picking it. The consumer wishes the

apple cost less, never realizing that even if the

grower provided the apple for free, it would still cost

63 cents.

There are larger issues at play in this scenario, and

others, that fall squarely in the government’s

purview.

Governments always have objectives. Primary

among them is re-election. To that end,

governments pass legislation that includes

regulation that requires implementation that

necessitates compliance.

Farmers and ranchers will be watching closely to

see what priority agriculture will nd in the

government’s expanded benches and what exactly

is the objective for agriculture.

More importantly, and concerningly: how does

the government plan to achieve it?

The apple grower should be a cautionary tale for

the premier: legislation isn’t agriculture, and it

cannot be sustained by good intentions and sunny

rhetoric or a legislature full of honourable members.

It can only be sustained by the farmers and ranchers

who do it every day.

They deserve more than a four-cent apple.

Bob Collins raises beef cattle and grows produce on

his farm in the Alberni Valley.

The Back Forty

BOB COLLINS

making women full partners in the essential work of putting food on the tables

of Canada and the world. The legacy continues to be felt today, as the role of

women in agriculture grows beyond the eld into legislatures and parliament.

As one year ends and another begins, there’s no shortage of opportunities to

advance farming. If not now, when?

Pandemic gives leaders a boost, but what about farmers?

4 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

We acknowledge the

financial support of the

Government of Canada.

BC agriculture set to lead food conversations

Policy document lays foundation for wider alliances for food security

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 5

BC agriculture just

published a sele: a timely

and detailed self-portrait. BC

Agriculture Council president

Stan Vander Waal introduced

the October 2020 Study of the

BC Agriculture Sector as farmers’

response to the report earlier

this year of the province’s food

security task force, saying, “BC

agriculture needs to come

together and express its own

plan for the future.”

The report makes a case for

BC agriculture’s wider

contribution as an “economic

stabilizer” and public good,

outlining policy opportunities

at the provincial and

regional/municipal levels. A

bubble diagram on page 41

with BC’s agriculture sector at

the centre shows its

connections not just to the

food supply but to the

environment, emergency

management, economic

recovery, employment and

more. This is what some

analysts call the multi-

functionality of agriculture.

The diagram of the

producers’ universe is

important because of the

linkages it describes and

because other actors in the

larger food universe –

Indigenous, public health,

environmental, anti-poverty

groups – also see themselves

that way, with their work at

the centre of their bubble

diagrams.

The report stumbles in its

case study of food security

where, after a discussion of

subsidized or charitable food

distribution programs, it picks

up on the task force report to

suggest “exporting intellectual

property in the form of

technology solutions to

jurisdictions all over the

globe.”

At best, this comes o as a

non sequitur. The trouble is in

the term “food security,” by

which this study and the task

force report mean security of

supply – the producers’

domain.

However, food

security is a

signicant term in

other food

domains, where it

is assigned other

meanings. The BC

Ministry of Health calls food

security a “key determinant of

health,” meaning safe and

nutritious food to support

healthy food choices.

Organizations such as Food

Secure Canada have moved

from focusing on food

security to speaking about

food sovereignty to tackle

questions of ownership and

control in food systems from

seed to plate.

Downloading risks

Food insecurity for

Canadians who go hungry,

which has increased during

the pandemic, is understood

as a problem of poverty by

thought leaders like PROOF,

the food insecurity policy

research group at the

University of Toronto and the

Maple Leaf Centre for Action

on Food Security established

by Maple Leaf Foods in 2016.

Paul Taylor, former executive

director of Gordon

Neighbourhood House in

Vancouver and now head of

FoodShare in Toronto, refers

to the challenge of running a

food charity even before the

pandemic.

“Generations of

government downloading …

onto the charitable sector” are

no substitute for eective

public policy “when it comes

to addressing wicked

problems like poverty and

food insecurity,” he says in a

recent podcast for Toronto

anti-poverty group Maytree

[http://bit.do/paul-taylor-5-

ideas].

Taylor, with the authority of

Black experience, addresses

structural racism in food

systems. When FoodShare

collaborated with PROOF on

the research question “How

do Black and White

populations in Canada dier

in their risk of household food

insecurity?” the results

showed that Black households

are 3.56 times more likely to

be food insecure than White

households. PROOF’s report

Household Food Insecurity in

Canada 2017-18

[http://bit.do/fK8Jq] shows

that “the highest rates of food

insecurity are found among

households where the

respondent identied as

Indigenous or Black.”

Working together

Awareness of structural

racism has been accelerated

by the pandemic, which most

heavily impacts the racialized

communities from which

many food system workers

come. UBC’s Centre for

Sustainable Food Systems

brought this and other topics

into a webinar series this year

entitled “Building Resilient

Food Systems During COVID-19

and Beyond”

[http://bit.do/fK8Jt]. Ten

panels engaged BC farmers,

workers, Indigenous teachers,

business leaders and

academics. Though not all

agree on solutions, all share a

passion for and commitment

to food, jointly displaying a

large reservoir of talent and

expertise in BC.

Industry leaders are already

making progress on another

issue highlighted by the

pandemic – the tension

between eciency and

resiliency in supply chains –

with the new BC Beef brand

and processing plant in

Westwold. The project has

been developed to a regional

scale; it will serve both beef

and dairy sectors; it will give

rancher members a cut of the

prots; and it will produce a

branded product under a

federal licence (meaning

products can be exported

internationally as well as sold

domestically). These

innovative features make the

project a promising resilience

case study.

BC’s agriculture sector looks

to be in a good leadership

position for 2021. A May 2020

public opinion poll

commissioned by BCAC

showed that public approval

and trust for BC farmers,

already good, has improved

since 2018.

BCAC’s goal of developing

strategic partnerships

provides a welcome bridge to

new conversations with

current and potential allies

such as those convened by

UBC, and new opportunities

for policy advocacy. The

multifunctionality argument,

in particular, could play into a

proposal for a provincial food

policy council, through which

food systems in BC could be

strengthened across

disciplines and silos. BC

producers have made a good

case for their primary role.

Kathleen Gibson is a policy

analyst and founding member

of the Capital Region Food and

Agriculture Initiatives

Roundtable (CR-FAIR), the BC

Food Systems Network and

Food Secure Canada. She lives

and grows food on the

traditional territory of the

Lekwungen-speaking peoples

and the Songhees, Esquimalt

and WSÁNEĆ Nations.

Viewpoint

by KATHLEEN GIBSON

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From everyone at Country Life in BC, may the spirit

of the holiday season be yours now & in the new year!

CATHY GLOVER

publisher

DAVID SCHMIDT

editor emeritus

PETER MITHAM

associate editor

contributors

Anita Desai

Barbara Johnstone Grimmer

Sean McIntyre

Ronda Payne

columnists

Bob Collins

Margaret Evans

Kathleen Gibson

Anna Helmer

Judie Steeves

Jackie Pearase

Richard Rolke

Myrna Stark Leader

Sarbmeet Singh

Tom Walker

graphics

Tina Rezansoff

office

Betty Lee Longstaff

6 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

As 2020 comes to a close the sta昀 and agents at

BC Farm & Ranch Realty Corp. would like to thank

our amazing BC Farmers for all they did for

our communities this past year and every year.

May 2021 bring you happiness, good health, and success.

We look forward to serving you in the new year for all your

acreage and agricultural real estate needs.

bcfarmandranch.com

info@bcfarmandranch.com | 604-852-1180 | 1-888-852-AGRI (2474)

John Glazema

778.201.2474

agri@bcfarmandranch.com

Georgia Clement

250.378.1654

georgiaclement_2@hotmail.com

Susanne Walton

604.309.9398

sw.bcfr@gmail.com

Gord Houweling - PREC

604.793.8660

gordhouweling@gmail.com

Rajin Gill - PREC

778.982.4008

rajinrealtor@gmail.com

Gordie Blair

250.517.0557

gt.blair@live.ca

Veer Malhi - PREC

778.241.7451

virbinder77@gmail.com

Gordon Aikema

250.306.1580

gordon@bcfarmandranch.com

Steve Campbell

250.550.4321

s.campbell.sells@gmail.com

Emma Rose

604.614.9825

emma@bcfarmandranch.com

Barry Brown-John

250.342.5245

b.brownjohn@gmail.com

Robbi-layne Robertson

250.453.9774

rlr@bcfarmandranch.com

Greg Walton

604.864.1610

greg@bcfarmandranch.com

Alec Yun

778.859.8011

alecyun@icloud.com

Amanda Leclair

604.833.1594

amandaleclair@live.com

Ruth Meehan

604.309.2295

ruthma.meehan@gmail.com

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 7

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Innovate. Grow. Prosper.

Kamloops farmers push back on irrigation plan

System upgrades could cost

$14 million

by JACKIE PEARASE

KAMLOOPS – A group of

irrigation water users in

Kamloops received a reprieve

on a city plan to undertake a

$14 million system upgrade

that would leave users on the

hook for the bulk of that cost.

Representatives of the

Noble Creek Irrigation System

petitioned Kamloops city

council November 3 to cancel

the local area service (LAS) the

city planned to implement to

recover 80% of the project’s

cost from NCIS users.

Kamloops had committed

to funding $2.8 million of the

project but the 47 property

owners within the service area

would need to pay their share

of the remaining $11.2 million

based on parcel size.

The cost per property

ranged from just over $5,000

to over $1.9 million to be paid

as a one-time sum or as an

annual payment on the

parcel’s property tax over 30

years, with interest accruing

on the amount owing.

Kamloops cattle rancher

Jon Peachey says the interest

would bankrupt his 248-acre

farm.

“I am signicantly impacted

with the cost of this because I

can only irrigate arable acres

but I would have to pay for

the total acreage if the LAS

procedure went through,” he

says. “The proposed LAS

would cost me just under $2.6

million. With interest, by my

calculation, payment for

irrigation water would be

approximately $175,000 per

year if current water charges

remain the same and the LAS

is implemented. This

translates to $1,400 per acre

per year for the next 30 years,

which makes my farm

completely non-viable. …

There’s no hope of competing

in that circumstance; it’s a

hopeless situation.”

Ailing system

The process around the

NCIS began in 2016 when city

sta requested council’s

direction on the future

operation of the nancially

failing and aging system, some

of it dating back to 1968. Much

of the system is constructed

with asbestos cement pipe

that has an approximate

lifespan of 60 years.

Kamloops-based

engineering rm Urban

Systems released a condition

assessment of the system to

Kamloops council in mid-

February. It provides

recommendations for repairs

and upgrades to the system

including a new concrete

reservoir at a cost of almost

$4.2 million.

Rancher Joe Peachey (right) and his family would have paid millions for their water if Kamloops had approved a

Local Area Service for irrigation. PHOTO / MURRAY MITCHELL

Users received notice of

the need for the upgrades in

a letter from the city on

October 21. The letter gave

the option of opposing the

LAS via a counter-petition.

“The last time we were

consulted was July 31, 2019.

It’s been 15 months and then

we received another crummy

letter,” says farmer Adam

Woodward, speaking on

behalf of 40 NCIS users.

He says the group could

easily defeat the LAS through

the assigned process.

“We’re condent that we

can, however it’s not a good

use of time and taxpayers’

money,” says Woodward of

the family-run Woodward

Christmas Trees and

Woodward Cider Co. “More

importantly, if we don’t reject

it now, it says we do accept

the process and associated

costs to the users, which we

currently don’t.”

Woodward says the Urban

Systems report provides good

information on the system

but users take exception to

the city going ahead with the

entire project regardless of

people’s ability to pay.

“It appeared that city sta

just grabbed the report and

elected to choose all the

optional items that were in

there,” he notes. “If this goes

forward, it will simply put

farmers out of business,

devalue our land, and how

does that benet the

community?”

Riverbend Orchard co-

owner Carole Gillis applauds

the city for its work to oer

winter stock water to NCIS

users but says more eort is

needed around consultation

with farmers.

She suggests the creation of

an agricultural advisory

committee as recommended in

the city’s agricultural area plan.

“I would suggest that if

that an (AAC) had been

established, we might not

nd ourselves in this place

because I would argue that

the farmers represented on

the (NCIS) collectively

embody every single aspect

of the strategies and goals of

your local agricultural area

plan. And we can only do so if

we have access to irrigation

as the plan acknowledges.”

Debbie Woodward of

Woodward Christmas Trees

says the system is subsidized

by about $130,000 annually

because rates have not

increased since 2001.

“If we’d had an increase of

even 3% per year, the revenue

you are enjoying now would

actually be double what it is

today.”

The option to establish a local area service (LAS) was given to municipalities under the

BC Community Charter, enacted in 2003 by the Gordon Campbell government. The

charter, controversial at the time because it was considered a tool to download

responsibilities onto municipalities, aimed “to give communities the powers and resources

to make local decisions locally.”

The option of an LAS gave municipalities and property owners a mechanism to provide

services to a specic number of properties. Property owners within the service area, rather

than the municipality, would in turn pay for the services provided. The municipal bylaw

establishing the LAS would set forth the manner of payment. Property owners would

receive an estimate in advance of what their individual share of the costs would be.

Under the Community Charter, property owners within the LAS can initiate a counter

petition against the proposed service. The counter-petition process requires that the bylaw

not be adopted if at least 50% of owners representing at least 50% of the assessed value of

land and improvements subject to the tax sign a petition opposing the LAS.

—Jackie Pearase

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NCIS requested that council

halt the LAS process, create an

AAC, do an agricultural economic

assessment on the land, enhance

infrastructure management, and

seek funding from provincial and

federal levels of government for a

portion of the project costs.

Inuenced by the arguments,

council voted to stop the LAS

process on November 3.

Clunky process

“This has been a bit of a clunky

process,” notes councillor Arjun

Singh. “I understand the angst

and respect how the users feel

hearing about this at a time when

they feel they haven’t had a lot of

time to work with it and touch

and feel what we’re proposing

here. We have been trying very

hard to gure out how to make

this work.”

Councillor Bill Sarai says it is

important for them to support

local agriculture.

“I want you guys to succeed. I

don’t want a farm to go under for

a nancial reason. I don’t think

that’s what we’re here for. We

need to nd a solution and I think

that’s what local governments are for.”

Mayor Ken Christian welcomes the creation of an

AAC to encompass the numerous farming

communities within the Kamloops region including

Heey Creek, Knutsford, Campbell Creek and

Barnhartvale.

“I think there’s enough interest there that we

could have an engagement group that would feed

information through to council through a

community relations committee,” he says.

Christian says the city is constantly seeking

outside funding for such projects but much of the

funds oered by higher levels of government are for

domestic, not agricultural water projects.

He takes exception to NCIS users comparing

Kamloops agricultural water rates to those in

Kelowna. He says NCIS users have a separate

domestic potable water system (created in 2010 at a

cost of $5.5 million) whereas the Kelowna systems

are shared by domestic and

agricultural users.

Christian says it is unfair for the

NCIS system to be subsidized by

domestic water rates because

none of Kamloops’ other

agricultural water systems are

subsidized.

He suggests that NCIS users

consider taking over the system

and undertake repairs as needed,

a plan the city cannot follow

because it is obligated to bring

the system up to the engineering

standard.

“There’s a bit of a disconnect

because the users out there

wouldn’t normally go for that

complete reconstruction; they

would probably do something

that was much less expensive.

They have the ability to do that;

we unfortunately don’t,” he explains.

After reversing the LAS

process, the city released

decisions made at closed council

meetings leading up to the

recommendation to implement

the LAS process.

Christian instructed city sta

that further NCIS discussions be

open to the public.

“I want to have that discussion occur in an open

session of council so it’s like any other matter that

comes before us on a regular basis until it’s resolved,”

he says. “The one thing I know for sure is that system

will fail. What I don’t want when it does fail is people

pointing ngers saying you didn’t do this or you

didn’t do that. I want to have good, frank, open

discussions about what the future is. We can’t ignore

this problem.”

If city plans to upgrade the Noble Creek irrigation system were to go forward, Debbie and Adam Woodward say it

would put farmers like them out of business. They grow Christmas trees, and operate Privato Vineyard and Winery

and the Woodward Cider Company on 80 acres on Westsyde Road in Kamloops. PHOTOS / MURRAY MITCHELL

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 9

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ILT puts broiler

farms on the

defensive

Biosecurity, proper vaccination

key to protecting flocks

by PETER MITHAM

ABBOTSFORD – A highly

contagious form of respiratory

herpes has prompted broiler

farms in the Fraser Valley to

take a closer look at

vaccination protocols.

Infectious Laryngotracheitis

(ILT) is endemic in the Fraser

Valley but annual cases have

surged to 30 ocks a year

from an average of about two

a year prior to 2018. This year,

21 ocks have reported

infections.

“The BC [Animal] Health

Centre has been diagnosing

ILT in an increasing number of

ocks lately in the Fraser

Valley,” says Dale Krahn, an

Abbotsford grower and

president of the BC Chicken

Growers Association.

To improve ock

management and health,

producers were treated to a

webinar on the issue on

November 18. A short form

was presented to BCCGA

members at their regular

meeting on October 28.

Dr. Gigi Lin, a veterinarian

with Canadian Poultry

Consultants Ltd. in

Abbotsford, told producers

that the highly contagious

disease is tough to detect,

helping it gain a foothold in

barns before producers know

what they’re dealing with. The

only signs may be mild watery

eyes and “snickering”

vocalizations by the birds, and

then, only midway in the

production cycle. Death is not

always immediate.

“Usually in broilers we see

the signs coming up later in

the production [cycle], usually

the third to fourth week,

closer to shipment,

fortunately,” says Lin. “Very

often the rst sign that you

will see is the dirtiness or

crustiness around the eye

because they have watery

eyes; it’s irritation and they

start scratching it and

bringing all the litter into the

eye.”

Once the virus is circulating

in the ock, producers need to

work to limit its spread. There

is no cure.

“ILT is a virus so there’s no

treatment that is available,”

says Lin. “It’s very important to

euthanize birds that have ILT

symptoms very promptly

because these birds are

denitely carriers and active

shedders of ILT viruses, so you

want to remove them very

quickly to minimize the

spread.”

While there are some

indications that iodine in the

water can help mitigate the

spread, Lin emphasized the

importance of quarantine for

infected barns and strong

biosecurity protocols to

prevent the virus from

spreading between ocks. This

is important regardless, in

case the initial symptoms

prove to be another disease.

“It’s very important to make

sure when you see the signs

to submit birds to your vet or

to the lab because many,

many dierent diseases that

are in poultry can share similar

clinical signs,” she says.

Sanitation between

production cycles is key.

Standard pest control

measures and maximizing the

time between restocking

barns is important when a

cycle ends. The virus that

causes ILT is particularly

susceptible to heat, meaning

the litter can be treated before

disposal to limit the risk of

spread.

“You can actually kill a lot of

the virus through heat

treatment,” she says. “Before

Fraser Valley broiler farms are on alert as Infectious Laryngotracheitis (ILT) cases have risen dramatically since

2017. Crusty eyes are the rst visible sign of infection. FILE PHOTO / RONDA PAYNE

you move the manure out, I

would recommend that you

heat the litter for at least 100

hours [at] 100 degrees

Fahrenheit.”

While controlling the

disease requires special

attention to management

practices, there is a bright

side. The manifestation of the

disease relatively late in the

production cycle means

producers can limit losses by

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by PETER MITHAM

ABBOTSFORD – A new

human disease has resulted in

chicken growers holding onto

tools designed to protect

ock health.

The phase-out of Category

3 antimicrobials – a move that

would end all preventative

use of antibiotics from broiler

production – was scheduled

for the end of 2020.

COVID-19 has kicked those

plans to the curb, however.

The pandemic prevented

producers and processors

from agreeing on a

compensation formula to

mitigate higher production

costs incurred by the loss of

bacitracin, an antibiotic

primarily used to ght

Gram-positive bacteria.

An agreement had been

Antimicrobial

phase-out delayed

expected by June 2020.

“COVID in March-April

denitely derailed that

process,” reports BC Chicken

Marketing Board director Ray

Nickel, who has represented

BC in the discussions.

Marketing boards in the

four western provinces

agreed to compensation of

5.4 cents per kilo but

processors countered with an

oer of one cent, without

oering any rationale for the

lower sum.

“We could not come up

with a united agreement on

what that [cost] recovery was

going to look like,” says Nickel.

“In August, it was decided

that there were much more

important things to deal with

over the next year.”

While everyone agrees on

phasing out preventative

antibiotics, the delay in

accomplishing it may not be a

bad thing. Several research

projects are set to complete

in spring 2021 that promise a

better understanding of how

to manage the diseases

antibiotics addressed, and

what future costs to

producers will be.

“It is something that will in

one way, shape or form will

come to fruition,” says Nickel.

“But we do need to have a

better agreement with our

processing partners on what

that cost-recovery is going to

look like. … I expect it will

probably pick up momentum

again in the spring of 2021.”

arranging to ship birds early.

However, shipping seriously ill

birds contravenes humane

shipping regulations, and risks

a warning from the Canadian

Food Inspection Agency.

“If you notice any birds that

are in severe distress –

gasping already and very sick

– I would highly recommend

you euthanize the birds,” Lin

says. “Don’t ship them to the

plant because it’s denitely an

animal welfare issue.”

Lin urges growers who are

restocking barns where ILT

was present, or in areas where

ILT is prevalent, to vaccinate

their ocks. But she adds, “Just

because you’ve vaccinated

your birds doesn’t mean you

don’t have to do proper

biosecurity.”

Vaccination protocols were

the focus of discussions

November 4 among the BC

Poultry Association, sta from

the BC Ministry of Agriculture

and Animal Health Centre and

local poultry veterinarians.

Best practices for vaccination

and disease management

were discussed.

An early snowfall complicated the last of the year's grape harvest for growers such as Leo Gebert of

St. Hubertus Estate Winery in Kelowna. The winery's tractors chained up to haul its mechanical

harvesters and bins through the snow. While early frosts are not unknown, snow is an unusual

challenge for Okanagan grape growers. PHOTO / ST. HUBERTUS ESTATE WINERY

Snowed under

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 11

BC Tree Fruits Co-op members have given the board the green light to proceed with bylaw changes that will

restructure board membership and help modernize the coop. FILE PHOTO

Significant work left to do to

address grower concerns

BC Tree Fruits

makeover gets

green light

by TOM WALKER

KELOWNA – BC Tree Fruits

Co-op cleared a major hurdle

at its annual general meeting

on October 22 with the

approval of several bylaw

changes.

“The members approved

all of the bylaw changes that

were identied as part of the

governance study, completed

earlier in 2020,” says co-op

CEO Warren Saranchan.

The changes set the stage

for continued progress in

revitalizing the beleaguered

business.

The co-op board

developed the new bylaws to

implement recommendations

of the governance report

delivered to members in

February. Of the report’s 15

recommendations, four

required member approval,

while others that dealt with

board structure, board

membership and board

authority only required board

approval.

Bylaws that addressed the

recommendations of limiting

board member terms to two

consecutive three-year

tenures, adding two

independent professionals to

the board, members agreeing

to pay their share of the true

and direct costs of processing

and marketing fruit and

changing the qualications

for directors were all

approved by a super majority

at the AGM.

“I want to point out that

the super majority of 67% is a

very high threshold to

achieve,” notes Saranchan.

“This gives the board and

myself a very strong mandate

to make the changes that

were identied and we are

moving quickly to implement

what the members approved.”

Saranchan is optimistic.

“The bylaws support

recommendations that were

all designed to modernize the

cooperative,” he notes. “They

are very consistent with how

“And increasing director

academic qualications is

something I expect will

happen as we go through

towards the next AGM,” he

says.

On the issue of improving

fruit quality, Saranchan says

fruit delivered to the co-op

should be “of sucient quality

to command a return that

pays both the direct costs of

packing and the indirect costs

of marketing that fruit.”

The big question is how to

accomplish it. An incentive

program this year has helped,

but further initiatives are

required.

See MEMBERS on next page

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The rst item moving

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session for the board, which

was delivered in November

by one of the governance

study authors, John Kay, who

also worked with the board to

develop a policy and

procedure manual.

“The orientation will help

ensure that all of the board

members are on the same

page as to how the bylaws

and the policy and procedure

manual should work,” says

Saranchan.

Board member changes

were immediate. Saranchan

acknowledged the service of

three board members who

will not be returning:

Talwinder Bassi, Nirmal

Dhaliwal and Joginder Khosa.

Coming on to the board are

Andre Scheepers, Greg

Sanderson and Phil Patera,

who were all elected for

three-year terms.

Saranchan says

discussions on recruiting two

independent business

members for the board will be

happening in the near future.

12 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

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“That is something that the

board and myself will be

working to assess how we

best accomplish,” he says.

The co-op may need to

revisit the issue of grower

support. The previous board

and management approved

the ring of most of the eld

services support sta in 2019,

and others have resigned or

retired.

“One of the comments I

made at the AGM is that we

need to reassess the support

that the cooperative provides

to our growers,” he says. “As

we look forward to the spring

of 2021, based on the

learnings from 2020, we are

going to reassess what that

support looks like.”

It will not simply be

smooth sailing from here on,

however. Members passed a

motion from the oor asking

that grower contracts be

reduced from a three-year

term to one year.

“The board and I will be

providing a response back to

the membership no later than

February 28, 2021,” says

Saranchan.

The shorter term will allow

growers who are not satised

with their returns to end their

contracts with BCTF and

approach one of more than

20 independent packing

houses now operating in the

valley. Several co-op

members chose to go against

their contract obligations

with BCTF this fall and ship to

one of the independent

packinghouses.

The issue is a dicult one

but Saranchan pledges to

face it head-on and seek the

best outcome for members.

“There are elements that

are benecial and there are

elements that can be

problematic, so the task is to

gure out on balance what

the better option is,” he says.

“It is an important question

within our membership and

one that we owe a response

to.”

Both the board and

management have a lot of

work to do to build grower

trust.

“It is hard to watch the

management of the co-op

get paid their salaries

regardless of the price that

we growers receive for our

fruit,” says one grower, who

asked to remain anonymous

for fear of repercussions from

the co-op.

Many growers were

particularly angered last fall

when a top orchardist

received signicantly

Similkameen Valley

growers were surprised

to learn that the Growers

Supply Co. store in

Keremeos, owned by BC

Tree Fruits Cooperative,

would close November

21.

The store sold a range

of farm supplies to both

fruit and grape growers

as well as other farm

businesses.

BC Tree Fruits CEO

Warren Saranchan did

not disclose the reasons

for closing the store,

which was the second-

smallest of the six

Grower Supply locations

across the Okanagan

Valley and in Creston.

However, he indicated

that nancial

considerations were key.

“What I can say is that

the nancial position of

Growers Supply will

improve,” he said.

He said growers can

transfer their accounts to

Grower Supply locations

in Oliver or Penticton,

noting that operations at

both stores were being

improved to better serve

customers.

“That was part of this

overall package,” he said,

adding that the company

is also considering a

delivery service as part of

the improvements to

customer service.

—Tom Walker

Keremeos

supply

store

closes

dierent assessments of his

fruit from the packinghouses

in Oliver and Wineld. Oliver

graded the fruit at a lower

quality than Wineld.

“My apples were only 3%

to 5% culls in Wineld at pack

out, but up to 40% culls in

Oliver,” the grower said, again

asking to remain anonymous.

Several growers

complained about the

discrepancy and the co-op

investigated.

“We evaluated the grading

from our 2019 crop year,

specically looking at fruit

that was graded in both

Wineld and Oliver,” says

Saranchan. “Through that

assessment we felt that we

had to make some

corrections to the grading

results in Oliver.”

The co-op sent a letter

October 14 to growers who

had delivered three varieties

– Gala, Ambrosia and

McIntosh – to the two

packinghouses, describing

how to apply for the grading

assessment and corrective

payments.

“We adjusted the amount

that we returned to growers

to an amount that we felt

provided an increased equity

between both sites,” says

Saranchan. “It was a very

complex process to gure out

how to make the adjustments

for growers. I expect all the

money will be paid by the

end of the year.”

Avoiding that pack-out

discrepancy in the future is a

priority.

“We are working very hard

to ensure that we have an

appropriate level of equity in

our grading between both

sites,” says Saranchan. “It has

been a focus area for the

co-op all summer and we

continue to focus on it.”

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 13

Province rethinks land matching pitch

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VICTORIA – To increase

landowner participation in the

BC Land Matching Program

administered by Young

Agrarians, the BC Ministry of

Agriculture is drawing on

behavioural insights to nudge

landowners into leasing their

unused farmland to new

farmers.

Behavioural scientist

Christine Kormos presented

details and results of the

project at the BIG Dierence

BC online conference

November 6.

Kormos worked with the

province’s agriculture ministry

as a Mitacs Canadian Science

Policy Fellow to develop,

implement and evaluate

behavioural interventions to

target improved access to

land among new entrants to

agriculture in BC. She is

currently working as senior

behavioural scientist with the

BC Behavioural Insights Group

(BC BIG), established by the

province in 2016 as “a unit

within the BC Public Service

Agency that applies

behavioural science to

complex public policy

challenges.”

Other members of the

project team included Mikayla

Ford (BC BIG), agriculture

ministry sta Lindsay

Bisschop, Adrian Semmelink,

and Lindsay Miles-Pickup.

“Nudge” policies use

insights from behavioural

science to achieve policy

outcomes. They aim to

inuence people’s decisions

by changing the way options

are presented to them rather

than changing the options

themselves.

“Nudges are small tweaks,

not policy changes,” explains

Eldar Shar, a psychology

professor at Princeton

University and keynote

speaker at the conference.

“The policy challenge is

that farmland is a limited

resource in BC, and it is

important that farmland be

farmed to ensure a strong

localized food supply,” says

Kormos. “The ministry has

used various policy levers to

meet this land management

goal, such as the Agricultural

Land Reserve and the farm

class tax threshold.”

Kormos added that there is

still an opportunity to

optimize the use of farmland

in BC, since a signicant

portion of the farmable land

in BC is not currently being

used for agriculture.

“However, there is limited

access for new farmers,” says

Kormos. “There are a couple of

key reasons for this. Not only

does BC have some of the

oldest farmers in the country

with more than 58% of the

see it worth the cost, they had

concerns about lack of control

and privacy, the hassle, and

the lack of clarity around the

steps involved,” says Kormos.

“These are major barriers

and this is a life-changing

behaviour,” explains Kormos.

“So, I was not expecting a big

response rate.”

Messaging rethink

Postcards sent to selected

landowners to advertise the

program were redesigned

from the original “Got Land?

Want Land?” postcard using

behavioural insights.

The new design presented

leasing as normal by stating

that each year, thousands of

landowners in BC lease out

unused farmland. As social

proof and an incentive, a

quote from a landowner

stating the benets to the

program was added. The

messenger eect was

modied by giving the

postcard a government look

and feel.

To address the question

about the lack of clarity, the

postcards clearly outlined

steps in the land matching

process.

To humanize the message,

a photo of the BC Land

Matching program manager

with a welcoming message

and contact details was

added.

Another set of postcards

was tailored to specic

regions of the province.

The impact of the

postcards was evaluated in a

randomized controlled trial.

They were distributed this

summer to select landowners

in Metro Vancouver and the

Fraser Valley, Central

Okanagan and on Vancouver

Island. The selected

landowners were in the ALR,

65% or more of their parcel

was prime agricultural land,

less than 100% of the parcel is

currently farmed, and it is

greater than two acres.

The control group of 544

landowners was sent no

postcard. One group of 519

was sent the original postcard.

A third group of 508 was sent

the behavioural insights-

informed postcard, and a

fourth group of 511 sent the

behavioural insights-informed

postcard tailored to their

specic regions.

The plan was to measure

inquiries to the program by

phone or email over the

following three months, the

number of applications

initiated, and change in

farmland use by August 2021.

The response rate was

lower than expected at 12

inquiries out of 2,082

landowners, or 0.6%. The only

landowners who responded

by email or phone were in the

groups that received

postcards modied by

behavioural insights. Tailoring

the postcard to region had no

added benet. In short, the

nudge was eective, but only

slightly.

Kormos says if the inquiries

translate into matches it

would be encouraging, but is

it worth the cost?

Kormos suggests that the

ministry needs to consider the

next steps for improving

participation rates.

farmers over the age of 55, BC

also has some of the most

expensive farmland in Canada.

It is really dicult for aspiring

farmers to enter the

agricultural market.”

The BC Land Matching

Program, administered by

Young Agrarians and funded

in part by the BC Ministry of

Agriculture, was developed to

address this policy challenge

by matching landowners with

land seekers.

“So far, BCLMP has

appealed to land seekers

more than landowners,” says

Kormos. “There are lots of

farmers looking for land, but

fewer landowners looking for

lessees. Can landowners be

‘nudged’ to participate in the

BC Land Matching Program?”

Research with landowners

through focus groups and

farm visits helped the team

understand why landowners

weren’t knocking down the

door to get into the program.

“Landowners cited a lack of

awareness of Young Agrarians

and the BCLMP, and of those

who were aware, they didn’t

14 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

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Jack Reams P.Ag. Agri-Consulting

Adams, Ian Knudsen, Richard

Mumford, Ione Smith and

Gerry Zimmerman were

appointed for two-year terms

ending in October 2022.

Three-year appointments

were given to

Janice Tapp, Susan

Gimse and Jerry

Thibeault, whose

terms end in

October 2023.

Commission

members represent

a cross-section of expertise

from across the province.

Under the previous

government, the system of

regional panels was

disbanded but at least one

commissioner must be

appointed from each of the

province’s administrative

regions.

Candidates are selected in

a merit-based process

through the Crown Agency

and Board Resourcing Oce.

Appointments are made by

the agriculture minister in

consultation with the

commission chair.

—Peter Mitham

Blueberry council

set for elections

The BC Blueberry Council is

set to elect six new directors.

One will be elected from

Region A, which includes

Abbotsford, Agassiz and

Chilliwack. Two directors will

be chosen from each of

Region B (Coquitlam, Pitt

Meadows, Maple Ridge) and

Region C (Surrey, Delta,

Richmond, Langley). The sixth

director is at large.

Seven candidates are

running for the positions.

Xin Wang, Dalbir Benipal,

Ryan Thiara and Ray Biln are

running in Region B. In

Region C, Gurprit Singh Brar,

Paul Sangha and Harjot Toor

are trying their luck.

"Being a blueberry grower,

I have faced a lot of

challenges. My aim is to raise

the voice of the blueberry

growers and work for a

change in research,

marketing and processing of

the berries," says Gurprit Brar,

a young blueberry farmer in

Langley.

Two directors were

acclaimed. Bryce Guliker was

chosen to represent Region A

while Dave Gill will be

director-at-large.

The new directors will hold

their positions for three years.

There are around 80 voters

in Region B and 200 voters in

Region C.

"Members in Regions B and

C will be receiving ballots in

the mail, which need to be

mailed or hand-delivered to

the MNP oces in

Abbotsford by December 4.

MNP will count the votes,”

said Abbie Henderson,

program coordinator with the

BC Blueberry Council. “Due to

COVID-19 concerns, our

annual general meeting is

taking place virtually. The

results will be announced at

the meeting on December

10."

—Sarbmeet Singh

Award honours

young agrologist

Adrian Semmelink, a

respected new entrant

agrologist with the BC

Ministry of Agriculture, died

suddenly in his sleep at the

age of 28 in October.

To honour him and

recognize his dedication to

sustainable agriculture

practices, family and friends

are establishing a bursary in

his name.

The award will support

students pursuing

postgraduate studies in the

Resources, Environment and

Sustainability (RES) Program at

UBC with preference given to

those focused on sustainable

agriculture.

Adrian Semmelink was a

2018 RES graduate who

studied sustainable

agriculture and farmer

practices.

The ministry is supporting

creation of the bursary and

extended its deepest

condolences to his family,

friends, and colleagues.

“He was well respected by

those he worked with in the

farming community for both

his personality and his

commitment to help new and

young farmers get into

agriculture,” says a statement

from the ministry. “The

ministry is in contact with UBC

as they pursue the creation of

an award for best graduate

work in the area of sustainable

agriculture to honour Adrian.”

The goal is to establish

either an annual award or an

endowed award.

The minimum amount to

establish an annual award is

$10,000 to be distributed in

increments over ve to 10

years. If the amount raised is

$50,000, the award will be

endowed in perpetuity. The

nal use of the funds will be

determined by the UBC

Institute for Resources,

Environment and

Sustainability in consultation

with Adrian’s family.

To contribute to the award,

visit [support.ubc.ca/adrian-

semmelink].

—Barbara Johnstone

Grimmer

Horticultural loss

Linda Edwards, a respected

horticultural consultant and

author of Organic Tree Fruit

Management, the rst

complete guide for Canadian

organic fruit growers, has died.

Edwards brought extensive

experience to the industry as

an IPM consultant in

conventional orchards for

many years and had her own

organic fruit farm in Cawston.

Her experience as a grower

was invaluable to her

appreciation of the challenges

others faced and made her a

sensitive mentor, too.

Together with husband Brian

Mennell, she was a partner in

Cawston Cold Storage, an

organic fruit packinghouse

and marketer.

--Peter Mitham

Several members of the

Agricultural Land Commission

whose terms expired the

week of the October 24

election were quietly

reappointed to their roles via

ministerial order on

September 11.

The order ensured

continuity at the ALC

between governments, and

heralds no major change

among the players

responsible for adjudicating

land use applications.

The commission has 14

members, including chair

Jennifer Dyson. The

ministerial order saw nine

members reappointed to the

commission.

The continuing members

include Honey Forbes of

Duncan, reappointed for a

one-year term ending

October 23, 2021.

Commissioners Andrew

Land commission appointments announced

Ag Briefs

EDITED BY PETER MITHAM

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Creating informed consumers and showcasing career opportunities in agriculture are just two of several preferred

outcomes for students participating in the Agriculture in the Classroom program. FILE PHOTO / RONDA PAYNE

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 15

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VPS107683 107684 (11/2020)

On behalf of Melanie Lantz,

VP Agriculture & Agribusiness,

we are pleased to announce the

appointment of Iain Sutherland to

RBC’s Commercial Agriculture Team.

Iain will lead business development efforts across BC’s Interior

regions. We look forward to expanding our reach to even more

producers across multiple sectors who will be well served by his

knowledge and expertise. Welcome Iain!

iain.sutherland@rbc.com

Phone: 250 515 0173

by RONDA PAYNE

ABBOTSFORD – BC

Agriculture in the Classroom

Foundation has been

introducing BC students to

agriculture for nearly four

decades.

Now, it’s kicked o a

national discussion organized

by Agriculture in the

Classroom Canada in order to

keep students informed for

decades to come.

BCAITC was the rst

provincial organization to host

a live videoconference where

stakeholders could discuss

their successes, concerns and

hopes. The nine other

provincial organizations will

follow suit through 2021.

A unique challenge BC

faces in delivering agriculture

education is the province

produces more than 200

products across diverse

regions, says BCAITC executive

director Pat Tonn.

“We need to get into

diverse regions of the

province,” she says. “We have

to make agriculture relevant

to them.”

Prior to the videoconference

on October 19, stakeholders

in BC were asked to share

their thoughts through an

online written forum.

Questions included: “Why is

AITC important to you and

your organization?” “What

sector topics are priorities in

your province to increase

public trust?” and “What do

you want students to think,

know and feel about

agriculture during and at the

end of their K to 12 journey?”

Responses to the rst

question included creating

informed future consumers

(the most important reason to

respondents), showcasing

career opportunities to build a

thriving industry and making

agriculture understandable

and relatable to students.

“It requires unbiased

education and understanding

of the pros and cons,” says

AITC Canada executive

director Johanne Ross, who

participated in the BC

videoconference.

She pointed to one

comment that had been

included in the online forum:

“I’d rather students ask Ag in

the Classroom than Google.”

During the live discussion,

BC Cattlemen’s Association

beef production specialist

Bree Patterson noted that

connecting with the urban

public is a key issue, while

nursery operator Brian Minter

wanted thinking globally to

be part of the discussion.

“There are new ways

through technology that we’re

going to be able to produce

food, even locally,” says Minter.

“We need to be thinking of

the larger scope and future

scope.”

Dierentiation of Canadian

agricultural products versus

those of other countries was

top of mind for Melanie Lantz,

vice-president agriculture and

agribusiness with RBC. Other

participants in the live

discussion noted that climate

change and land use

information is important, as is

making agriculture relatable

to students, both as a

consumer and as someone

working in the industry.

Illustrating job opportunities

in a hands-on way was

recommended in order for

students to embrace the

innovations.

“We’re currently preparing

students for jobs and

technologies that don’t even

exist yet,” says Tonn.

Breaking it down

Within the climate change

and sustainability topic

posted in the online forum,

the most important subtopic

for respondents was

sustainable agricultural

practices with environmental

issues second and soil health

third. The business of food

and agriculture topic saw the

economic impact of

agriculture and food sector

rank as the most important

subtopic. Demystifying

corporate involvement in

agriculture and how the value

chain works tied for second.

Under the question about

what respondents wanted

students to think, know and

feel, one online comment was,

“that it takes smart savvy

people to grow the plants and

food that they enjoy.”

The theme of social justice

and food security came up

numerous times.

“It’s been on the radar in a

way it’s never been before,”

says Rob Hannam of Synthesis

Agri-Food Network, a Guelph,

Ontario consulting rm that

facilitated the stakeholder

videoconference.

Minter asked how it would

be possible to get more food

into food banks for those who

don’t have access to it.

“We need to be very

diverse,” he says. “This whole

issue of social justice (and)

poverty leads to people not

having fresh food. We need as

many cultures included in this

as possible.”

Concerns about food

shortages during the

COVID-19 pandemic gured in

the discussion.

“I think food security (has)

become a bigger

conversation,” says Julie

Dickson Olmstead, managing

director, public aairs and

corporate social responsibility,

with Save-On-Foods in Surrey.

“It’s not just about people

who can’t aord it anymore,

it’s about everybody.”

Ross notes that students

are taking a greater interest in

food security issues.

Outcomes of the BC session

will be available to

participants who will also hear

what other provinces discuss.

The overall conversation will

help drive the national

strategy.

“We would love to see

every student in Canada have

an agricultural education

experience, every year,” says

Ross. “That is our North Star

goal.”

She says becoming a

household name and a charity

of choice is one way to reach

this goal, as is building

national collaborations.

“We can get that loud and

proud out to the whole

country,” she notes.

Ag in the Classroom prepares for change

Consumer education and social

justice a priority

16 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

IF IT’S WORTH IT TO YOU, IT’S WORTH IT TO US.

Contact our agribusiness specialists by email at

agribusiness@ﬁrstwestcu.ca

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MEASURED IN ACRES

AND NOT HOURS

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Divisions of First West Credit Union

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Kerry Clark, left, has stepped down after six years as president of the BC Honey Producers Association. He

presented Lance and Bobby Cuthill with a lifetime achievement award at last year’s meeting. FILE PHOTO / TOM WALKER

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 17

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DAWSON CREEK – It was

not the celebration originally

planned, but the BC Honey

Producers Association forged

ahead with its 100th annual

general meeting on October

30 via Zoom.

“We had planned a number

of features for our 100th

anniversary celebration that

was to be in Abbotsford,

hosted by the Langley Bee

Club,” says rst vice-president

Dan Moss. “This is not the

grand style we were hoping

for but perhaps we will be in

Abbotsford in the fall of 2021.”

The 90-odd online

participants were a mere

fraction of the association’s

680 members and about half

what the AGM in Prince

George attracted last fall.

The business meeting

included committee and task

force reports and elections of

ocers, including a new

president.

Kerry Clark, a rural Dawson

Creek resident who served as

association president for six

years, remarked how

privileged he feels to be

involved in beekeeping.

“It is one of those unique

activities that has a mutual

benet to myself, to my bee

partners and to the land we

occupy,” says Clark.

BCHPA second vice-

president Je Lee recognized

Kerry for his contributions.

“I want to take the

opportunity to thank Kerry

Clark for his years of service

and competent leadership,”

Lee says. “He stepped in to

help guide and stabilize the

BCHPA at a time of crisis, and

ever since has been a valued

president."

Heather Higo was

acclaimed as the new BCHPA

president, bringing more than

30 years’ experience in the

bee industry, primarily in

research, to the role.

Incumbent treasurer Irene

Tiampo was re-elected over

Carolyn Essaunce, a graduate

of KPU’s commercial

beekeeping program and

owner of two bee industry

businesses. Essaunce was

encouraged to continue to

seek ways to be involved in

BCHPA.

“We value a diversity of

opinions,” notes Lee.

In her treasurers’ report,

Tiampo noted the very

healthy nancial statements of

the BCHPA.

“Our membership should

be condent in our nancial

position,” she says.

Stan Reist was returned as

the BC rep to the Canadian

Honey Council (CHC). In his

report, Reist recalled the

diculties BC producers

encountered trying to import

queens and bee packages this

spring, when air freight was

challenged by international

travel restrictions at the start

of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reist is a strong advocate for

the industry to be self-

sucient in replacement stock

for bee colonies that have

been lost over the winter.

“We spend approximately

$11 million on importing bee

stock each year in Canada,”

notes Reist. “It would be nice

to have that money stay in

local beekeepers’ pockets.”

Reist says the CHC has

worked to have Fumagillin-B

reintroduced into Canada to

support the treatment of

nosema. CHC has also

supported the registration of

Formic 65 for varroa and

tracheal mite control and

Oxytet-25 to treat American

and European foulbrood.

“The production of those

products is expected to begin

in the new year,” says Reist,

adding that plans are also

under way to expand the

registration of oxalic acid to

include an oxalic-glycerin

application to combat mites.

Export market expanding

Honey exports are an

expanding market for

Canadian producers. CHC is

coordinating a marketing

campaign with the provinces

targeting overseas markets

beyond the US. As part of that

initiative, the Canadian Food

inspection Agency is

establishing maximum residue

levels (MRLs), particularly of

glyphosate, for Canadian

honey to be shipped abroad.

With support from the

Canadian Agricultural Human

Resource Council, CHC is

developing a series of training

videos for apiary workers.

With topics such as seasonal

management, biosecurity,

moving bees and worker

health and safety, Reist says

that the videos will support

the training of both local and

foreign workers for the

industry.

Beekeepers go virtual for 100th anniversary

Education component spread over

five fall webinars

See BEES on next page

BEESnfrom pg 17

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Education days have been

a key feature at the

association’s annual general

meetings each fall and its

spring semi-annual meetings.

They are very well attended

and also generate signicant

revenue for the association.

Instead, the BCHPA has

opted to host ve webinars

with provincial funding from

Bee BC. The rst was a session

with provincial apiculturist

Paul van Westendorp that

had 168 attendees. The other

four sessions ran weekly in

November covering a

morning in the bee yard, the

potential for large-scale

nucleus production,

sustainable beekeeping with

a focus on queens and

nucleus production, and

innovative products and

marketing. All the sessions

will be recorded and archived

for future viewing.

The BCHPA presidents’

award was presented to

treasurer Irene Tiampo for her

long service to the industry.

A beekeeper since the

1970s, Tiampo served

on the executive of the

Capital Regional

Beekeepers Association

for 20 years. She

became BCHPA secretary in

2013 and also took on the

role of treasurer.

Pandemic puts pause on bee research

Projects ongoing but in limited capacity

by TOM WALKER

The BC Honey Producers

Association prides itself on being an

active supporter of research. However,

current restrictions on researchers and

lab facilities resulted in a deferral of

research funding for 2020.

Nevertheless, research committee

chair Heather Higo reported on four

ongoing projects at the association’s

annual general meeting at the end of

October.

A study to assess the quality of BC-

raised queens was completed this past

year and the results published. Eight

BC queen producers submitted stock

for evaluation and the local queens

scored very well when compared to

imported stock.

The bee health in blueberries study

is wrapping up with a nal analysis to

detect chemical residues in colonies

under way. Higo expects the full

results to be published in the new

year, but she says results show that

pollinating blueberry elds can aect

bee health.

“It is clear that the levels of EFB

(European foulbrood) increased over

time and were generally higher in

blueberry pollinating colonies

compared to non-pollinating colonies,”

she says, adding that the bacterial

strains could also be detected in nurse

bees prior to the emergence of clinical

symptoms.

“So without even seeing clinical

symptoms in the colonies, samples of

nurse bees were taken and it could be

seen that EFB existed in many of the

colonies,” says Higo. She adds that this

research aims to nd a path towards

the sustainable contributions of

beekeepers to the eective pollination

of BC blueberries.

Fake honey

The honey authentication testing

project continues. With worldwide

demand for honey increasing, the

importance of keeping fake honey

from the marketplace grows. Work

continues to develop protocols for

using both mass spectrometry and

magnetic resonance spectroscopy

technologies. Higo expects that a

combined system using both

technologies holds the best chance of

keeping ahead of honey adulteration

techniques.

Field testing of a novel compound

to help control varroa mites could not

be carried out due to restrictions

related to COVID-19.

Bee BC, a $400,000 initiative funded

by the BC Ministry of Agriculture and

administered by the Investment

Agriculture Foundation of BC, grants

up to $5,000 to projects that enhance

bee health. It has given $277,000 to 66

projects across BC since launching in

2018.

The BC Honey Producers

Association has been a recipient of

Bee BC funding for its hive monitoring

project, which collects data on colony

weight, temperature and humidity

from 30 hives located across the

province and the Yukon. Data is

available at [www.beecounted.org].

“Hopefully you will be able to see

how your colonies may behave relative

to those that are being monitored,”

outgoing president Kerry Clark told

association members.

Bee BC also granted BCHPA funding

to convert its education programs

from in-person to online events this

year.

If program funding continues,

beekeepers are encouraged

to have project ideas

ready for a fresh

intake in

the new

year.

Reservation system hasn’t lived

up to its promise, producers say

Farmers transporting livestock to and from Vancouver and the Gulf islands are frustrated they no longer have

priority boarding. PHOTO / BARBARA JOHNSTONE GRIMMER

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 19

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GRIMMER

COURTENAY – Beef

producers Brad and Aleta

Chappell moved to Vancouver

Island from the Interior to be

closer to family 17 years ago.

One of Brad’s concerns in

moving his cattle to the

Comox Valley was the ferries.

“I did my homework. I

talked to BC Ferries, Ministry

of Agriculture, the regional

agrologist and the Comox

Valley Economic Development

Society,” says Chappell. “The

island was on the ascendency

of a new wave. From 2001 on,

things were looking up. We

decided to come home and

expand.”

With the ferries, it was

smooth sailing. He would be

put right to the front of the

line with his livestock load. He

was never queried and was

even accommodated if he

arrived after the 30-minute

cut-o time.

“The welfare of livestock

was of utmost importance, “

says Chappell.

Then things started

tightening up. With livestock,

the policy was priority loading

for livestock if the load was at

the ferry booth at least a half-

hour before the scheduled

sailing. If trucks with livestock

arrived after the 30-minute

cut-o, they would need to

wait for the next ferry if there

was no room.

In 2005, it became

necessary to make a

reservation to travel with

livestock on many BC Ferries

routes. Further minor changes

to the livestock policy were

made in 2013.

“If there was a problem

loading the livestock onto the

truck, or a blizzard or any

other problem, we risked

losing our reservation,” says

Chappell. “The ferries would

say ‘not our problem.’”

Chappell believes that the

tourism industry is now BC

Ferries’ priority, heavily

aecting agricultural

commerce on the islands.

Sometimes, livestock trailers

and trucks are loaded after

recreational vehicles.

Early in the COVID-19

pandemic, the ferries were

essential services. The focus

reverted to tourism during the

summer. With escalating

COVID-19 case counts this fall,

essential travel is once again

the priority.

Animal welfare

The amended Humane

Transportation of Animals

regulation focuses on the

length of time that animals

are in transport without feed,

water or rest (FWR). This

includes the time spent

waiting at ferry terminals or

travelling by ferry. FWR

requirements vary by species

and age of animals.

The Canadian Food

Inspection Agency recently

released additional

information clarifying rules

around the transport of

livestock by ferries.

However, the net result is

more time in travel, which

benefits no one, including

the animals.

“To get off the island, we

have to leave earlier,

sometimes stopping enroute

so our animals can be rested

and fed, resulting in less

revenue and less money

spent on the island

See LONG on next page

Island farmers

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LONG wait times impact animal welfare nfrom page 19

20 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

economy,” says Chappell.

Even though agriculture is

an essential service, Chappell

is concerned that BC Ferries

doesn’t see it that way.

“Space is being used for

other supplies and priorities

on the ferries,” says Chappell.

“In the spring, there were

perfect growing conditions

but there was also a concern

about our national food

supply as our supply chains

for fertilizer and seed were

disrupted and it was a

challenge to secure our

supplies. Ferry schedules were

altered; boats weren’t being

lled.”

Sheep producer and

shearer Lorea Tomsin agrees

with Chappell. Tomsin travels

by ferry regularly on main and

minor routes. Tomsin and

other sheep shearers were

starting a busy shearing

season when COVID-19 travel

restrictions began.

“The smaller Gulf Islands do

not have a reservation system

for travel to and from Swartz

Bay,” says Tomsin. “Sometimes

showing up early isn’t a

guarantee that you will be

loaded, especially if the boat

isn’t being fully loaded.”

Tomsin is one of many who

believe that the ferry system is

part of the highway system.

Most respondents to the

province’s Coastal Ferries

Consultation and

Engagement report in 2013

disagreed with increasing

property taxes in coastal

communities to help fund

ferry service. Comments

pointed out that BC Ferries, as

part of the highway system,

should be funded by all

taxpayers in the province.

Galiano Islander Emma

Davis coordinates the Galiano

Food Program and is also the

Capital Regional District

liaison for her island. Davis

noted that the challenges

farmers face on a regular basis

“ramped up” during the

pandemic.

“We usually don’t run our

food bank in the summer, but

it was open twice as often this

summer,” says Davis. “There

was an interruption in goods

and services early on, with

reduced ferry capacity,

reduced sailings (and)

cancellation of routes. Even

our grocery store was

impacted.”

There are concerns that the

fall surge in COVID-19 cases

could cause these ferry

disruptions to be repeated. BC

Premier John Horgan has

voiced support for restrictions

on travel to and from

Vancouver Island.

Although the BC Trucking

Association reports that it is

satised with BC Ferries’

services and did not have any

concerns as outlined in a 2018

review conducted by the

province, those who transport

livestock do have concerns.

The BC Dairy Association

opposes farmers being

charged commercial rates

because of the importance of

agriculture to food security.

Vehicles that weigh over 5,000

kg and are longer than 20 feet

are charged commercial rates.

The exception is recreational

vehicles. This policy is applied

unevenly, as is priority

boarding. For livestock carriers

without a reservation or those

who miss the cut-o time, BC

Ferries provide an opportunity

to request priority boarding,

but it places too much onus

on ferry personnel for the nal

decision.

"Farmers and livestock

haulers plan their routes to

minimize the length of time

cattle spend in transport.

When reservation procedures

are applied inconsistently,

those transporting cattle wait

longer than necessary to

board a ferry,” says BC Dairy

Association board member

Dave Taylor. “It's important

that livestock transporters are

given priority, recognizing

that long wait times impact

animal welfare. We are open

to continuing to provide

feedback to BC Ferries to help

streamline their process."

Despite a recommendation

by the 2018 government

review that BC Ferries should

review its policies regarding

the loading of livestock and

should change its online

reservation system to prevent

long waiting times for

customers transporting

livestock, BC Ferries told

Country Life in BC it does not

anticipate any further

consultations or changes to

the livestock policy.

“We deal with issues on a

case by case basis, and if a

customer has not made a

reservation in advance and

there is no space available, the

terminal tries to

accommodate them on the

next available sailing,” says BC

Ferries public aairs director

Deborah Marshall. “To my

knowledge, it isn’t a

signicant problem.”

BC Ferries charges a $25

no-show fee, and a $25 fee is

also charged if the livestock

vehicle arrives late. There is no

fee to make the reservation,

and bookings can be made up

to two hours prior to each

scheduled sailing, space

permitting. There is no fee to

cancel or change a livestock

reservation if it is made at

least 30 minutes prior to the

sailing.

On minor routes, such as

the Gulf Islands to Swartz Bay,

livestock reservations are not

available. During busy times

such as the summer, BC

Ferries have conrmed that

customers carrying livestock

will experience a maximum of

one sailing wait if they arrive a

minimum of 20 minutes

before the desired sailing.

The consultation BC Ferries

undertook regarding livestock

transport in 2005 identied

data collection as one of the

benets of a reservation

system. However, BC Ferries

says it doesn’t track what

customers are carrying, only

complaints.

“BC Ferries does track

complaints or problems with

livestock transportation on

their routes, and they record

feedback and respond to, or

share with the relevant

departments with the intent

of addressing customer

concerns and improving the

process for all involved,” says

the BC Ferries statement.

Marshall adds that if a BC

Ferries customer has a

concern, it is best to reach out

directly, saying, “We aim to

solve any problems.”

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A glimmer of hope. Mark Ishoy is the CEO for the new BC Beef operation moving into the KML processing plant in

Westwold. Meat producers are frustrated by a lack of processing capacity. PHOTO / TOM WALKER

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 21

email: audreycifca@gmail.com

email: okanaganfeeders@gmail.com

308 St. Laurent Avenue Quesnel, B.C. V2J 5A3

Producers can apply for an advance on calves, yearlings, lambs, bison, forage and grain up to $1,000,000.00 with

the rst $100,000.00 being interest free. Plus, interest relief through the Advance Payments Program is available

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BCHA Secretary

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BCHA President

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250-218-2537

The breed you can trust!

by TOM WALKER

FALKLAND – Shrinking

slaughter capacity across the

province is preventing BC

livestock producers from

expanding their operations at

a time when local meat sales

are skyrocketing.

Lisa and Hans Dueck were

planning to add a few beef

cattle to the chicken

operation they operate in

Falkland. Sterling Springs has

a loyal following of customers

and sales through the

pandemic have been steady.

The Duecks have raised a

few Angus cattle in the past,

and have never had trouble

arranging slaughter.

Customers liked the beef, and

current demand made the

time ripe for expanding.

Sterling Springs operates

its own provincially inspected

Class A plant for poultry,

processing about 300 birds a

week but the Duecks rely on

others to process their beef.

Calling their usual

processor in mid October,

however, they hit a brick wall.

The rst available slaughter

date was in March, so they

tried another local abattoir.

Some 40 calls later, he still

hasn’t picked up his phone.

They’re not alone.

Poultry producers

elsewhere in the Shuswap

and across the southern

Interior as well as Vancouver

Island have all faced

obstacles lining up

processing this fall. Many say

the earliest dates available

are spring 2021.

The lack of capacity is

prompting some producers

to call it quits.

Kendall Ballantine of

Central Park Farms in Langley

announced October 26 that

she was closing because her

sales have outstripped the

ability of processors to keep

up. The award-winning farm

sells chicken, beef and pork,

producing 100,000 pounds

annually from locations in

Langley and Rock Creek.

“British Columbia doesn’t

have the supports in place to

get secure processing for its

farmers,” she said in a letter

outlining her decision in

response to the province’s

recent intentions paper on

expanding slaughter capacity.

“The Minister of Agriculture’s

oce promotes Buy BC. … I

hate to be the one to tell you

but if we can’t produce it in

BC, folks surely can’t Buy BC.”

Julia Smith of Blue Sky

Ranch just outside of Merritt

and president of the Small-

Scale Meat Processors

Association recently

submitted an application

under the province’s

Community Economic

Recovery Infrastructure

Program to build a Class A

abattoir in the Nicola Valley.

Similar to Ballantine, a lack

of processing capacity in the

area will drive her out of

business if the application

fails. She is unable to get a

booking date for her beef

and she worries about the

arrangement she has for her

pigs.

“This is my last shot at it,”

says Smith. “If we are not able

to get a Class A facility built

here in the Nicola Valley, I’m

out of business.”

The Duecks have looked

into building a Class E licence

to allow them to process their

own beef, but existing

regulations make it virtually

impossible.

On the one hand, they’re a

55-minute drive from an

Slaughter limitations forcing producers out

Provincial consultations leave

producers waiting for change

existing Class A beef plant in

Kamloops, which disqualies

them. And even if they won a

concession, sales options

would be limited.

A quirk of mapping means

Sterling Springs is in the

Columbia Shuswap Regional

District, which prevents sales

at the farmers market in

Vernon, a half-hour drive

away.

“We looked into building

our own Class E facility, but

we would be restricted to

selling in our on-farm store,”

says Lisa. “People ask why we

don’t just go ahead and

expand our Class A poultry

plant. [But] we are not cattle

ranchers, and we don’t want

to run a large animal abattoir.”

The one glimmer of hope

for the Duecks is the BC Beef

Producers Inc. plant in

Westwold, which plans to

oer customer slaughter and

packing services to small-

scale producers.

“It’s so close we could

almost herd the animals

down the hill and the 10 km

along the highway,” she says.

FARM NEWS

updates

to your

inbox

22 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

Livestock specialist has close ties to ranching

Code has experience in youth development and industry leadership programs

by BARBARA JOHNSTONE GRIMMER

KAMLOOPS – Laura Code is the BC Ministry

of Agriculture’s new beef and livestock

industry specialist, based in Kamloops.

The livestock component includes sheep,

goat, bison and horse. She works in

partnership with the entire livestock sector as

a liaison between government and industry

and supports the work of ranchers and

livestock farmers around the province.

Code joined the ministry in 2006, beginning

as a youth development specialist. She worked

in that capacity for 10 years, then became a

regional agrologist. Throughout this time, she

had opportunities to support the next

generation of farmers in the province,

including through the 4-H program.

Code was actively involved in the 4-H

program while she was growing up on a

mixed farm on Vancouver Island. She

achieved in horse and beef projects, was a 4-H

BC Ambassador representing the Vancouver

Island Region and attended workshops

regionally, provincially and nationally. A

signicant highlight for her was winning the

beef heifer class at the International 4-H

Judging Seminar at the Canadian Western

Agribition, allowing her to judge the

Heartland First Lady Classic all-breeds heifer

show as a panelist on a team of selected

judges.

She pursued a career in agriculture and

graduated from the University of Guelph with

a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, majoring

in Animal Sciences. In 2012, she was fortunate to secure a leave of absence to

obtain a dual master’s degree in Management of Animal Resources and

Sustainable Development in Agriculture from

universities in Italy and France, with a research

internship in the Netherlands.

Code enjoys traveling and learning about

food systems and dierent cultures, bringing

back what she has learned to her job in the

ministry.

Building on her skills and expertise, Code

was selected as one of two BC nalists in the

Canadian Cattlemen’s Young Leaders

Mentorship Program for the 2020-2021

program year. The program is a national youth

initiative of the Canadian Cattlemen’s

Association for beef enthusiasts between the

ages of 18 and 35.

Code was selected from applicants across

Canada through judged roundtable

discussions. Sixteen nalists were awarded a

$2,000 travel budget and paired with a hand-

picked beef industry leader for a nine-month

mentorship in their specic area of interest.

Code will be mentored by Lee Sinclair from

Saskatchewan, a prominent beef industry

leader with a special interest in health and low-

stress handling of cattle.

Code recently married a cattle rancher’s son

and helps with the cattle and honeybees on

the farm. She also volunteers her time with

Junior Chamber International and has held

executive positions at the local, regional and

national levels. In 2019, she was recognized as

a Top 20 under 40 by the Greater Vernon

Chamber of Commerce.

Passionate about food and agriculture, Code

is looking forward to her new role in

supporting farmers and producer associations as well as being a liaison

between industry and government.

Laura Code is the BC Ministry of Agriculture’s new livestock specialist.

PHOTO / SUBMITTED

Cattle take lead

in fire prevention

efforts

Targeted grazing tested across

the southern Interior

Can cattle help reduce the risk of wildre? Pilot projects this summer aim to show how cattle can help reduce ne

fuels and wildre risk in BC’s wildland/urban interface. PHOTO / MIKE PRITCHARD, BCCA

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 23

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SUMMERLAND – BC

Cattlemen’s is assessing the

results of three provincially

funded pilot projects

conducted this past summer

to see if cattle can help

protect communities against

wildre.

“One thing we learned from

the 2017 and 2018 wildres,

particularly in the Cariboo

region. … [is] grazed areas can

act as agriculture re breaks

and change re behaviour by

helping slow, turn or stop

res,” says Mike Pritchard,

wildre prevention

coordinator with the BC

Cattlemen’s Association.

Pritchard should know. He’s

a retired BC Wildre Service

Manager with 36 years

experience, as well as a cattle

rancher.

BC Cattlemen’s received BC

government funding in spring

2019 to study the role cattle

can play in mitigating re risk

through targeted grazing in

an eort to better protect

communities that have a close

interface between urban and

wildland areas. It’s a

worthwhile investment. The

2017 and 2018 wildres

burned a total of 2.6 million

hectares at a cost of nearly

$1.3 million for re

suppression.

Most community re

management projects focus

on the conifer tree canopy by

removing and thinning trees

or pruning to remove the

understory, says Pritchard,

who is managing the projects.

But there is a downside to

that practice.

“What happens when the

trees are thinned out is light

and moisture are better able

to get down to the ground

and the grass grows,

particularly in the southern

Interior,” Pritchard explains.

When that grass dries later

in the summer it becomes a

re hazard.

Pritchard explains that the

initial spacing work has been

done correctly around

communities, but there has

been no follow-up

maintenance to remove new

growth.

“All this grass and brush

that is growing among the

trees is starting to make our

re situation look like

California,” he cautions. “The

goal of the targeted grazing

pilot projects has been to

investigate how cattle can

reduce those ne fuel loads.”

It’s a win-win situation.

Cattle get to eat the grass,

wildre risk is reduced at no

additional cost and wildlife

habitat and recreational uses

continue without interruption.

There is also a third benet:

cattle get to be in the

limelight.

“Typically, ranchers don’t

like to be right next to

communities,” says Pritchard.

“There are often dog, gate or

fence issues between ranchers

and other land users. This is a

chance to show the positive

work that cattle grazing can

do.”

Sites in Cranbrook,

Summerland and Peachland

were part of the pilots in 2020.

Pritchard says one of the

considerations for site

selection was current or

previous tenures.

“The cattle had been there

in the past, but the public just

hadn’t seen them,” he says.

But moving cattle closer to

communities requires

infrastructure and that’s

where the BC Cattlemen’s

program comes in.

“We used a combination of

existing fences, built some

fences for the projects and

used high-tech electric

fencing from Range Ward,”

Pritchard explains.

Range Ward Inc. is an

Alberta company that

specializes in portable

fencing.

A typical four-strand

barbed wire fence is $20,000 a

kilometre, Pritchard notes, and

Range Ward’s system was

costly as well. With the cattle

only in grazing for two to four

weeks, he is looking for a

cheaper way.

The project has been

investigating a virtual fencing

system similar to the kind pet

owners use to restrain dogs.

“The collars change the

game,” says Pritchard. “You lay

out a virtual fence on a map

and download it onto your

phone. At 40 metres the cattle

get a warning tone that gets

progressively louder and at

ve metres they get a zap.”

Data presented from the

Cranbrook plots shows good

results. The total biomass was

reduced by 40% through the

grazing treatment and the

height of the pinegrass was

also signicantly reduced.

The grazed areas don’t

have to look like a golf course

to be eective, says Pritchard.

“We just need it to be a

mosaic of dierent heights,”

he explains. “This breaks up

the continuity of the fuel and

slows down the movement of

the re. We won’t stop the re,

but the reghting crews will

have an ability to better

control the res.”

24 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 25

Former COABC executive director Jen Gamble has created a business plan and is expected to follow through on the creation of a province-backed food

hub in Salmon Arm which would allow local producers to expand and add value to their products. PHOTO / SUBMITTED

Join us!

We are a national trade association of processors, growers, and suppliers of food

and agricultural products. We help members grow their businesses and expand

local economies. Call 1-866-553-7372 or email app@ssfpa.net for more information

about the Advance Payments Program. For information about other programs and

services oered through the SSFPA call 1-866-547-7372.

Advance Payments Program

The Advance Payments Program is a federal

program, delivered and administered by the Small Scale Food

Processor Association (SSFPA). The federal government funds

the interest free beneﬁt of the program and makes low interest

rates available to Canadian producers.

The purpose of the APP is to increase marketing opportunities

through the provision of government guaranteed cash advances. This allows the

producer the ﬂexibility to base their sales decisions on market conditions rather

than their short term cash ﬂow needs. The SSFPA administers the program for

vegetable producers, greenhouse operators and fruit growers in Western Canada.

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Small Scale Food Processor Association www.ssfpa.net

by JACKIE PEARASE

SALMON ARM – A food hub

in Salmon Arm will provide

much-needed processing

opportunities to producers in

the Shuswap-Okanagan.

In mid-September, the BC

Ministry of Agriculture

announced $500,000 toward

the creation of a food hub in

the community.

“The province’s processing

sector is seeing success all

over BC and we are

supporting farmers and food

and beverage producers who

want to take their products to

the next level,” says BC

Minister of Agriculture Lana

Popham.

The idea for a food hub

started two years ago with a

feasibility study done by the

Salmon Arm Economic

Development Society. The

study included consultation

with local producers and

processors to determine the

need and demand for such a

facility.

SAEDS economic

development manager Lana

Fitt says they are well aware

gaps in the local food

processing infrastructure are a

barrier to new business

development and expansion

of existing food producers.

“The ability for them to

access shared equipment and

shared knowledge and shared

space for that initial food

production was denitely on

our radar for some time

before we proceeded with

the food hub feasibility

project,” she notes.

Salmon Arm mayor Alan

Harrison says the facility ts

nicely with the city’s eorts

around food security.

“This is exactly one of the

ingredients that you need in

order to process local foods

New food hub planned for Salmon Arm

Project will

give local

producers an

opportunity to

expand

and be able to look after your

own area,” Harrison says.

“That’s our goal, to have that

anchor, the food hub, and

then have smaller producers

be able to process their

products and serve them

locally.”

Jen Gamble was the

consultant for the food hub’s

subsequent business plan

and is scheduled to be hired

as the food hub’s executive

director.

She says providing

producers with the means to

scale up production and build

their businesses will certainly

enhance local food security.

See PLAN next page

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26 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

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PLAN includes potential for growth nfrom page 25

“It will allow people that, right now,

are creating solutions for themselves

that are maybe not the most

convenient to adjust and hopefully

have something that works very well

for them,” she says.

Elderberry Grove owners Jed

Wiebe and Louise Lecoue currently

process their syrup, juice and shrub –

a beverage made with the syrup,

apple cider vinegar and honey – in a

small rented kitchen.

Wiebe says the current

arrangement is working for now.

“If the scale of our production gets

any bigger, it will be too small. And

that’s the plan; we grow every year,”

he says.

The recent announcement halted

their plans to construct a commercial

kitchen.

“This is a lot smarter economically

and also for the environment: why

make two facilities when one can be

shared?” asks Wiebe. “If it opens next

year, we want to at least try it out and

see if it works for us.”

Fitt expects a wide variety of foods,

beverages and value-added products

to be processed at the facility.

“It’s denitely a multi-use facility so

we’ve all kinds of ideas and

opportunities coming from this,” she

says. “It’s quite diverse in terms of

what could be oered in the space.”

Selection of a site was expected in

late October. Fitt says the site needs

to have the potential to expand.

“We’re hopefully looking to grow

the space and oer more services and

more activities, more support

programs in the space over time,”

explains Fitt.

Business development services will

be provided through local

partnerships with the Salmon Arm

Innovation Centre, Shuswap Launch-

a-Preneur Program, Community

Futures Shuswap and Okanagan

College.

“We see that as being a key

component of the food hub going

forward. Not just the physical space

and the equipment but actually the

training and support to get that new

product to market successfully,” notes

Fitt. “Those partners we see as

playing a very important role in

providing that ongoing support

service to businesses either as they’re

launching or through growth phases.”

Once space is leased, Gamble will

get to work on sourcing equipment,

engaging and educating potential

food hub users and the public,

communicating with the BC Ministry

of Agriculture and Interior Health

Authority, and monitoring

construction.

Gamble says the hub will serve the

entire Columbia Shuswap Regional

District as well as some neighbouring

communities within the Okanagan.

“It’s such a great area for

agriculture that it’s a really solid base

to build on.”

The goal is to secure an anchor

tenant that will ensure year-round

operation of the facility to make it

financially viable within a two-year

timeframe.

“That anchor tenant will help

secure and provide stability for the

hub and smaller people coming in,”

she adds.

Gamble doesn’t expect to have the

capacity immediately to serve large

dairies in the area but there are many

small to medium producers and

processors that could benefit from

the food hub.

“People like that will hopefully be

able to hop right in and make this a

piece of their operation that

facilitates the business functioning

better and allows them to stay a little

more local,” she says. “In the end, I

think it will build a really strong

network and community around our

food system here in the Shuswap.”

This is the fth food hub established

in BC supported by the BC Food Hub

Network and Ministry of Agriculture.

There are operating food hubs in

Vancouver, Surrey and Port Alberni. A

food hub is scheduled to open soon

in Quesnel. The Salmon Arm food

hub is scheduled to open in 2021.

Jed Wiebe and Louise Lecouffe of Elderberry Grove. PHOTO / JACKIE PEARASE

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 27

Matthew Carr says a university education has helped him develop his farm business. PHOTO / LINDEN LANE FARMS

by MYRNA STARK LEADER

KRESTOVA – Matthew Carr’s

rst memory of a job in

agriculture is working

alongside his grandmother

processing poultry on her

farm near Krestova, a

community of about 200 at

the mouth of the Slocan

Valley. Carr was about 10. He

gave up soccer to pull

gizzards for 10 cents apiece.

“I now nally gured out it

was because my hands were

so small, they could get in

inside the bird and do the job

really well,” recalls Carr, now

26.

Today, he’s wrapping up

the 2020 season at Linden

Lane Farms, a four-acre

certied organic farm located

on his grandparent’s 150-acre

property. The farm produces

vegetables, small fruits,

vegetable and herb

transplants, sweet potato slips

and seed garlic, as well as fruit

trees and edible perennials.

The operation began as his

summer job while he played

junior hockey from 2011-2015

and while attending the

University of Saskatchewan.

Carr is fascinated by plants,

an interest that likely started

with a Grade 11 school

propagation project. He was

so interested he constructed a

propagation table at home,

growing mostly ornamental

shrubs. A young entrepreneur,

he sold them locally through

word of mouth and online

through Kijiji. He continued to

scale up until it got too big for

his parents’ backyard in

Bonnington, east of Castlegar.

“My dad was tired of

people showing up at our

house all the time thinking we

were a big wholesale nursery,”

says Carr with a smile.

As a result, he relocated the

business to his grandparent’s

farm, about a 15-minute drive

away. He was raising plants

like willows, ninebarks and

spirea as eld-grown nursery

stock. The same season, he

capitalized on a local nursery’s

end-of-season sell-o.

“They gave me a smoking

deal, like $50 a truck bed-full,”

explains Carr. “So, I lled my

pickup three times with

leftover seedlings, tomatoes,

peppers, eggplant and squash

which my sister and I planted

in a 100x100-foot garden on

the farm,” says Carr.

The plants ourished. When

he left for Fernie to play

hockey that year, there was

more than 1,000 pounds of

tomatoes and lots of squash

in the eld. The produce was

shared with family and

neighbours, and Matthew’s

grandmother made enough

tomato sauce and juice to last

a decade.

That winter, Matthew and

his father discussed how the

successful gardening project

might be a way to utilize the

farm in Krestova. In the early

2000s, new provincial

regulations eectively shut

down his grandmother’s

on-farm meat processing

facility that served small-scale

and backyard producers. The

farm scaled back to a modest

hobby farm, home to plenty

of livestock, including goats,

sheep, chickens, turkeys and

Angus-Jersey-cross beef

cattle.

But seeing Matthew’s

growing interest, his

grandparents created an

opportunity – a land-match, if

you will, before it was popular.

It started as a one-acre lease,

including access to water,

utilities and equipment for

Matthew to pursue his

business. That same year, his

school guidance councilor

recognized his interest and

enrolled Carr in the Prairie

Horticulture Certicate

Program at the University of

Saskatchewan while he was

still in Grade 12.

“There isn’t much for BC

high school students

interested in agriculture but I

was able to take online

university classes for high

school credit,” explains Carr.

His grandparents urged

him to pursue something

other than farming, but he

Passion and schooling pay off for young grower

A fresh vision

helps revive

Kootenay family

farm

enrolled at the University of

Saskatchewan and continued

to learn about plants as he

pursued a Bachelor of Science

in horticulture. He spent his

summers building up Linden

Lane Farms, with help from his

family. Graduating in 2019, he

returned to farming full-time.

This was a good year at

Linden Lane, with sales up

60% versus 2019. About 25%

of the farm’s business came

from selling nursery stock,

15% from an annual

subscription-based CSA

program that serves 74

families weekly, 15% from

wholesale sales to Kootenay

Co-op in Nelson and 45%

from sales at Nelson’s twice-

weekly farmer’s market. In

addition to family, he

employed eight people full-

time at peak season.

See PLANS next page

28 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

PLANS for growth nfrom page 27

Carr credits his post-secondary

education for teaching him how

to gather and analyze research

data. This aids in plant growing

and farm management decisions.

He also built a valuable network

of advisers and contacts.

“One of my profs when I was at

school is one of the top plant

breeders in the world. Being able

to phone or text profs or

researchers for advice has been

invaluable. And my classmates all

have specialties – horticulture

therapy, oriculture,

greenhouses, vegetables,

cannabis. I can also call on them

for advice, which is great,” says

Carr, who remains inspired by

plant physiology.

While he doesn’t believe

farmers must have degrees, he

hasn’t given up the idea of going

back to school for post-graduate

studies. But right now, in addition

to farming, he’s working towards

his professional agrologist

designation with a focus on

organic horticultural agronomy.

He says farming has rewards. He’s his own boss.

The business continues to take shape and there’s

pride in reinvigorating a farm that’s been in the

family since 1978. Succession discussions with his

grandparents, now in their 70s, are a work in

progress.

“We're building more and more infrastructure, so

my grandparents are kind of nervous. They've been

farming for years on the property so having me

come and change up things a little … is a little

dicult for them,” says Carr.

In the meantime, Linden Lane is expanding

according to his strategic business plan. If he gets

time before the end of the year, he’ll develop a half-

acre for fruit production, mostly berries and some

fruit trees, not only for market but also as an

educational component.

“We're one of the largest edible plant nurseries in

our region but because we specialize strictly in

edible products, the orchard will be an educational

space where we can show people things like

pruning or trellising methods, while trialing new

cultivars for the region,” he explains.

The breadth of Linden Lane’s production is

apparent in the more than 250 edible plant varieties

its nursery produces. A website enables him to share

information about each beyond what

can be written on a tag. The site also

allows customers to pre-order and

place deposits, strengthening the

farm’s cash ow in early spring. Carr

says online shopping is growing, and

that trend has accelerated during the

COVID-19 pandemic.

“I would say COVID had a lot to do

with tripling our online nursery sales

this year and we're really hopeful those

sales continues,” he says. “We had quite

a few positive responses from people

who liked being able to order their

plants online, then pick them up in

May.”

With less than 2% of food in the

region produced locally, he’s condent

there’s a market. He’s currently seeking

CanadaGAP certication to open the

door to grocery store sales. That in turn

would aid his plan to grow Linden Lane

to 10 to 15 acres. The additional

cultivated area would allow for better

and longer cover crop rotations and

provide pasture for the family’s

livestock to graze and help reinvigorate

the sandy soil.

Carr says one of the challenges of expanding

production will be developing an irrigation system

to draw water from the Slocan River.

“Today when the cows come in, they suck that

water right out of the trough and you can see the

sprinklers just drop on the garden,” he says.

Finally, he thinks the size will be manageable from

an employer perspective. After working the rst few

years himself for pennies per hour, he plans to

continue to hire and expand his team. While it

saddens him to shift from grower to farm manager,

he looks forward to becoming more involved in

industry and making a dierence.

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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 29

Cleanfarms executive director Barry Friesen stands in front of baled silage wrap ready for recycling.

Cleanfarms is looking to see if ag plastic recycling could be viable in BC. PHOTO / SUBMITTED

Cleanfarms looks

into ag plastic

recycling program

Regional recycling programs

could be in place by end of 2021

by RONDA PAYNE

DELTA – A new plastics

recycling initiative could

reduce the environmental

impact BC farm inputs have

on the environment.

BC farms generate nearly

4,000 tons of plastic waste

every year, according to 2012

data from Cleanfarms, a 10-

year-old manufacturer-led

environmental stewardship

organization based in

Etobicoke, Ontario.

The volume has increased,

according to Alexis Arthur,

owner of Pacic Forage Bag

Supply in Delta, who handles

agricultural plastics on a daily

basis.

“We were just at a farm this

afternoon,” she says. “Same

conversation, ‘Alexis, I’ve got a

pile of plastic here, I’ve got to

get rid of it, do you know

anybody?’”

Arthur has seen many well-

meaning starts to recycling

agricultural plastics but she’s

also seen just as many stops.

Cleanfarms hopes to

change that with a new multi-

year initiative in BC dubbed

“Building a Zero-Plastic Waste

Strategy for Agriculture.” The

program has three objectives:

build consensus on

appropriate management;

survey farmers on disposal

patterns; and demonstrate

best practices in agriculture

waste management.

But it won’t be until data

from three pilot projects is

collected that the program

will seek end-market options

for agricultural plastics. This is

the pinch point that Arthur

says has been the downfall of

previous recycling initiatives.

“It just comes down to the

money to get the used plastic

from the source to whatever

facility,” she says. “And then

what end user they have in

place. It can be recycled, abso-

ipping-lutely. It’s just about

volume. If there’s enough

volume, you do it; if there isn’t,

you don’t.”

BC typically hasn’t

generated enough agricultural

plastic for recycling to be

worthwhile. A program on

Vancouver Island stalled when

funding ended. A plastics

recycler in Delta used to

collect agricultural plastic,

clean it and ship it to China,

but when the market dropped

in late 2015, it stopped.

District of Kent farmers

have been recycling their own

plastic waste since 2011,

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taking on a program the

district initially launched as a

two-year pilot. Plastics are

gathered by farmers who pay

a $20 at rate per 400-pound

bag, which are collected from

a central pick-up location a

few times a year.

“The farmers are glad to do

it. They want to do it,” says

Dave Hastie, volunteer chair of

the Kent Agriculture Plastics

Recycling Program. “We call

ourselves a collection model.”

The program has recycled

406,700 pounds of plastic

since inception, primarily

silage wrap. Its success

recently prompted the district

to seek provincial support for

the program.

Hastie has sought

government support in the

past to expand it throughout

the province, but what to do

with all that plastic is a

perennial issue. He says the

program will end if a solution

isn’t found.

The organization Kent was

sending its plastics to, Blue

Planet Recycling in

Aldergrove, says it can’t

handle ag plastics anymore.

Cleanfarms executive

director Barry Friesen believes

there could be a solution for

BC. Traditionally, Cleanfarms

programs in the province

were limited to small

containers, pesticide and

livestock medication

container collection.

“The world is ready to look

at better solutions for waste

plastics,” he says. “And if we

can have solutions sooner

rather than later, all the

better.”

Pilot projects establishing

collection sites will be

explored in the Peace River,

Bulkley-Nechako and Fraser-

Fort George districts. Regional

governments in these areas

have shown interest in plastic

recycling. The sites could be

operating by the end of 2021.

Cleanfarms is currently

researching the volume of

plastic waste farms in the

three regions generate,

including silage wrap, grain

bags and twine. This aspect of

the project is set to complete

this month.

In tandem with the

quantitative research, farmer

attitudes and behaviours

towards plastics will be

gathered, with results to be

published in the spring of

2021.

“We’re going to be talking

to all those folks about what

they would like to see,” he

says. “Building towards a

consensus of how they would

like to see management of all

those plastics.”

The work complements a

provincial consultation on

extending producer

responsibility for recycling to

commercial waste, including

agricultural plastics. Right

now, packaging and paper

products beyond the

residential stream are

independently managed and

not subject to the province’s

recycling regulation. The

consultation ended

November 20, and a report

will be published in the new

year.

Cleanfarms will meanwhile

draft plans for implementing

the ndings of its own study.

“We want to test it out, to

see what works and make a

few mistakes,” he explains.

“You kind of gure out what

works, what kind of

messaging works with the

farmers and what will work

going forward to

demonstrate proof of

concept.

The pilot programs will

train farmers on which items

to recycle and how to handle

them, outlined at

[Cleanfarms.ca].

Saskatchewan and

Manitoba now have

permanent programs through

Cleanfarms while Alberta has

20 collection sites in its pilot

program and Quebec is set to

launch a similar pilot to the

one in BC.

Cleanfarms’ project in BC is

partially funded by

Environment and Climate

Change Canada and

Agriculture and Agri-Food

Canada’s Canadian

Agricultural Strategic Priorities

program.

30 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

by RONDA PAYNE

VANCOUVER – The picker’s

ngers extend, but a wasp

distracts his attention – and in

that moment a prized

strawberry ends up with

pressure damage as it’s

harvested.

Such losses cost strawberry

growers thousands every year,

and unlike blueberries and

raspberries, there’s been no

automated option to reduce

the reliance on humans yet still

preserve fruit quality.

Neupeak Robotics of

Vancouver thinks its PixaBerry

will change that when the

robotic picker enters

commercial eld trials in 2021.

Neupeak CEO Anshul Porwal

knew he could make a

dierence with his engineering

degree from UBC by merging

articial intelligence and

robotics. He learned about the

labour challenges faced by

strawberry growers and saw an

opportunity.

“We just learned so much

about this [crop] and how

much pain there is now,” he

says. “I just knew that farmers

would hire some migrant

workers here and there, but I

had no idea that number was

close to 90% of the workers

they had.”

With an idea in mind for a

strawberry-picking robot,

Porwal contacted growers and

was surprised by the positive

response.

“Farmers, they immediately

understood; 15 farmers told us,

‘if you have something like this,

show up to our eld,’” he says.

“That’s when we knew that this was a great idea.”

Porwal and co-founders Div Gill and Raaella Di

Mattia got the company started and created a

protoype with a Canada-BC Agri-Innovation

Program grant of $10,000 and $100,000 through the

Innovate BC’s Fast Pilot Program as well as venture

capital. The rst robot made its way onto a

strawberry eld in August 2019, but grower David

Mutz of Berry Haven Farm in Abbotsford says it’s a

long way from proving its ability to replace humans.

“I’m optimistic but we still have a ways to go,” says

Mutz. “There wasn’t issues with the quality I’ve seen,

but we never picked full ats and held them and

compared them.”

The most challenging issue, that of the pressure

required to pull the berry o its stem without

damaging it, has been solved. The robot makes use

of a camera, articial intelligence, arms and

specialized cups to exert the right force and friction.

“The whole magic comes in the gripper and the

camera system,” explains Porwal. “The robot is being

designed to be a universal platform that closely

mimics what a human can do. If you close your eyes

and try to pick strawberries, you will nd that you

will damage most of the strawberries.”

Cameras are mounted on both robotic arms and

the gripper cups are 3D-

printed from custom, exible

materials that Neupeak

designed in the shape of a

typical strawberry. The grippers

can be removed for cleaning.

Commercial eld trials were

delayed this year because

COVID-19 delayed the delivery

of parts from overseas.

However, Berry Haven and

Bergen Farms both hosted

Neupeak on-site this summer

to test and rene the robot’s

design.

“Until the world gets back to

normal, I don’t know how

much progress we’ll make,” says

Mutz. “I would really need to

see how much fruit it can pick.

I’m not sure if it will pick [just]

the easy fruit. No one wants to

go through and pick hard fruit.

It’s progress but it’s not a done

deal yet.”

The battery-powered robot

is about the size of a German

shepherd and can pick day and

night. It has proven itself to be

on par with human pickers in

terms of fruit damage in the

volumes harvested to date.

“We have very concrete data

to base these conclusions on at

this point,” Porwal says of

quality. “You would have the

same incidents of damage

rates as a human would.”

A small tote on the back of

the robot holds about 40

pounds of berries. However, if it

only picks the easy fruit it sees

immediately, a human picker

will still need to nish picking

the plants.

The PixaBerry currently picks

about 75% as fast as a human

(about 30 pounds per hour),

but Porwal says this is improving. Neupeak will oer

the robotic harvesters to growers at about 15% to

20% less than human labour once they have proven

themselves commercially. Based on current piece

rates, that works out to about $14.42 per tote.

There is likely to also be an option to purchase

robots in the future. There are only two robots in

operation at this point, but Porwal plans to have a

eet of 10 for the 2021 season.

“Now you’re nally getting to a point where

you’re deploying intelligent machines in the eld,”

he says. “This is going to take us into a completely

new area of agriculture.”

Robotic strawberry picker on the horizon

Artificial intelligence prepares to fulfill challenging labour need

Look closely! That’s a strawberry gently held in the grippers of Neupeak Robotic’s PixaBerry robot. The robot was

eld tested in Fraser Valley strawberry elds this summer. PHOTOS / NEUPEAK ROBOTICS

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 31

Telus Agriculture aims to grow

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by PETER MITHAM

VANCOUVER – Global tech

giants like Microsoft have

partnered with local agritech

rms and now home-grown

telecommunications rm

Telus has launched an

agritech division to help

farmers manage their data.

Telus Agriculture brings

together an international

portfolio of nine agritech

companies that employ 1,300

people around the world. It

includes Vancouver-based

startup Farm at Hand, which

serves row crop growers on

the Prairies, but it aims to

grow its presence in the

province in the coming years

with data management and

compliance services.

“It’s a new line of business

for Telus that we think is

going to provide innovative

solutions to support the ag

industry with connected

technology,” says Chris Terris,

president, Telus Agriculture

Canada. “It’s really around

optimizing the food value

chain by leveraging the data

that’s existing in new ways.”

While each of the nine

business units are currently

positioned as oering unique

solutions, Terris says they’re

“100% intended to be unied”

and work together as one.

“We have solutions today

that really allow you to

improve your production

practices but also digitize

them and share that information

downstream,” he explains.

Such tools are what

agriculture needs to move

forward, say tech sector

veterans.

Claudia Roessler, who has

worked on business-to-

business projects with

Microsoft for more than 30

years and now oversees

strategic partnerships for the

tech giant’s Azure FarmBeats

division, says there’s a need

for more consistent data from

each farm to enable local

decisions and a greater ability

to share data between

stakeholders to identify

trends and opportunities.

“Comparing data between

farms, that’s how we are

going to get insights,” she told

the Toronto Global Forum at

the end of October.

Roessler says consumer

demand for more

transparency about where

their food comes from and

how it is produced will be a

key driver for data collection

in addition to production

eciencies and the need to

respond to a more variable

climate.

On the Fraser Valley

blueberry farm of Terris’ uncle,

for example, Telus could

provide tools to track crop

inputs for compliance

purposes, but also to market

the farm’s products to

retailers seeking fruit grown

according to particular

protocols.

“We would be able to track

what happens on that farm.

What am I growing, what am I

applying in terms of nutrients

and pesticides,” he says. “But

more importantly, we can

connect that grower to

grocers, for example, which

are looking for berries that a

certain pesticide or chemical

isn’t used on, and we can

authenticate that based on a

set of software we have called

Grower Greenlight.”

Grower Greenlight is an

oering of Muddy Boots, an

English company that works

with everyone from

agronomists on the farm to

grocers and restaurants.

“We feel that there’s

opportunity to bring that

technology to Canada,” he

says. “The solutions that we

have acquired have

applicability in the BC

agriculture market.”

The division has yet to do

much business in BC,

however.

“If you think about the

farms that we’re actually

serving, they are

predominantly in Alberta,

Saskatchewan and Manitoba,”

says Terris.

With les from Myrna Stark Leader

Redmond, WA-based tech giant Microsoft Azure has been quietly moving into the

agritech space. Perhaps its most high-prole project in BC is a partnership with Vancouver-

based Terramera, a darling of the provincial government’s agritech thrust. Terramera

focuses on reducing pesticide use, with the US being its primary market.

While its agship Rango product is unlikely ever to be available in BC, Terramera has

partnered with local researchers on biological control of spotted-wing drosophila (SWD)

and recently announced an ambitious plan for a Global Centre for Regenerative

Agriculture.

The proposed centre, tagged at $830 million, will provide up to a million square feet of

oce, teaching, greenhouse and lab space. Research will focus on soil health, with

Microsoft Azure driving the data analysis and computing platforms.

Terramera describes its vision as “shovel-ready” for 2021, with construction set to

complete in 2025. It aims to build the project with a mix of private and public funding.

The timeline coincides with the province’s plans for a regenerative agriculture network,

details of which have yet to be announced. It also follows the province’s creation of an

agritech land use secretariat last summer on the recommendation of the provincial food

security task force, which recommended setting aside 28,500 acres for agritech

development within the Agricultural Land Reserve.

—Peter Mitham

Microsoft moves in

Agritech venture

aims to unite data

management

Up in smoke

A re in the loading area of Canopy Growth Corp.'s greenhouse in Delta on November 1 generated a

plume of smoke visible across the Lower Mainland. The facility has been idle following layoffs last

year that affected hundreds of workers. It was converted from pepper production in 2018 as part of

an ambitious plan that saw Canopy become the largest licensed greenhouse cannabis producer in the

world. The structure sustained serious but limited damage. PHOTO / IAN PATON

32 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

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It’s all about the timing. A new Application Risk Management tool developed for the BC Ministry of

Agriculture can help farmers determine the best time to apply manure and fertilizers. FILE PHOTO

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 33

Weather data helps farmers

know when to spread manure

by BARBARA JOHNSTONE

GRIMMER

ABBOTSFORD – BC farmers

have a new decision-making

tool to help with nutrient

management.

The BC Application Risk

Management (ARM) tool uses

weather data and eld

conditions to assess on-farm

conditions and predict the

potential for run-o on farms

after nutrient applications.

“To sum it up, it is a tool to

answer this question: will

tomorrow be a good time to

spread manure on this eld?”

says BC Ministry of Agriculture

nutrient management

specialist Je Nimmo.

The idea is to support

growers to make sure there’s

limited run-o when they

apply manure. The tool aims

to keep manure and fertilizer

on the eld for better uptake

and improved eciency.

Preventing runo can also

enhance environmental

protection.

The tool was developed by

Nichole Embertson of the

Whatcom Conservation

District in Washington. It is a

real-time eld-specic

decision aid with

methodology and

implementation established in

Washington.

“It is great to borrow from

their experience and

implement it in BC,” says

Nimmo. The tool was piloted

prior to its ocial launch in BC

in 2019.

The tool is based on factors

that aect runo from

agricultural elds,

New tool helps

farmers avoid

nutrient runoff

precipitation and eld

conditions. It uses 24-hour

and 72-hour forecasts and

eld conditions such as soil

moisture, soil cover, soil type

and method of application.

The tool uses a

precipitation forecast map for

high precipitation areas in BC

using OpenWeather, which

accesses multiple weather

stations. The level of runo

risk due to precipitation is

colour-coded (green means

go, red means stop). This is the

rst phase of the tool.

Once a date to apply is

chosen, the forecast runo

risk is indicated. If it’s a go, the

grower goes to the eld

condition questionnaire. The

questions are straight-forward

and user-friendly. For example,

a saturated soil is described as

“squishy.”

The nal scoring is based

on precipitation forecast and

the condition questionnaire,

with a nal rating that gives

the risk analysis for surface

runo.

The tool can give

documentation of farm

practices and is designed to

gradually educate and

promote the shifting of

practices, essentially acting as

an extension tool.

“The ARM tool is an ‘in-the-

moment’ tool to help farmers

make quick decisions,” says

Nimmo. “A nutrient

management plan involves

thinking about what you are

going to do and takes a lot of

data and time. The ARM tool is

a quick user-friendly tool to

help with day-to-day

decisions.”

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34 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

by BARBARA JOHNSTONE GRIMMER

DAWSON CREEK – Producers in the Peace region

are benefitting from a local weather tool that’s

been scaling up over the past five years.

In 2014, in response to the BC Agriculture and

Food Climate Action Initiative Peace Adaptation

Strategies Plan, a report for the BC Grain Producers

Association identified accessible and agriculturally

relevant weather data as a gap for local producers.

In 2015-2016, the BC Peace Agri-Weather

Network was created and

weather stations were

installed across the region. A

website was built to access

the data but it was not very

user-friendly, according to

Talon Gauthier of the Peace

Region Forage Seed

Association, which has been

leading the project since

2017.

“We got renewed funding

in 2017, and we decided that

we wanted to change

platforms,” she says.

The association contracted

agricultural meteorologist

Andy Nadler from Peak

HydroMet to implement a

better forecasting system and

improve the user experience.

Now, producers have

current and historical

information available for

anyone needing access to

local weather data. There are

no subscription fees. Stations

are set up in several rural communities and there

are more planned.

The historical data can be used for things like

claims to crop insurance, and information can be

used to assist in drought or flood risks. There are

also tools to assist farmers in making seasonal

management decisions. This included a Fusarium

head blight model, wheat midge model and

growing degree days.

“When I look at agricultural decisions, or tools, I

think of it as a pyramid, with quality data at the

foundation of everything,” says Nadler.

Getting data to the user in a user-friendly way is

also critical. Decision support tools must be sector-

specific, regionally relevant, current and simple.

There are many factors to consider.

The Peace River has 32% of BC’s farm area, 90%

of BC’s grain and 95% of BC’s canola, yet is only 8%

of BC’s farms. Farms are much larger, so there is

more land to manage and the farms are spread out.

There are three Environment Canada stations in

the region, or one per 735,000 acres. There are

other stations as well but

many are at higher elevations

and less applicable to

agriculture. Twenty-two

weather stations were

installed through the project

to expand the measured

range, offering real-time

weather reporting that’s

easily accessible and with

relevant parameters.

The website is easy to use.

There are decision support

tools for pests and growing

conditions. Current functions

are weather data,

visualization (and) decision

support tools, and features.

Proposed improvements

are to make the tool mobile-

friendly, with point-based

forecasts, and adding more

decision tools for growth

stages, spray advisory, heat

stress, and sharing data with

other platforms like

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Peace region weather network expanded

Weather stations provide relevant information to farmers

A ve-part webinar series organized by the BC Agricultural Climate Adaptation

Research Network culminated October 20 with three presentations on tools to support

on-farm decision making.

All of the tools incorporate real time weather data to aid in farm-level management

decisions. They include the BC Peace Agri-Weather Network, the BC Decision Aid System

to support integrated pest management and the Application Risk Management tool to

help farmers with nutrient application timing.

The tools promise to be critical for producers in eld management decisions, as well

as in the development of improved monitoring and forecasting of pests and diseases or

crop damage assessments.

The BC Agricultural Climate Adaptation Research Network is a provincial network for

climate change adaptation research for the BC agricultural sector. The webinar series

included sessions on weather stations, historical and streamow data, climate modelling

analysis tools, Canadian climate data portals, and on-demand cloud computing and

open source technology.

All ve sessions are available for viewing on the network’s website [bcacarn.com].

—Barbara Johnstone Grimmer

Adaptation network hosts webinar series

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 35

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DeLisa Lewis, a farmer and assistant professor of biology, is seeing how tarps can be used to manage moisture, nutrients and microbial biomass in farm

applications. She’s part of a study called Too Much Too Little. PHOTO / SUBMITTED

Strategic use

can improve

soil health,

manage

moisture

by RONDA PAYNE

DUNCAN – Silage tarps

cover some low spots at

Green Fire Farm in Duncan

this winter in the hope of

managing persistent low-

lying moisture issues and

speed up land accessibility in

the spring.

The tarps are part of a UBC

study that farmer DeLisa

Lewis is taking part in to see

how silage tarps compare

with cover crops in terms of

managing moisture, nutrients

and microbial biomass to

assist with climate change

adaptation.

The two-year study, called

Too Much Too Little, will also

collect anecdotal feedback

from farmers about their

experiences.

Lewis, who is also an

assistant professor in biology

with UBC’s faculty of Land

and Food Systems, says many

farmers have been tarping for

years. Dierent from plastic

mulches, some consider it

akin to no-till practices that

preserve nutrients by not

disturbing the soil. Others

nd dierent benets.

So far, Lewis says

preliminary results show no

signicant dierence in crop

yield using tarps. Other

benets, like holding moisture

in the soil when needed and

decreasing it by preventing

absorption into the soil when

it’s too abundant, are

promising.

Sean Smukler, associate

professor of applied biology

and soil science and the

faculty’s Agriculture and the

Environment chair, says silage

tarps may help address

farming challenges around

the province. The study is

looking at using tarps versus

cover crops in a number of

annual eld crop

environments.

“If you’re a farmer in Delta,

your biggest problem is

migrating water fowl. If you’re

a farmer in the Kootenays it

may be that you had a

snowfall in early October,” he

says. “One thing that we try to

do in my lab is to try to talk to

farmers about the questions

they have.”

Tarps can help with issues

like these where cover crops

don’t provide much benet.

On Lewis’s farm, she says

cover crops aren’t always

viable.

Sometimes getting a cover

crop started has worse results

than not starting one.

“Once there’s standing

water in the eld, I just call it.

No, I’m just not going out with

my tractor,” she says.

Lewis says the study will

illustrate how to use tarps and

cover crops strategically. Last

year, she used tarping to help

prepare an area for berries.

“In a dierent area of the

farm, where I have some

persistent issues, I’ve got the

silage tarps just laid out,” she

says. “This year, I’m trying it in

a very low-lying area in my

eld. I’m interested in using

those beds a little sooner than

I might.”

Smukler and Lewis don’t

see tarps as a replacement for

cover crops, but instead as an

additional management tool.

“I like the idea of cover

cropping. To me it is the

preferred alternative, but

farmers are doing this

[tarping] and some of them

are swearing by it,” Smukler

says. “Maybe you want to

cover crop most years and

maybe you want to use a

silage tarp other years. We

want to be able to document

the pros and cons of the two

approaches. So if they are

integrating those approaches,

they know what they are

getting into.”

Tradeoffs

Every management

technique has tradeos, says

Lewis, whether it’s cover crops

or tarps. She likes that tarps

have the potential to help

with too much water in the

o-seasons and not enough

in the growing seasons.

“Many of [the tools] with

respect to managing moisture

in the soil are expensive,” she

says.

Tarping isn’t practical for all

40 acres of Lewis’s farm, but

she says it provides a targeted

solution that helps improve

areas where soil variability is

high and improves

accessibility in the spring.

“You’re not going to cover

100 acres of your potatoes,”

she says. “Strategically, there

are some applications for

medium and larger-scale

farms. It’s just what are those

and what are the tradeos?”

A grower may be able to

tarp a quarter or half acre to

plant early in a specic

section and get those

potatoes to market faster. This

comes with a need to accept

that the nutrient contribution

cover crops make won’t occur

when the section is tarped.

Tarps also limit access to the

land.

The practice for deploying

and removing the tarps –

which are reusable – is being

assessed in the study and will

depend on regional issues.

Smukler has seen indicators

Tarps provide targeted alternative to cover crops

See TARPS on next page

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The fund is open to tree fruit growers, producers, and processors to

support three key areas of priority:

● Research: cultivar, disease and pest research.

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development research.

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modernization such as new equipment.

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Orchardists making

greater use of

decision aid system

Three-year pilot shows the

system’s value and promise

The BC Decision Aid System (DAS) can’t recommend if a spray is needed for orchardists, but it can

recommend product options and timing for when to spray. FILE PHOTO

by BARBARA JOHNSTONE

GRIMMER

KELOWNA – Three years of

piloting the BC Decision Aid

System (DAS) has shown its

benet for orchardists in the

Okanagan and beyond.

The tool was developed at

Washington State University

to support integrated pest

management in orchards. It

was launched in 2007

because of reduced extension

services and a parallel

increase in complex pest and

disease issues. Spray

programs to manage disease

and reduce resistance were

becoming more complex, too,

and more data was needed to

manage existing and

emerging issues. Being able

to analyze climate and

weather data, including

growing degree days, was

seen as vital.

When the BC Agriculture

and Food Climate Action

Initiative worked with the

local industry to develop its

regional adaptation project

for the Okanagan,

Washington’s DAS system was

something in which industry

expressed interest.

One of the impact areas

that was given priority was

the projected change in pest

populations. There was an

interest in improving the

connections between climate

change projections and

weather, and pest monitoring

data.

“There was already a

weather network with 21

stations and they were

already running some of the

degree day models for

insects. However, the system

was clunky,” says

horticulturalist and tree fruit

grower Molly Thurston of

Pearl Agricultural Consulting

in Wineld. “We were having

trouble with delivering that

information out to all growers

in a fast and eective

manner.“

At the time, there was a lot

of hand work required.

Calculations were done in the

background with a lot of

complicated spreadsheets.

The recommendations were

being delivered by phone or

in a newsletter. This was not

very time sensitive.

“With the changes that we

were facing like increased

rainfall in the spring, and

changes in humidity as well

as temperatures, there was

real pressure to get on top of

these models and provide

that information in real time

to growers,” says Thurston.

BC DAS came about as a

cross-border collaboration

between the province’s Sterile

Insect Release program,

Washington State University

and BC Tree Fruits

Cooperative, with support

from the BC Fruit Growers

Association and the provincial

and federal governments.

Washington State

University provided growers

in the Okanagan with access

to a web-based platform

designed to provide time-

sensitive information on pest

management to orchardists

using real-time, local weather

data and scientic pest and

disease information to help

with the prediction and

management of these

problems.

The system collects daily

data from the 21 weather

stations Grower’s Supply

operates and eight

Environment Canada stations.

This allows it to run pest,

disease and horticultural

models for tree fruits. It

provides near-real time

information and

management

recommendations, with

added stories about

upcoming management

issues.

Currently 18 insect, disease

and horticultural models are

being run. More models are

being developed.

BC DAS cannot

recommend if a spray is

needed but it can

recommend product options

and timing for when to spray.

Management decisions are

ultimately made by the

grower. There is strong

support for the project to

continue and additional tools

for a wider range of fruits.

There are currently 144

active users of DAS and 317

registered users.

“BC DAS has good support

from industry, horticulturalists

and growers,” says Thurston.

“It relies on high-quality

weather data.”

As tree fruits expand

beyond the Okanagan to

other areas within the

province, there is potential to

add those regions to the

system, too.

that salts are not being

washed out of the soil under

tarps, for example, which

could be highly problematic

for areas like Delta with high

salt content.

Additionally, nutrient

amendment applications are

being studied in relation to

tarps and cover crops.

Researchers want to know

what impact tarps and cover

crops have on applied

nutrients. They are also trying

to nd the best ways to

measure soil health.

“We hypothesize that there

will be interactions between

the winter cover treatments

and the nutrients being

added,” Smukler says.

Participating farmers put

tarps on in the winter of

2019/2020 and will do so

again for the 2020/2021

season. Some will also plant

cover crops for comparison.

They receive soil sample

results from the fall and

spring and aggregated soil

data.

The project is supported in

part by the BC Agriculture

and Food Climate Action

Initiative through its Farm

Adaption Innovator Program

and regional adaption

programs.

TARPS nfrom page 35

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 37

Asian parasitoids

come to the rescue

of berry growers

Two tiny wasp species have

come to BC to prey on SWD

A good wasp. The Leptopilina japonica wasp, native to Asia, is a natural predator of spotted wing

drosophila and is now considered established in BC. PHOTO / WARREN WONG

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AGASSIZ – Two tiny wasps

native to Asia have been

found alive and well and living

in BC – and the dynamic duo

are lending their assistance to

growers in the ght against

spotted wing drosophila,

another insect from Asia that’s

been causing trouble in the

Fraser Valley.

The parasitoid wasps

Leptopilina japonica and

Ganaspis brasiliensis were

discovered in wild and

cultivated plants in 2019 and

are conrmed as established

in BC. Scientists had been

looking for a native parasitoid

to counter SWD since 2009,

when the invasive fruit y was

rst identied in North

America.

Now, researchers have a

locally established ally to

deploy against SWD,

complementing the

insecticides and management

techniques growers have

used to date.

There are a few native

species that attack SWD, but

they weren’t aiding in

suppression and aren’t as

resilient as SWD when it

comes to in-crop

environments. Biocontrol is

important because SWD has a

wide range of host species

that allow populations to build

prior to it attacking ripe fruit.

Benecial insects that

target SWD in these alternative

hosts, often in unmanaged

areas, are critical to keeping

SWD populations in check.

Tracy Hueppelsheuser,

provincial entomologist with

the BC Ministry of Agriculture

in Abbotsford, notes that the

non-stinging wasps were

detected in fruit in 2019.

Ganaspis brasiliensis was found

for the rst time in 2019, but a

re-inspection of samples from

2016 suggest Leptopilina

japonica has been around

much longer.

“They have established

themselves in the areas where

there is [SWD],” she says. “BC

was the rst location to detect

them naturally occurring.

There were some natural

detections, too, in Europe this

year.”

The species were conrmed

by an expert at the

Smithsonian. Both likely made

their way to Canada on cargo

ships, just like their target host

SWD.

Body snatchers

The wasps are eectively

body snatchers. They deposit

their eggs in SWD larvae, and

the eggs hatch while SWD

larvae are pupating. The wasp

larvae devour the SWD pupa

and mature wasps rather than

the dread fruit ies emerge

from the fruit.

While researchers were

looking into the two wasps

already, there were concerns

about the impact on native

populations. Leptopilina

japonica is less selective and

will attack many ies in the

drosophila genus, possibly

native ones, whereas Ganaspis

brasiliensis prefers SWD.

“If there’s the thought of

introducing one of these

things into North America

from Asia, it has to go

through a very long study

process,” says Paul Abram, an

entomologist at the Agassiz

Research and Development

Centre. “This is a very big role

of the research community …

weighing out the very real

risks. Something we’re nding

more and more is that while

we’re in the middle of this

safety testing … sometimes

they show up on their own.”

With the wasps already in

place, researchers don’t have

to worry about seeking

federal permission for a

controlled introduction.

The wasps are now found

all over the Lower Mainland

and Vancouver Island.

“They’re really well

established here now,” says

Abram.

But it’s uncertain how

much they’ll benet growers.

“Just because something is

attacking a pest doesn’t

necessarily mean it’s having a

huge impact,” says Abram.

“Like every control technique

in agriculture, there’s

optimism and there’s risk.”

Research ongoing

Hueppelsheuser says

provincial, federal and other

stakeholders are now

collecting fruit, trying to rear

out the wasps and gain an

understanding of how they’ll

help protect fruit crops.

Because the wasps prey on

SWD in wild fruit, the chief

benet is limiting SWD

numbers before they attack

cultivated fruit, and an

increase in the parasitoid

wasp population that keeps

SWD numbers in check.

The hope is that reducing

SWD in wild habitats will

delay or reduce other

management practices like

spraying.

“We never really expect

these natural enemies to do

much in crop elds,” says

Abram. “The best hope for

them is they are killing the

ies in natural habitats

adjacent to the crop elds.”

He hopes there will be

ways to modify agricultural

habitat to encourage these

parasitoids and help provide

more control in crop elds.

“Does promoting the

presence of some owering

plants … help these

parasitoids? Can we add

alternative host species?” he

asks. “One of my biggest

hopes is that parasitoids delay

the buildup of [SWD] in the

spring. It’s one more tool in

the tool box that’s stacking on

top of the other ones.”

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38 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

Lactating dairy cows that appear to be infertile

are a worrisome challenge for dairy farmers. In order

to meet

milk output

goals, many

dairies

depend on

year-round

calving with

reliable

reproductive

programs that will provide the needed milk yields,

animal replacements and enable consistent year-

round income.

But cows do not necessarily express estrus in the

same way or with the same vigour as each other, yet

estrus detection for dairy managers is key to

keeping a successful reproductive program on track.

Now, researchers at UBC’s Dairy Education and

Research Centre in the Faculty of Land and Food

Systems have discovered a strong correlation

between increased physical activity at estrus and

fertility.

“A cow standing to be mounted has always been

a hallmark for humans to observe,” says Ronaldo

Cerri, associate professor with the Applied Animal

Biology Program and director of the Dairy Education

and Research Centre. “Also, if a cow is pushing other

cows. A quiet cow could be moving more or walking

more. It can be a dicult thing for someone to really

pick up on but a person with a trained eye can pick

it up.”

What has really helped conrm movement and

the links with estrus and fertility is the use of

automated activity monitors (AAMs).

“AAMs are Fitbits for cows,” says Cerri. “You attach

them to the leg or neck, or their collar and they

pretty much do the same stu they would measure

for you. They measure movement, naps, how much

time the cow is sleeping, how much time the cow is

lying down, rumination, feeding, etc. They are a

really good software/hardware combination.”

He says that many dairy farms use AAMs but it

might also depend on the number of cows in a

herd.

“It depends on the farm. In the Fraser Valley, a lot

of cows would have them but on very large farms

[with thousands of cows] it would be overwhelming.

There are costs, the time to put them all on, and the

manpower needed for the work.”

Let’s get physical

The data received from AAMs at various locations,

included in a paper submitted to the Journal of

Dairy Science, stated that animals exhibiting a

greater intensity of physical activity at estrus had

approximately 12% (or around 30% relative

improvement) greater pregnancy per articial

insemination (AI) than cows that had lower estrus

expression.

“An animal that has a pattern of physical activity

during estrus has a clear association with fertility,”

says Cerri. “Then we found as we went into more

physiological things, change could be correlated

with progesterone levels during the estrus cycle

which seemed to be associated with ovulation

success. It became a very interesting behavioural

trait that we could later use to predict how the cow

would do fertility-wise.”

The study also noted an association with cows

that had lower increases in physical activity and

their likelihood of a higher rate of pregnancy losses.

That association led to further studies to try to

mitigate the negative eects which resulted in the

administration of a single dose of the gondatropin-

releasing hormone (GnRH) at the moment of

articial insemination to stimulate ovulation.

“GnRH was a consequence of several other

studies,” says Cerri. “We found that cows with a

certain pattern of estrus expression tend to fail. We

tested GnRH and we found pretty good results. But

while it is practical from one standpoint, it’s not a

capability with the system we currently have

because you have to analyze the data from the AAM

more exactly. You would choose the cows that

respond or do worse fertility-wise and then give the

GnRH shot to improve fertility.”

Cows were studied on three commercial herds

and divided into four groups: High estrus expression

with no GnHR injection; low expression with no

GnHR; high expression with a GnHR injection and

low expression with a GnHR injection. The result was

that the administration of GnRH along with AI

increased the pregnancy per AI of animals with low

estrus expression comparable to those with high

expression.

Cerri says that dairy farmers are understandably

very specic about what they are breeding for

future milk production and volume.

“We are looking at very dierent things. While we

are trying to use data in a more complete way and

promoting the use of GnRH to improve fertility,

overall what we want is to use less. We are also

moving more toward health research. We just got

awarded a grant to use some of the data from the

sensors as a way to phenotype cows for genomic

selection. We want to use that to classify cows to

select for more fertile cows.”

While further health research will be welcomed

by dairy farmers, the use of the GnRH hormone at

the moment of AI has proven invaluable to improve

fertility for cows with low-intensity estrus expression

and a great tool for farmers making breeding

decisions.

Keeping cows’ reproductive cycle on track

More physical activity at estrus can indicate greater fertility rates

Research

by MARGARET EVANS

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 39

James Grifn hopes to plant more hybrid poplar trees to mitigate water issues on his farm and perhaps reap some additional benets in the long term.

PHOTO / JACKIE PEARASE

Agroforestry project makes farm viable

Trees help

increase

productivity

by JACKIE PEARASE

SPALLUMCHEEN – A stretch

of hybrid poplar trees growing

about 30 feet tall along the

highway portion of James

Grin’s farm have garnered a

lot of attention.

Grin started three years

ago with a row of 18-inch

trees that would grow quickly

to provide a sound break from

the constant trac on

Highway 97A in

Spallumcheen.

An ample buer is now

supplied by 400 trees of

varied sizes in two rows.

The trees provide the

additional benet of taking up

extra water that made farming

the 10-acre parcel of the 30-

acre farm almost impossible.

“I thought there’s no harm

in putting them in. I have a

water problem there and it

controls it very well. The

ground was just saturated,” he

says pointing to a eld where

his tractor got stuck in the

mud last year. “There’s a huge

amount of water here. I only

have to go a foot under the

ground and I have the water

table right there.”

He has two artisen wells

producing over 200 gallons a

minute and a creek that

comes from the hillside across

the highway.

Now that he has easier

access to the fertile soil, Grin

grows garlic and a variety of

other market garden

vegetables alongside a few

cows and chickens. Spring

runo this year did not ood

his barn or saturate the hay it

contained.

He says people stop at his

place often to ask about the

trees. He gives them a

synopsis before pointing

them in the direction of Dave

Debrowka of Passive

Remediation Systems Inc.

(PRSI).

Debrowka’s

phytoremediation company

uses “intensive precision

agroforestry” to clean up and

mitigate the eects of

environmental contamination

of air, water and soil.

Phytoremediation is a

process using various types of

plants to remove, transfer,

stabilize and/or destroy

contaminants in the soil and

groundwater.

Debrowka says there are

many applications of the

process in agriculture but his

services are primarily sought

by regional districts and

municipalities seeking landll

issue solutions.

Trees he planted in 2010 on

public property next to

Armstrong’s wastewater

treatment plant were used as

a carbon oset for the District

of Spallumcheen until they

were cut down last year.

Irrigated with wastewater,

trees planted this year are

about six feet tall.

A project for the Regional

District of North Okanagan

started in 2005 at the

Armstrong Spallumcheen

landll is producing good

results.

RDNO regional engineering

services manager Nicole

Kohnert says leachate stored

in a lined pond at the landll

was increasing in volume and

needed to be dealt with at

that time. Options included

irrigation as allowed in its

landll permit, treatment and

discharge to ground or

surface water, or piping to an

existing wastewater treatment

plant.

“The use of the hybrid

poplar trees was determined

to be substantially less

expensive and provides

superior control over potential

impact to the environment,”

Kohnert notes. “PRSI’s

methods and operations are

well planned and carried out

and their assistance to the

RDNO is top notch, ecient

and helps us protect the

environment. We also

appreciate that PRSI brings us

new ideas and methods to

consider on a regular basis to

help deal with climate change

and potential environmental

impacts at the site.”

Debrowka is currently

looking at ways to remediate

the old leachate storage pond

at the landll.

Debrowka has projects in

Kitimat and Salmon Arm and

is elding interest from several

other municipalities.

“A community can realize

some grants by growing a

carbon sink on top of their

garbage dump,” he says. “It’s a

double whammy for them

because every bit of water we

use, that’s a bunch of methane

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40 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

SOIL rehab nfrom page 39

BC Young Farmers says,

TThanank k You

to our 2020 sponsors!

Silver

Gold

Platinum

Double Platinum

In spite of COVID-19, BCYF has enjoyed an eventful year. Through the support

of our sponsors and the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, BCYF offered 16

young farmers the chance to attend choice of six conferences early in 2020, and

after the closure of in-person events, continued to hold virtual events for our

members over the rest of the year.

BC member of the Canadian

Young Farmers' Forum

Your generosity is building the next generation of farmers in BC.

facebook.com/bcyfarmers

instagram.com/BCYoungFarmers

twitter.com/BCYoungFarmers

BCYF event s provide opportunities for young farmers aged

19 to 40 to meet with peers, industry leaders, and educators,

whether in person or online. These events would not be

possible without our sponsors' generous support.

On behalf of all BCYF Directors and members we thank our

sponsors, and look forward to working together again next

year as we continue to provide opportunities for BCYF

members – the next generation of BC farmers!

As in 2020, BCYF looks forward to a great year in 2021:

▪ A booth at the (virtual) Pacific Agriculture Show

▪ Funding BCYF members to attend agriculture conferences

▪ Tours of successful farms run by young farmers across BC

▪ Webinars on a range of topics for new farm operations,

such as financial stability, environmental responsibility,

public communication, and personal resilience

▪ Farm Fest, our annual educational and social event

in November

Become a member & connect with us:

www.BCYF.ca

the ability to rehabilitate soil

decarbonized through

decades of farming.

“Any time you put it on a

plant, you’re complementing

the plant’s ability to

photosynthesize,” he notes.

“Anybody that puts biochar

on their soil is protecting

water. Anybody that puts

biochar on their soil is

increasing their farm income

within ve years by 100%.”

He says carbonized soil

uses less water and produces

better tasting food.

He is also researching the

benets of wood vinegar, a

byproduct of the biochar

process.

“Not a lot is known about

the wood vinegar. They’re

looking at it, studying it,” he

says. “It’s a natural fungicide.

It’s an insecticide in that if you

spray it on your leaves, insects

won’t like it anymore and stay

away. It doesn’t do killing but

it keeps them away.”

In 2016 Debrowka did a

research project with

chemistry professor Susan

Murch from UBC Okanagan

using a Natural Sciences and

Engineering Research Council

of Canada Engage grant.

“My research investigates

the chemistry of plants and

how plant chemistry aects

human health. Dave’s project

is a good mix of

environmental remediation

and recycling. I was interested

in the chemicals we could

detect in his biochar and

wood vinegar and the

potential applications of these

chemicals,” explains Murch.

“We tested biochar, wood

vinegar and wood tar. We

tested for natural fertilizers,

insecticides, antibiotics,

polyphenols, antioxidants,

metals, plant growth

regulators, etc.”

She says wood vinegar

could have multiple uses in

the future including natural

fertilizers, herbicides,

pesticides and anti-microbials.

Other uses include industrial

chemicals; activated charcoal,

carbon nanobres and

nanoparticles; and natural

biopolymers and composite

materials.

Debrowka is pleased with

the research results and sees

wood vinegar as one direction

to take PRSI in the future.

“One day, as we grow as a

company, that will be a

possible lucrative direction to

go.”

Grin hopes to reap some

benets from his trees’ wood

vinegar so he tries to add

biochar annually and wants to

add more trees along his

creek but is limited by time

and money.

“I have a hard time doing all

that (Dave) wants but I try to

nd the middle of the road,”

he says. “I planted enough so I

can take out a row and let

them come up before I take

out the next one or two.”

Passive Remediation Systems Inc. owner Dave Debrowka with some of the compost he creates with help of

biochar. PHOTO / JACKIE PEARASE

that did not go in the air, so

they give you double money.”

There are now 600 trees

growing next to the RDNO

landll irrigated by a new

leachate storage pond created

by Debrowka. The original 400

trees were harvested and

continue to grow as poplars

do.

Debrowka also processes

the felled trees into biochar,

made from burning the trees

at extreme temperatures in his

specially made cooker.

“We heat it up and it

releases volatile organic

compounds, which go up in

the pipe, come down and go

back into the re to make the

re hotter,” he explains. “What

happens is it cooks itself.”

Debrowka says biochar has

multiple benets for farmers.

It adds porosity to the soil,

enabling it to retain water and

good microbes, thereby

improving soil fertility and

stability.

He also says biochar has

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 41

Young farmers encouraged to cultivate resilience

Farm Fest connects the next generation for support and development

by MYRNA STARK LEADER

ABBOTSFORD – Quite a few

young dairy farmers were

among the 20 people who

participated in a November

18 online session regarding

personal resilience as part of

this year’s virtual edition of

Farm Fest, organized by BC

Young Farmers since 2011.

“Resilience is the healthy

functioning in the face of

adversity,” explained presenter

Faith Matchett, vice-president

of customer service centres at

Farm Credit Canada.

Matchett says adversity is

often thought of as a major

life event, like a death, but it

can also be experienced as a

constant ow of challenging

events – weather, markets,

trade and so on.

Agriculture is a resilient

sector, but when it comes to

creating more business

resilience she says it’s

important for producers to

intentionally take time to

think and strategize.

“You really have to carve

out a time in your annual

schedule, because a clear

strategy builds resilience in all

avenues of your business,”

says Matchett.

A strategy doesn’t have to

be extensive. She says even a

four-page strategy can help

share the business vision with

family, fellow team members

and service providers. Once

documented, reviewing the

plan annually or even

quarterly can help normalize

more strategic discussions. It

can also help make

conversations around

transitions into or out of

operations easier, especially in

family-owned farm

businesses.

Matchett says keeping

numbers also helps build

resilience, though it might not

be everyone’s favourite job.

She advises a systematic

approach, such as setting

aside time each week to do

the books rather than letting

it pile up and add to existing

pressures.

“Once you have production

and nancial numbers, it also

allows for month-over-month

or annual comparisons,” she

says.

The comparisons can help

paint a clearer picture of the

business, easing stress and

building resilience.

On the personal front, she

says producers need to build

their own resilience before

they can help others.

“It’s like putting on your

own oxygen mask rst in an

air incident,” she emphasizes.

Basic self-care is

particularly important.

“It’s become a badge of

honour to exist on ve hours

of sleep,” she says, noting that

studies indicate the average

person needs eight to nine

hours of sleep a day on a

regular basis. For those who

need to rise early for farm

work, she suggested napping.

She says it’s also important

to think about personal

values and what’s really

important to you at least

annually. This helps people

live more into their purpose.

Matchett says pausing in

gratitude on a daily basis is a

helpful exercise. She writes

down three things she’s

grateful for nearly every day.

Others may have specic

spiritual disciplines. Some

may sign-o social media for

Set aside time weekly for bookkeeping rather than let it mount up and add to existing pressures. FILE PHOTO

a time to minimize

distractions and stop on-

going comparisons to others

in order to cultivate joy in

their own lives.

Resilience matters because

of its direct link to mental

wellness. She says agriculture

is getting better at having

mental health conversations

but there’s still room for more

discussions. This was

evidenced by one

participant’s follow up

question. He asked how he

could help someone he

knows who is struggling.

Matchett advised him to

oer to listen and not be

afraid to ask that person

straight-up if they’re thinking

of self-harm. She said it’s

important for everyone to

remember that there are

resources at hand to support

them.

“It’s at the dip point in our

resilience that we tend to

forget this,” she says. “You are

surrounded by resources,

family, friends, colleagues and

most people, if you ask them,

they will help you.”

J.R. (Tim) Armstrong Memorial

Bursary for Students in Agriculture

or Journalism Programs

Application Deadline:

December 31, 2020

The 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.

See: http://www.bcfwa.

ca/resources--links.html

Contact:

Ronda Payne

Scholarship Chair

ronda.eyben@shaw.ca

from your AGRICULTURE & AGRI-BUSINESS TEAM

All of us wish you a very

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Melanie Lantz

604-217-2572

Quincy North

604-621-6795

Michele Anderson 778-986-2109

Steve Saccomano

604-703-5161

Parm Kooner

604-360-1740

Iain Sutherland

250-515-0173

ern McDonald

604-556-1537

Lauren Tap

604-217-3950

Teresa McKinley

250-618-4316

Rick Tilitzky

604-360-5876

42 | DECEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

Winter markets aren’t so bad after all. PHOTO / CARMEN KLOTZ

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Oh dear. I’ve had an

unexpected change of mind.

Having just spent some ve

years convincing the boss (my

parents) that we shouldn’t be

doing big city markets

anymore, I have just admitted

to myself that I don’t mind

them all that much and it

seems a little rash to remove

them from the revenue

stream.

Our farm was built and

paid for with the money that

city people have given us for

potatoes. I have always

privately bristled when non-

market people have

expressed incredulity that

driving down there has been

worthwhile. I am not sure

what those people picture

when they think of farmers’

markets. Probably not these

commercial juggernauts with

upwards of 10,000 people

with money and shopping

bags passing through every

weekend, summer and winter.

We could always count on

about 10% of them buying

our potatoes, which left the

other 90% as our target

market. Growth was not only

reliable, but it also seemed

inevitable.

COVID, however, did away

with the crush of humanity

and laid bare the fact that the

emotional and physical toll of

trundling down there has

increasingly outpaced the

desire for that money. Finally,

after several years of

persistent

campaigning on that

point – several

skirmishes, the odd

big battle, very

carefully crafted

diplomacy, and the

shameless exploitation

of a global pandemic – we are

all in agreement.

Problem being, I went to

the big city market yesterday

(rst one since March) and it

was great. Loved it. I’m

looking forward to next

week’s installment. So nice to

see these people, both

customers and fellow farmers,

again. It was satisfying to

move a larger volume of

potatoes, even though the

capacity restrictions have

reduced the commercial

juggernaut to something of a

more dubious nature. An

excellent new stall location

with both truck and trailer

parked adjacent allowed me

and my helper to enjoy the

warmish sunny day with

minimal heavy lifting. The city

driving was easy.

Evidently, there is more

than money drawing me to

markets and I am now

eortlessly cataloguing the

desirable aspects of the

experience. Included are

honest admissions and

pandemic positives. For

example, I have missed

showing o our beautiful

potatoes and the glowy

feeling I get when they are

admired. Another: city driving

conditions have improved

immensely. Volume exists at

certain times and in certain

neighborhoods, but overall,

there are new and

unexpected gaps into which

my large truck and half-

empty/half-full trailer easily t.

Contributing greatly to my

mood swinging from

oppressively obsessed with

work requirements to breezily

musing on the charms of

attending city markets, is the

change in season. That is to

say, the ground is now either

frozen or too muddy for

tractors, day-light hours are

seriously reduced, and

weather conditions require

clothing choices incompatible

with high productivity

expectations: all this signals

good times ahead. It’s a far

cry from yester-week when I

was roaring around the farm

pursued by an aggressive

to-do list.

I learned years ago to

measure my work-life balance

over nothing less than the

course of a year. It is sensible

to make hay while the sun

shines, after all, as that is what

we are here to do as farmers.

It is equally important to

cherish the impossibility of

farming potatoes when there

is six feet of snow on the

ground, which is the lesser-

known correlated farming

cliché. Leaving aside the fact

that we still have almost the

entire crop to wash, sort and

sell, I don’t have much to do. I

guess I can’t leave that aside.

So, point being, a change is

as good as a holiday.

Winter is coming! Markets

are fun! Hooray for

unexpected mind changes!

Anna Helmer is farming and

doing other things in the

beautiful Pemberton Valley.

A change of season brings a change of mind

Perhaps markets are a good thing

Farm Story

by ANNA HELMER

WEEKLY

FARM

NEWS

Updates

COUNTRY LIFE IN BC DECEMBER 2020 | 43

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by SARBMEET SINGH

ABBOTSFORD – The recent

announcement of an additional

$750 million for the universal

broadband fund by the federal

government is pleasing farmers.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

ocially launched the Universal

Broadband Fund on November 9,

which was originally announced in

the 2019 federal budget. The fund,

now worth $1.75 billion, aims to

provide high-speed Internet access

to 98% of Canadians by 2026 and

100% by 2030.

In a bid to improve connectivity

and expand high-speed Internet

coverage to the far north, rural and

remote regions across Canada,

Ottawa allocated $600 million of

the fund to secure capacity on

Telesat’s low Earth orbit (LEO)

satellite network. The network is

scheduled to enter service in 2022,

improving broadband capabilities

across northern Canada.

“These are ambitious targets and

we're ready to meet them,” Trudeau

says.

Amandeep Singh, a blueberry grower in the

Fraser Valley, welcomed the announcement.

“A large number of farmers have relied on

technology in this pandemic as meetings of various

farm organizations were held online. Producers will

reap benets of the technology in future,” he says.

Speaking at the Toronto Global Forum at the end

of October, Claudia Roessler, director, agriculture

strategic partnerships with Microsoft Azure’s

FarmBeats division, said better Internet in rural

communities is essential for farmers and rural

businesses. Without it, they wouldn’t be able to take

advantage of new data analytics platforms and

leverage the power of articial intelligence.

While mobile networks cover more than 96% of

Canada’s rural communities, the

latest report of the Canadian

Radio-television and

Telecommunications Commission

indicates top-level broadband

coverage is far lower at 37%.

Coverage in BC is at

approximately 53%, on par with

Quebec and second to New

Brunswick at 64%. (The gures are

based on 2017 data.)

Yet gaps still exist, making it

dicult for producers in some

regions to make eective use of

digital home assistants, let alone

wireless systems for farm

management. Several systems,

from data loggers to pest

monitoring, irrigation and fencing,

are making use of wireless

technology or soon will be.

Without reliable coverage,

adoption will be hampered.

The federal government’s