SEPTEMBER 2020 : simplebooklet.com

Postmaster, Please return Undeliverable labels to: Country Life in BC 36 Dale Road Enderby, BC V0E 1V4CANADA POSTES POST CANADA Postage paid Port payé Publications Mail Post-Publications 40012122Vol. 106 No.9The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 SEPTEMBER 2020 | Vol. 106 No. 9PANDEMICField days feeling the pinch of social distancing rules 7 ALRChanges to land commission kick in this fall 11 BEEFShort-term roller coaster for beef market23by PETER MITHAM VICTORIA – BC farmers won’t have to worry about their properties losing farm class status on the 2021 tax roll. The province announced July 29 that all properties the BC Assessment Authority currently classies as farms would continue to hold that status for the coming year. “Our government is committed to helping farmers maintain their farm classication for 2021 to ensure they can produce the food people in BC rely on,” said Selina Robinson, provincial minister of Municipal Aairs and Housing, whose portfolio includes BC Assessment. The exemption does not apply to properties subject to a legal change, including a change in ownership or subdivision, according to the province, nor to any property with a change in use or where a lease is expiring. New applications for farm class and retired farmer designations will be processed as usual. Provincial regulations require that properties between 2 and 10 acres generate at least $2,500 to be classed as farms by BC Assessment. Smaller properties must generate revenues of $10,000 while larger properties must generate $2,500 plus 5% of the actual value of the farm property in excess of 10 acres. Property assessments are based on market value as of July 1 each year, though valuations are reviewed until Amir Niroumand and farm manager Melanie Buffel are creating an opportunity for city dwellers to experience planting, growing and harvesting food for themselves and others at a 40-acre community farm Niroumand has created in Agassiz. While it doesn’t pretend to be commercial scale, the farm provides food to as many as 120 people in season. The story is on page 45. PHOTO / RONDA PAYNEFarms to retain tax status1-888-770-7333 Quality Seeds ... where quality counts!YOUR BC SEED SOURCESee INCOME on next page oGrowing more with less waterwatertecna.comttttttttIRRIGATION LTD1.888.675.7999 888 6 9999888669999 Diesel & PTO Pumps PVC & Aluminum PipeIrrigation ReelsDRIP IRRIGATIONCentre PivotsUnder one roof Ag ministry to oversee abattoir inspectionsby TOM WALKER VICTORIA -- The BC Ministry of Agriculture is taking over meat inspection in the province on December 1, consolidating oversight of the sector. “Eective December 1, 2020, all slaughter activity licensed under the Meat Inspection Regulation for class A, B, D, and E meat slaughter licenses will now be regulated under the Ministry of Agriculture,” the province announced August 19. See MORE on next page oCreating community in abundance

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MORE inspections are key nfrom page 1INCOME requirement waived nfrom page 1“It’s about time,” says Nova Woodbury, executive director of the BC Association of Abattoirs. “It’s good news. We have been calling for more accountability and more oversight of D and E licences for a long time now. Having licensing and oversight of all slaughter facilities in BC being provided by the Ministry of Agriculture will be a benet to all those involved in meat processing." A and B slaughter facilities are currently under the agriculture ministry. A provincial meat inspector observes the processing of every animal. D and E plants, which are only allowed in 13 designated regions of the province, have been overseen by the regional health authorities and have no minimum inspection requirements other than a site inspection to obtain their licence. Meat from D and E facilities can only be sold within the regional district where it was processed, and must carry a “Not Government Inspected. For sale only in the Regional District of ____” label. The change also pleases Julia Smith of the Small Scale Meat Processors Association. “This is something pretty much everybody involved in the meat industry agreed needed to happen,” she says. The report of the province’s Select Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fish and Food, published in September 2018, called for the agriculture ministry to look for ways, “to expand current meat inspection and enforcement services.” A second recommendation required “the Ministry of Agriculture (or their designate) to increase resources to enable engagement with Class D and E licensed facilities to ensure increased inspections at those facilities, including slaughter.” The latest government announcement lacked details, promising an intentions paper this fall. But it did recognize a number of benets to moving all authority under the agriculture ministry, including new economic opportunities, strengthening the resiliency of the BC food system, streamlining administration of licenses, improving consistency in the administration of D and E licences throughout the province and increasing the frequency of inspections to ensure food safety and animal welfare are maintained. “More inspections is a key,” says Woodbury, noting that some regional health authorities fail to inspect D and E plants even once a year. She would also like to see the inspections review actual slaughter practices to ensure operators are slaughtering animals correctly. The BC Association of Abattoirs looks forward to hearing details of the changes that will occur, particularly those related to “streamlining licensing to reduce administrative burdens.” “We are interested to know if some of these changes will apply to the inspected Class A and B abattoirs to encourage more of them to open throughout the province," she says. Smith is optimistic that the changes will create opportunities. “We are hoping that bringing everybody under the Ministry of Agriculture will remove the regional restrictions on sale and broaden the market opportunities for small processors,” she says. “Meat that is safe to eat in the Thompson Nicola region should be safe to eat in Squamish.” But the current capacity situation across the industry worries Smith. “We are disappointed with the pace at which this is happening and there is a real urgency now,” she says, noting that the province began discussion of D and E facilities in spring 2018. “All levels of processing in the province are running at out.” Farmers bought and raised more animals this year because of demand during the COVID-19 pandemic while others kept animals back to nish for themselves, she explains. “There is a tremendous number of animals that are market-ready this fall,” she says. “I am begging for spring processing dates for my own animals already.” The glut of animals will end up being processed some way, says Smith. “We really hope that it will be in a facility with the proper oversight,” she says. Regional health authorities retain responsibility for new Class D licences until December 1, but the agriculture ministry does not expect the transition in oversight to have any impact on licences in process. 2 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BClate fall prior to assessment notices being distributed the rst week of January. According to BC Assessment, approximately 51,000 properties in the province are classied as farms. The number is relatively stable from year to year, with approximately 200 applications for farm class status each year. The province says it is unclear how many properties risked losing farm class status prior to the recent change “as it is still very early in the farm production cycle.” However, BC Ministry of Agriculture sta said it was aware that this year has been challenging for some smaller-scale farms in BC thanks to COVID-19. 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Raising the threshold is something the BC Agriculture Council has been advocating for years, saying the current thresholds are too low, making it too easy for properties to qualify as farms. The current thresholds were set in 1993, and remain the lowest in Canada. BCAC maintains that the province needs to focus on ensuring legitimate farms are using the properties, then assessing uses in that context. BCAC chair Stan Vander Waal has maintained in the past. “We’re looking … to make sure that the benets are not extended to non-ag uses of farmland.” "We have not heard of this being a widespread issue among BC farmers and ranchers," says BCAC executive director Reg Ens regarding the latest announcement. "Assistance may be needed in specic cases this year where sales were drastically impacted by the pandemic." With les from Myrna Stark Leader

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Armyworm keeps its distance this summerMonitoring program continuesby JACKIE PEARASE ARMSTRONG – The Western yellowstriped armyworm did not wreak havoc on North Okanagan farms this spring but monitoring by the BC Ministry of Agriculture will continue to the end of the summer. “We are not home-free yet. We are still catching low numbers of moths in some of our traps but no worms to date,” said ministry entomologist Susanna Acheampong in mid-August. The initial outbreak in the region in 2018 saw armyworm populations rise in August so the ministry wants to monitor the situation until the season is over. The pest starts as a moth in the spring, laying eggs that hatch into voracious worms that feed for two to three weeks. There may be three to four generations of the pest each season, with the last generation overwintering in the soil as pupae. With a diet of more than 60 plant species including forage crops, vegetables, ornamentals and weeds, the yellowstriped armyworm can do considerable damage to farms. The black, yellow-striped worms rst spotted near Armstrong in July 2018 caused considerable crop damage. Pheromone traps were placed the rst week of May 2019 at about 10 farms aected in 2018. The rst reports of the pest in 2019 came in early May and rose through that month. A second hatching in July resulted in smaller numbers of the worm. The ministry asked producers to be vigilant in monitoring and to take steps to control the pest on farms to reduce and prevent the spread of the worms. Acheampong says there are a number of reasons why the pest might appear in a region one season but not reoccur in subsequent years. “Armyworm outbreaks can be sporadic and may be due to wind currents if it is a species that is blown in from another region,” she explains. “Diseases and parasitoids can also lead to population crashes.” She says management strategies by farmers are also key to controlling the pest. A provincial tip sheet urges farmers: • do not move or sell hay immediately after baling, as armyworm larvae take refuge under swaths or bales; • store bales for one to three weeks prior to transport to allow worms to move out or die; • inspect bales to ensure there are no worms before transporting or selling; • inspect purchased hay for worms prior to unloading; • clean hay equipment, farm trucks and other equipment with an air or water spray to prevent worms from travelling between farms; • inspect equipment coming onto your property for worms. COUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 3Smile with your eyesFarmers markets have a different look and feel this year, but they continue to be a valuable venue for producers. Scott Hanley of Eagle Bluff Orchard in Oliver was at Penticton's farmers market. He says despite sellers and customers being asked to take precautions and less foot trafc, everyone is adjusting to the new way of doing business. Pink caution tape prevents customers from feeling the produce and the potential spread of germs. Eagle Bluff is a family-run orchard, growing mostly peaches, nectarines, cherries, apricots and plums. PHOTO / MYRNA STARK LEADER

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Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, that portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with reasonable allowance for signature will not be charged, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographical error which advertises goods or services at a wrong price, such goods or services need not be sold at the advertised price. Advertising is an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at any time. All advertising is accepted subject to publisher’s approval. All of Country Life in British Columbia’s content is covered by Canadian copyright law. Opinions expressed in signed articles are those of the writer and not necessarily those of Country Life in British Columbia. Letters are welcome, though they may be edited in the interest of brevity before publication. All errors brought to our attention will be corrected.36 Dale Road, Enderby BC V0E 1V4 . Publication Mail Agreement: 0399159 . GST Reg. No. 86878 7375 . Subscriptions: $2/issue . $18.90/year . $33.60/2 years . $37.80/3 years incl GSTThe agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 Vol.106 No. 9 . SEPTEMBER 2020Published monthly by Country Life 2000 Ltd. www.countrylifeinbc.comPublisher Cathy Glover 604-328-3814 . publisher@countrylifeinbc.com Editor Emeritus David Schmidt Associate Editor Peter Mitham news@countrylifeinbc.com Advertising Sales & Marketing Cathy Glover sales@countrylifeinbc.com Production Designer Tina Rezansoff Start it up, PW! Fall backSeptember is here, and with it a sixth month of COVID-19 is drawing to a close. Stores and schools are reopening, the 7 o’clock cheers for caregivers that rippled like a stadium wave across the province’s urban neighbourhoods have long since faded and shoppers continue to adjust to evolving rules of engagement at grocery stores. But the pandemic continues, just like production on the province’s farms. But how will consumers access that food this winter? Poking and prodding produce is frowned upon, bulk foods are now prepackaged, and as this issue went to press, Loblaws was moving to make face masks mandatory across its operations. Distancing is no longer a social practice, as risk-management removes the human touch from food sales. On the one hand, consumers are seeing rst-hand the importance of food safety protocols. But the loss of choice will be a rude awakening for others. Some bulk food outlets have made investments in better dispensing systems while small-volume items like wheat, barley and rye akes have disappeared. (Rolled oats are always in season, however.) While panic buying was the hallmark of the pandemic’s early days, convenient, hassle-free access to the foods we’ve become familiar with is likely to be this fall’s trend. Buying local eggs, grains, fruits and vegetables from the farm next door, or the local grocer, will increase as people opt for the safe and familiar to see them through the long winter ahead. They’re the fall-back options when times get tough, and many local producers will be glad to feel the love. But international trade is also key. Canada and BC are respected internationally for providing safe, high-quality food. Many inputs for our farms and processors come from abroad. Keeping trade owing could be a challenge if COVID-19 becomes an entrenched disease that keeps factory output low, especially in the o-season, and pinches farm labour supplies. The pandemic may have us buying local, but selling global will be o the table, and its loss shouldn’t be underestimated. The good news in all this is that agriculture remains an essential service, and eating an essential activity. While our choices of what to eat may be limited, people need their daily bread and farmers are the ones supplying it. Many have taken advantage of the pandemic to nd new routes to market. Whether these become established relationships after the pandemic ends is another question, Apparently, tapioca is the new bathroom tissue. A city-wide search of major grocery stores failed to turn up a single box, only empty shelf space reminiscent of the panic-induced dearth of bathroom tissue in the early days of the COVID-19 shutdown. Although COVID-19 transportation and processing disruptions have aected tapioca, the root of the problem (no pun intended) predates the virus. Drought in Thailand, which accounts for more than 40% of global exports, has limited supply to a growing market. Shortages and rising prices were predicted last year with an anticipated decrease of 30% to 50% in Thailand. Much of the increased demand for cassava/tapioca results from its use in making ethanol. While the shortage of tapioca is largely due to drought, the COVID-19 pandemic will make its absence from grocery store shelves even more keenly felt. Not as widely as the bathroom tissue panic last spring perhaps, but just enough to prove the Rolling Stones had it right 50 years ago: You can’t always get what you want. It’s still the case now, six months into the pandemic with no end in sight. The second wave of cases expected in the fall began two months early. Despite an auspicious start to reducing case numbers in the spring, the Phase 3 reopening of BC’s economy has caused a sharp spike in reported infections. The average daily cases in BC went from 10.6 on July 1 to 67.4 on August 14. The number seems set to climb exponentially, and unless it can be curtailed, the planned school reopening in September may be, at best, ill-advised. If the current surge continues until it merges with the expected fall wave, we might nd ourselves doing an about-face on our COVID-19 response and returning to Phase 2 and the prospect of hoarding bathroom tissue again. Regardless of how the curve is managed in BC, COVID-19 is destined to shape our social and economic life for the foreseeable future. The worldwide push to develop a vaccine seems destined to bear fruit soon (Russia is claiming success already), but the logistics of immunizing a substantial part of the world’s population will require many months of concerted eort. Even when it is done there will still be unanswered questions: will the vaccine provide permanent immunity? Will COVID-19 mutate and start all over again? Is there another coronavirus with similar stealth transmission characteristics waiting for a human host? Many of the measures and behaviours we have used to combat COVID-19 are unlikely to change. Don’t expect the Plexiglas shields and hand sanitizer dispensers to disappear any time soon. There will be enough unease to make some degree of social distance a social norm. Any activity requiring large numbers of people to stand or sit shoulder to shoulder with strangers is in for a rough ride: public transit, professional sports, air travel, cruise ships, and fairs and exhibitions. On the other side of the coin, activities with built-in social distance and requiring few participants will be in demand. The surges in camping, bicycle sales, RV sales, boat sales, auto parts, lumber yard supplies, and seed and home gardening supplies all point to behavioural re-focussing. While social distance is a fact of life for many of us on our own farms and ranches, COVID-19 and its consequences haven’t spared agriculture: outbreaks in processing facilities, outbreaks among SAWP employees, shortages of SAWP and domestic workers, and restrictions on farm sale and agritourism activities. For some, the eects are trickle-down; for others they are direct. Either way they require the same refocussing, subtle for some, profound for others, that is happening in the broader world. While the Rolling Stones pointed out we can’t always get what we want, the song ended with the observation that “if you try sometimes, you just might nd you get what you need.” Let’s hope we all nd that. Bob Collins raises beef cattle and grows produce on his farm in the Alberni Valley.The Back Forty BOB COLLINSbut either way the shifts underscore a sector that’s dynamic and responsive. The province deserves credit for supporting online sales this summer and its ongoing support of local producers through programs such as Buy BC, which is increasingly seen at retail. Unlike some other provinces, BC quickly developed programs aimed at protecting farm workers and communities from COVID-19. While we’re all responsible for reducing the spread of the disease in communities, the province set a national example for how to manage the disease among farm workers. The future of the pandemic is unwritten, but it’s fuelling a generational shift in food systems. This should include greater support for rural infrastructure, something meat producers have long called for and which growing interest in local food requires. Finding what we need in a COVID-19 world4 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC

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Exports play a vital role in BC’s farm economyBC producers exported to more than 151 countries last yearrecent webinar that global recovery is expected to be strong and soon – if not in the latter part of 2020, then mid 2021, depending on how countries manage the second wave of COVID-19. Most countries that have experienced a second wave have fared better than expected. With adequate risk management tools, Hall says trade can proceed. Export dependent Several sectors including cranberries, blueberries, tree fruits, meat products, prepared food and greenhouse products depend on export markets. It is important to maintain trade during this time, keeping established trade relationships and building new ones. One strategy mentioned by Global Affairs Canada is to target new US cities. While the US has projected declines in agricultural imports, Canada went to 151 other countries. China was the second-largest export market, importing more than $450.2 million of our agricultural exports. Japan followed at $208.2 million. So how has the pandemic affected trade in agricultural products to date? One way to measure this is to compare the year-to-date value of exports to last year’s exports over the same timeframe. BC agricultural exports from January to May 2020 were $552.6 million, up 12% compared to the same period a year earlier. However, exports increased in some regions while decreasing in others. The strongest performance was with the more developed countries and those with which we have trade agreements. Exports to Europe have more than doubled in the first five months of 2020 compared to all of 2019. On the flip side, however, China sales have dropped over 30% and Japan has also decreased 8%. The overall increase of 1% in sales to Asia-Pacific region is due, in part, to exports to South Korea, Nepal, Australia and Sri Lanka, which have more than doubled. What does the future look like in this crazy time? Peter Hall, chief economist with Export Development Canada, pointed out in a Since March, when COVID-19 began to hit home here in Canada, we have all had to make significant adjustments to our lifestyles, farms and businesses. Lockdowns, shutdowns and social distancing have changed our lives. The pandemic has also given us an opportunity to focus on our food system and how we can support the local food economy as a community. While strengthening our local food system for BC farmers and ranchers as well as BC residents is primary, it is important to note the key role exports play in our economy. Agricultural trade has continued throughout this pandemic, showing how important BC food is not just to BC but to a surprising number of countries throughout the world. How important are agricultural exports in BC? In 2019, BC agriculture and seafood exports were valued at over $4.6 billion. Processed food exports accounted for $1.6 billion of those exports; the value of processed food exports has increased more than 42% since 2015. Who are we trading with? The United States is our largest trading partner, importing just over 72% of the exports at $3.4 billion in 2019. However, products also COUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 5has fared well so far. The USDA Ag Trade Forecast, May 2020, reported that US imports of agricultural products are projected to decrease 2% in fresh fruit, vegetables and beer this year. However, BC increased trade in all these areas over the same time last year. BC exported just under $5 million of beer to the US in 2019; in the first five months of this year it had exported more than $2.1 million worth. The CUSMA trade agreement that replaced NAFTA may help maintain Canada’s markets in these areas. Given the current tense relationship with China, it is not expected that this market will increase anytime soon; however, other markets like South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore are showing more activity and may be channels into the China market. There are several sources of advice on trade and funding assistance in developing new markets at the BC Ministry of Agriculture as well as Export Development Canada and Global Affairs Canada. Assistance in funding export research and activities is provided through the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC on behalf of the federal and provincial governments. In the end, we must support our local food system, buy local and do what we can to strengthen it, remembering that also means supporting trade in agriculture and seafood products. Coreen Rodger Berrisford is the owner of Coran Consulting and general manager of the BC Cranberry Marketing Commission. 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Field days feeling the pinch of social distancing rulesPandemic protocols means it’s anything but business as usualPhysical distancing and one-way rows are the new standard for grower eld days, as practiced August 19 at Brent Kelly Farms in Delta, host of the BC Potato & Vegetable Growers Association potato eld trials. Visitors pre-registered for one-hour time slots during the day. Numbers were down but Heather Meberg of ES Cropconsult said input from growers was more detailed and valuable. PHOTO / RONDA PAYNECOUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 7HAS GROOVING LET YOU AND YOUR COWS DOWN? 40 years of concrete experience, research & development is behind our custom built & patented Traction Milling equipment, 7-step process and quality workmanship.Call to learn more. Also because of the Farm Show cancellations we are still giving away "Discount Coupons", call to get yours. Call 717-682-8557 or toll free 877-966-3546 or visit www.agritraction.comby RONDA PAYNE DELTA – Many farmers block o their calendars for the eld days that give them a chance to share information, learn and socialize. This year will be dierent, however, as ongoing restrictions designed to curb COVID-19 has changed the format of most eld days. Alexis Arthur, owner of Pacic Forage Bag Supply Ltd. in Delta, says she might be hosting two eld days this summer, one in Matsqui and the other in Sumas. If they go ahead, they will be dierent from the usual setup. While her events normally feature a steak BBQ under a tent as part of the draw, sitting together and buets aren’t on the menu this year. “When you hear the numbers [of COVID-19 cases] getting higher, as a business I have to be mindful,” she says. She had intended on hosting four eld days, and explained the parameters the events would have to follow to the co-host businesses and farmers. Subsequently, two events were cancelled, one because underlying health issues at the host farm made hosting unwise. “In light of the rising numbers, I basically said I’d like feedback and I’d like to know if everyone is comfortable having the events on their land,” she explains. “We’ve gone from having four to … [possibly] two. With those increasing [COVID-19 case] numbers, I think people are getting a little more anxious.” Whether or not any eld day events proceed, Arthur will complete the trials on all viable plots from the four sites and collect information. To do so, she will set up the elds in usual eld day crop fashion to examine the trial forage. She may invite a few individuals to come out to gain the information rst-hand without the formalities of a eld day. She’s keen to share information because it’s been a tough year for growers of forage crops such as corn. “There’s valuable information that they can get their hands on. It was a bloody hard year for [corn],” she says. Results of trials Pacic Forage conducted will be posted online and Arthur intends to add short videos detailing information about varieties. “Maybe we put some money we put towards BBQs to an eective video,” she says. Okanagan Fertilizer trialed 15 corn varieties this year but opted to skip its eld day. “What we are thinking is if people want to go look at the new varieties, we can take them out there individually,” says sales agronomist Caleb Stuart. 1-888-770-7333BILL AWMACKThe company planted new varieties from a supplier that wasn’t previously selling seed in BC and Stuart believes the results will be useful to growers. Strawberry, raspberry and blueberry growers also missed out on their eld days this year. Blueberry growers are still expected to have an annual general meeting in the fall, but a eld day is unlikely to be part of the event. Integrated Crop Management Services (ICMS) is still considering options for a eld day, says BC regional manager Grant McMillan. “At this point, we may run it based on appointments,” he says. “We still have been See FIELD on next page o

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8 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCROTATOR®TECHNOLOGY1000 SERIESIRRIGATION AUTOMATIONHELPS AID NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT Wirelessly automate your valves to turn your sprinklers on and oﬀ as needed and reduce potential for runoﬀ.Contact us to learn more: Tel: +1 509.525.7660nelsonirrigation.comBIG GUN® SPRINKLER + TWIG® WIRELESS CONTROLSHigh-uniformity Rotator® sprinklers help manage water & nutrients uniformly in the soil.Nelson valves are designed for tough agricultural applications. 3030 SERIES PIVOTSPRINKLERS1/2” & 3/4”IMPACT REPLACEMENTSThe prospect of prolonged restrictions on large public events has prompted BC’s biggest agriculture show to go online in 2021. Originally scheduled for Tradex in Abbotsford on January 28-30, the Pacic Agriculture Show will pivot to a virtual format in 2021 with plans for the 2022 event to return to Tradex, says show manager Jim Shepard. “We’ll be pivoting and producing a world-class virtual show,” he says. “There’s all kinds of reasons for doing it.” An online portal will allow visitors to explore the trade show oor, which will reect the usual layout at Tradex. They’ll be able to visit booths, have private chats with vendors, access product information and even enjoy the virtual petting zoo. The education dimension will also continue, with the show’s partner conferences also moving online. The Horticultural Growers’ Short Course, Cannatech West and Ag Innovation Day have all agreed to run their programs. Shepard is excited about the opportunities the virtual space provides, including inviting speakers from around the world in addition to the short course’s usual presenters. He also sees an opportunity to expand the show's reach and inuence to an even wider audience. Shepard expects to send packages outlining the event and explaining registration opportunities to show exhibitors in mid-September. “Everyone seems pretty keen to make this a success,” he says. “We’re going to have virtual farm tours, virtual demonstrations, all highly interactive and in real time.” —Ronda Payne Pacific Agriculture Show goes virtual doing small tours whenever a client needs to look at the trials.” The BC Potato & Vegetable Growers Association potato variety eld day is a popular event that typically draws interest from across the country. Organizers modied it to respect COVID-19 protocols, limiting attendance to 20 people an hour and eliminating the food component. Kootenay and Boundary Farm Advisors cancelled its spring and summer eld days, but coordinator Rachael Roussin resumed the events when the province moved to Phase 3 of its reopening plan. She plans to host six eld days before December but the events will be tightly focused and attendance limited to no more than 20 people in keeping with provincial health orders. “The eld days are specic and targeted in their approach and theme,” she says. “Agriculture is an essential service and people haven’t stopped [farming]. Life is continuing for the ag sector and this is supporting them. We have done some online extension events. They’ve been awesome, but everyone says you can’t beat face-to-face.” FIELD nfrom pg 7FILE PHOTO / MYRNA STARK LEADER

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AgSafe makes changes to board structureChanges to bylaws endorsed by members in online meetingCOUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 9drainage is our specialtyVALLEY FARM DRAINAGE31205 DEWDNEY TRUNK RD, MISSION • Fax 604-462-7215 604-462-7213 • www.valleyfarmdrainage.comProudly supporting Canadian industry using Canadian productLASER EQUIPPED & GPS CONTROLLED TRENCHED AND TRENCHLESS APPLICATIONS SUPPLIERS OF CANADIAN MADE BIG O DRAINAGE Silagrow.com1.800.663.6022 | ofﬁce@silagrow.comMulch FilmLandscaping FabricsShade Nets Bale WrapsBunker CoversSilage BagsTw i n eNet WrapsHay TarpsForage & Grain SeedVisGreenhouse Ground CoverGreenhouse FilmsProtection NetsSALMON ARM 5121 - 46 Ave S.E. SURREY 112-18860 24 Ave (PU & Delivery Only)Serving all of BCby PETER MITHAM ABBOTSFORD – A new era for farm safety in BC dawned last month as farm sector representatives approved motions to rename the province’s largest farm safety organization the AgSafe Agriculture Association and recongure its board of directors. “Today marks the rst time that AgSafe has made signicant changes to the bylaws,” AgSafe chair Don Dahr told a special general meeting held via videoconference on August 11. The association debuted in 1993 as the Farm and Ranch Safety and Health Association, a partnership of the province (through WorkSafeBC), employers (represented by the BC Federation of Agriculture, now the BC Agriculture Council), and workers (represented by the Canadian Farmworkers Union). But a governance review last fall by Kyle Pearce, principal of think:act consulting in Vancouver, agged a risk that the CFU could dissolve, jeopardizing AgSafe’s future. CFU was originally established in 1980 to represent a workforce made up largely of Indo-Canadians. It has been a signicant contributor to standards governing farm workers, a fact Dahr acknowledged in his comments. “I want to thank [CFU] for providing worker perspective and bringing strong board members to the AgSafe table,” he said, noting that it led the way in providing leadership and advocacy for farmworkers at a time when there was none. But leadership of CFU is aging and union members have been considering the organization’s direction. One option is revamping to better address the current needs of farmworkers, many of whom are migrant workers. However, the governance report for AgSafe agged the potential of the union’s dissolution. This could jeopardize the governance of AgSafe, which relies on the union for half its appointed board members. (BCAC provides the other half.) “The purpose of redrafting the bylaws, including the composition of the board, is to ensure that AgSafe has the ability to operate legally as a non-prot society,” Dahr said. The half-hour meeting attracted 28 people, of which 13 cast votes on three motions. The rst provided for the organization’s new name; the second replaced the association’s bylaws; and the third appointed a transitional board of directors. The three motions were voted on as one, with 10 votes cast in favour, one opposed and two abstentions. CFU representative Nina Hansen cast the opposing vote. Hansen declined comment but earlier this year told Country Life in BC the CFU was not on the verge of dissolving. The new bylaws provide for an elected board of three to seven directors, with four directors being employers, one being a worker representative, another industry member less than 40 years old and one person interested in health and safety issues. The transitional board includes current AgSafe chair Don Dahr, incumbent directors Eric Bomhof and Andrea van Iterson as well as Lisa Craig, Rhonda Driediger and David Nguyen. Workers have scant representation on the transitional board, though most directors have signicant experience with farm and workplace safety issues. Dahr, for example, is a former director of industry and labour services at WorkSafeBC. Driediger is co-chair of BCAC’s labour committee while Nguyen is a former AgSafe consultant now working in the mushroom sector. Bomhof coordinates human resources and health and safety at the Vandermeulen Group in Abbotsford. The changes relate strictly to AgSafe's governance, and will not aect the delivery of services. Makin’ hayRanchers in the Williams Lake area had to wait longer than usual to put up hay this year, but the wait has been worth it. There was an abundance of grass after a soggy spring. PHOTO / LIZ TWAN

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10 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCCleanfarms.cainfo@cleanfarms.ca @cleanfarmsSafely dispose of unwanted or obsolete agricultural pesticides and livestock/equine medications – no charge! Take them to the following locations on the dates noted between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Check for Event Locations & Dates here:Farmers! Got unwanted pesticides or livestock/equine medications?• Next Cleanfarms collection in these areas in fall 2023.• COVID social distancing measures may be in place.• For collection dates in other BC regions, go to: cleanfarms.ca/materials/unwanted-pesticides-animal-meds/PartnerVancouver IslandCUMBERLANDOctober 5Comox Valley Waste Management Centre250-336-8083 x 226DUNCANOctober 6Bings Creek Recycling Centre250-746-2540VICTORIAOctober 7Hartland Landﬁll250-360-3410ABBOTSFORDOctober 16Terralink604-864-9044DELTAOctober 13Nutrien Solutions604-940-0290DELTAOctober 14Terralink604-946-8338LANGLEYOctober 15Professional Ag Distribution Inc.604-768-5602Fraser ValleyBritish ColumbiaCleanfarms 2020 Unwanted Pesticides & Old Livestock/Equine Medications CollectionGiven the current situation, please call ahead to collection sites for instructions on delivering unwanted and old materials.2020_CF_OBSOLETE_BC_8.167x9_BCCountryLiving_AD.indd 1 2020-08-13 12:23 PMby ANITA DESAI VANCOUVER – Metro Vancouver is developing a climate action plan, and it wants to hear from the region’s farmers. The region, which includes 21 municipalities from Vancouver to Langley as well as Tsawwassen First Nation, is working to ensure a steady reduction in climate change, vowing to become carbon-neutral – one where carbon emissions fall to zero via reduced emissions and benecial practices – by 2050. A plan to reduce emissions, store carbon and increase climate resilience for the agricultural sector over the next 30 years was outlined in a recently published discussion paper. Conor Reynolds, division manager of air quality and climate change policy for Metro Vancouver, emphasizes the sense of urgency in accelerating this initiative now. “Local governments have been on the forefront of climate action for nearly two decades, and climate change-related strategies and actions have long been incorporated into Metro Vancouver’s utility, growth management and air quality plans,” he says. “Now, we are consolidating all those strategies and actions in one plan: Climate 2050.” Reynolds says the regional district plans to work with the agricultural sector to achieve a carbon-neutral future by 2050. The Climate 2050 plan and other initiatives aim to identify steps local farms can take. “Development of Climate 2050 and the Clean Air Plan will help identify the actions needed to achieve carbon neutrality and to reduce emissions from all sectors including the agriculture sector,” he says. Key goals are accelerated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, energy eciency improvements, increased use of clean renewable energy such as electricity and biofuels, and making the most of advancements in carbon capture and sequestration technology. “Farmers play a critical role in reducing emissions from agricultural activities,” Reynolds says, noting that other industries and levels of government also need to support eorts to achieve the targets. Without a clear course of action, Reynolds says the region’s farmers will face signicant challenges. “Climate change projections for the region show that over the coming decades we will experience hotter, drier summers with an increased wildre risk, and warmer, wetter winters,” he says. “These changes will aect everyone, including farmers and the agricultural sector. As the same time, reducing emissions to achieve carbon neutrality and avoid the worst impacts of climate change will require all sectors to adopt new technologies and practices.” While reducing the region’s carbon footprint has been a long-standing goal, the COVID-19 pandemic has not made the process easier. It has also complicated the gathering of feedback on future actions. “COVID-19 has been a major disruption for governments, farmers and communities and has highlighted the importance of preparedness and resilience,” says Reynolds. “In terms of impacts on Climate 2050, Metro Vancouver has moved to an online-based engagement process.” Program support The BC Agriculture and Food Climate Action Initiative shares Metro Vancouver’s concerns regarding the impacts of climate change. It is also working hard to develop tools and resources to increase the capacity of agriculture to adapt to climate change. CAI director Emily MacNair says two key programs have supported industry’s eorts to respond to climate change over the past seven years. “Since 2013, we have focused on climate change adaptation, primarily through the delivery of programs: The Regional Adaptation Program (RAP) and the Farm Adaptation Innovator Program (FAIP),” she says. RAP is geared towards adaptation programs by organizations, while FAIP focuses on research initiatives. “RAP brings together producers, agricultural organizations and government sta and agencies to collaboratively identify priority climate impacts and strategies and to implement actions that support agricultural adaptation,” she says. “FAIP delivers funding for farm-level applied research projects that help producers adapt to the impacts of climate change, such as hotter and drier summers and increasing and shifting pest populations.” Within Metro Vancouver, MacNair notes that a regional adaptation strategies pan has been released for Delta. A total of 10 projects across the province have received $1.4 million through FAIP for ongoing work between 2019 and 2023. CAI adds that out sources have granted nearly $500,000 in additional funding to support FAIP projects and advance applied research on climate change adaptation. BC Ministry of Agriculture has identied the urgency as well, announcing that farmers on Vancouver Island and the Southern Gulf Islands will receive support in adapting to climate change. A plan announced by the federal and provincial governments identies a number of strategies for increasing resilience of producers in the region. This, along with $300,000 in funding through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, will help to support and achieve these strategies. Metro Vancouver targets carbon-neutral futureAgriculture will be a key player in addressing a shifting climate

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There hasn’t been a huge rush in ALR exclusion applications in advance of changes September 30 to how the land commission will process applications. PHOTO / PETER MITHAMCOUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 11Changes to land commission kick in this fallRegional panels will be disbandedwww.horstwelding.com 1.866.567.4162 Side Discharge Road Flex Running Gear185RF 10 ton (4 wheel)205RF 12 ton (4 wheel)285RF 15 ton (4 wheel)365RF 20 ton (4 wheel)485RF 24 ton (4 wheel)325RF 18 ton (6 wheel)308RF 20 ton (8 wheel)• For straw and lyme• 1-1/2” high paddles• Rear mesh back panel• Secondary beater drum• Agitator• Material can be discharged from either sideSILAGE FACER• 400 Brinell high tensile steel teeth• Dual drive motors• Heavy duty chainwww.horstwagons.comwww.hlaattachments.comMounted on a 4 ft frameby PETER MITHAM BURNABY – Changes to how the Agricultural Land Commission does business at the end of this month are raising questions about what the future holds. This summer has seen at least two municipalities move forward with exclusion applications in advance of new rules that take eect September 30. In the six weeks ended August 19, the ALC received four exclusion applications versus three in the same period a year earlier. These included bids by Kelowna to exclude 40 acres for a transit centre and the District of Kent’s request for 43 acres designated for residential development. The increase in applications may not be dramatic, but both come ahead of changes that make local and First Nation governments the sole entities able to seek exclusions from the ALR. The rules also require municipalities to hold public hearings prior to seeking exclusions, something not currently required. This concerns Jim Grieshaber-Otto of Cedar Isle Farm in Agassiz, who feels the District of Kent’s public engagement process was not in the spirit of the new regulation. Public feedback was being sought when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Approximately 55% of district residents opposed the district’s plans but it voted in July to pursue the block exclusion without a public hearing after the initial information session. “The district seems to have rushed to submit its application before the new, more restrictive rules apply,” Grieshaber-Otto contends in a submission to the ALC. ALC CEO Kim Grout says there has been no rush to le applications in advance of the rules changing, either from municipalities or from individual landowners. While the exclusion applications led this summer make up 10% of the 38 applications the ALC received in the period, total applications in the period were down from 59 a year ago. “It is possible we will see an upswing in applications but it is not showing yet in the data,” Grout says. Centralized Bill 15 also did away with the system of regional panels, centralizing decision-making. While regional representation is being maintained, new regulations aim to make decision-making faster and more ecient. All existing commissioners remained in place under the new structure, announced March 12. However, the chair of the ALC will now have greater input on government’s appointment of new commissioners. This has many observers anxiously watching what happens when the terms of 11 land commissioners expire in October. There are 15 land commissioners besides the chair, meaning the next round of appointments will dene the character of the commission as it adjusts to governance changes made under Bill 15. District A Farmers Institute questions whether the new process is suciently free of political interference, however. It notes that the province’s agriculture minister has the nal say over appointments, even though the ALC operates independently of government. While the lieutenant governor in council must appoint the chair, the Agricultural Land Commission Act species that “the minister must appoint the other members after consulting with the chair.” “[How] does not increase, rather than decrease, political interference (an issue the minister has stated she is concerned about)?” asks Janet Thony, president of District A Farmers Institute. According to the ALC, all candidates for appointment to the commission must present themselves through the Crown Agency and Board Resourcing Oce. “The way things have been working since the legislation changed is CABRO sends the ALC any resumes/CVs they receive that appear to t with the knowledge requirements in the legislation, and the chair of the ALC (and/or commissioners the chair appoints) interviews candidates and based on those interviews makes recommendations back to CABRO,” explains Grout, noting that CABRO then liaises with the province’s agriculture minister, who makes the nal decision. Covid19 has curtailed some of our Corn Trial BBQ’s. We are offering a discount of $5/Bag off early corn seed orders received by October 31, 2020.The Ribeye will return in 2021.Text or call Alexis 604.319.0376Visit our Facebook page and web site to view Trial Site Videos at the end of September.

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Aaron Gregory greets migrant workers at a Creston campground set up to provide support services, including COVID-19 training, before they head off to work at area orchards and farms. PHOTO / TOM WALKERCOUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 13Creston initiative keeps workers, town safeSafe staging, safe camps keep farm workers healthyDRY WITH THE SPEED OF LIGHTINVEST IN QUALITY®www.kuhn.comMatsqui Ag-RepairAbbotsfordHuber Farm EquipmentPrince GeorgeNorthline Equipment, Ltd.Dawson CreekCountry TractorArmstrongKamloopsVisit your local British Columbia KUHN Dealer today!GF 102 / GF 10 02 SERIES ROTARY TEDDERS• Exclusive DigiDrive® couplers provide low maintenance and long life• Reduce drying time with asymmetrical tines and steep pitch angles• Hydraulic folding for easy transportation between work and 昀eld• Multiple options and adjustments allow for tedding in various crop conditions15 models from 8’6” – 56’5” tedding widthsby TOM WALKER CRESTON – Fields Forward, the Creston Valley food and agriculture organization, has been supporting area orchardists to keep their families, the townspeople and fruit pickers safe from COVID-19 this summer. “It has been a huge concern,” says Fields Forward coordinator Elizabeth Quinn. “We are a small valley of 23,000 with no known community cases and people were worried.” The disease wasn’t specically identied at a community roundtable held in May, but Quinn interviewed farmers and pickers to get a sense of their concerns around COVID-19. “We listened to people and read between the lines,” says Quinn. “The whole situation was really overwhelming.” From that, Fields Forward took the initiative. “We were able to do some of the heavy lifting for the farmers,” says Quinn. First o, they organized a meeting with AgSafe in June that 25 orchardists attended. “AgSafe took them through their website and outlined all the resources that were available,” she says. Next, they were able to hire Ellen Lauther, formerly of Just-a-Mere Organic Farm near Creston, as a coordinator. She had overseen similar work at Just-a-Mere, an organic fruit operation with a focus on tree fruits. “Ellen has a broad background in farming and she was able to work with some 15 orchards to set up their own COVID coordinators and start putting in the enhanced infrastructure for on-farm picker camps,” says Quinn. Quinn says BC Ministry of Agriculture resources made it easier to provide support to growers. “The templates that were provided gave the orchardists an outline of what they would need to consider when setting up a COVID safety plan for their farm,” she says. All told, she says some farmers spent up to $10,000 to set up their camps correctly, including room to spread out tents, extra Porta Potties and wash stations, extra cooking facilities and COVID-19 protocol signage. With everything ready in the orchards, the town needed some way to organize the incoming workers. Rather than have them camping in the rough, the town, with provincial assistance, reserved space in a local RV park as a staging ground for incoming workers. “The camp gives workers a safe clean place to get set up while they look for work and then move on to picker camps in the individual orchards,” explains Aaron Gregory, the camp coordinator who is also an economic development coordinator for the region. Kozy Tent & Trailer Park was leased as a base camp for pickers. “It works out for everyone,” says Gregory. “The pickers have a good place to stay while they look for work and the RV park owner has steady reservations from mid July to mid August.” Gregory and his assistant are able to help with job searches (listings are posted on a job board) and the COVID-19 awareness testing that all pickers must complete. “We also have a separate tent set aside in case a worker with symptoms needs to isolate before going on to seek medical help,” Gregory points out. It hasn’t been needed and Quinn says there have been no reported cases among orchard workers. Pickers are having no diculty nding work. Indeed, there is a shortage of pickers. “I’m getting phone calls all the time,” says Quinn. “I talked to one orchardist (August 10) who says she only has 50 of the 90 workers she would normally need.” Quinn says growers are saying they will stretch their picking season as long as they can in order to get in as much fruit as possible, but she is hearing that some blocks may be abandoned. Well-received “I am hearing that our work has been well received,” says Quinn. Gregory, who grew up in the community, concurs. “By being proactive and showing the orchard families, the community and the pickers that we had procedures in place really reduced everyone’s anxiety,” he says. A follow-up discussion is planned with the community in the fall to reect on what worked and what might be needed for next year. Quinn notes that while COVID-19 has forced growers to spend money at an unexpected time, camp improvements always pay o in the long run with the best camps getting the most applications. “If workers have a choice, they will always want to work for the orchard with the best camp facilities,” she says.

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14 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCDustin Stadnyk CPA, CAChris Henderson CPA, CANathalie Merrill CPA, CMATOLL FREE 1-888-818-FARM | www.farmtax.caExpert farm taxation advice: • Purchase and sale of farms • Transfer of farms to children • Government subsidy programs • Preparation of farm tax returns • Use of $1,000,000 Capital Gains Exemptions Approved consultants for Government funding through BC Farm Business Advisory Services ProgramARMSTRONG 250-546-8665 | LUMBY 250-547-2118 | ENDERBY 250-838-7337View over 100 listings of farm properties at www.bcfarmandranch.comBC FARM & RANCH REALTY CORP.Buying or Selling a Farm or Acreage?GORD HOUWELING Cell: 604/793-8660GREG WALTON Cell: 604/864-1610Toll free 1-888-852-AGRI Call BC’s First and Only Real Estate Office committed 100% to Agriculture!PROFESSIONAL SERVICESv BC Farm Business Advisory Services Consultant v Farm Debt Mediation Consultant v Meat Labeling Consultant Phone: 604-858-1715 Cell: 604-302-4033 Fax: 604-858-9815 email: marlene.reams@gmail.comCONFIDENTIALITY GUARANTEEDJack Reams P.Ag. Agri-Consultingwww.tjequipmentllc.com 360-815-1597 LYNDEN, WA ALL PRICES IN US FUNDS2011 INT 7400 W/ 22' ARTEX SILAGE BOX, CHAIN FLOOR, AUTOMATIC, TANDEM AXLE $39,0001999 WESTERN STAR W/20' PARMA SILAGE BOX, BEATERS TO MAKE MANURE BOX, TANDEM RT44 REAR ENDS $32,0001997 KENWORTH W900 W/ 20' HOIST BOX, 3176B CAT, 9 SPEED, TANDEM AXLE W/ LIFT AXLE...$28,0001983 JD 2950 W/ JD 265 LOADER, 4WD, 94 HP, 2 REMOTES, PARTIAL POWERSHIFT, 540/1000 PTO $22,500Three candidates have been selected to participate in the BC Milk Marketing Board’s new entrant program. The program’s selection committee interviewed a shortlist of seven candidates and chose Katie and Kelvin Lagemaat, Breanna & Jarrod Simpson and Marlayna Van Hoepen. The three have until December 31, 2021 to begin production. The winners were selected from an initial pool of 77 applicants. A shortlist was announced in February of this year, and candidates were required to submit documentation, including a business plan, to the board by June 1. The selection committee interviewed the shortlisted applicants who provided business plans to identify those who would most benet from assistance and who demonstrated the greatest potential for long-term success in dairy farming. “Every candidate was asked questions that allowed the committee to conduct an evaluation of their skills and assessed their abilities for successful long-term on-farm operations and nancial/policy administration,” the board explained in announcing its selection. Applicants who failed to be selected may reapply for consideration during the next selection of candidates in 2021. Details of the process, which will select candidates for production starts in 2022, will be announced in fall 2020. The program aims to average three new entrants a year. The new entrant program provides incentive quota of 15 kilograms of Continuous Daily Quota (CDQ) to new entrants plus up to 8 kilograms of matching CDQ on a 1:1 ratio basis during the 10 years of the program. —Peter Mitham Top vet appointed BC has a new top vet. Dr. Rayna Gunvaldsen was appointed chief veterinarian on July 10, succeeding Dr. Jane Pritchard, who had served as top vet since 2013. A graduate of the University of Saskatchewan, Gunvaldsen specialized in herd health and regulatory medicine. Her studies also included specializations in large animal clinical sciences and swine inuenza. The BC Ministry of Agriculture notes that she is trained in emergency preparedness and management. Gunvaldsen’s experience includes time with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) as Saskatchewan’s foreign animal disease veterinarian. Pritchard’s retirement at the end of March has allowed for a revamp of the branch’s structure. Her role included leading the BC Ministry of Agriculture’s Plant and Animal Health Branch as she was the top executive within the branch. The plant health unit lacked a director, but that is set to change. Pritchard’s responsibilities will now be spread among several people. Ursula Viney is overseeing the branch as a whole in the role of operations director while Gunvaldsen is chief veterinarian, overseeing animal health. Directors are being sought for the animal health lab and plant health unit. Prior to her retirement, Pritchard described her work as enjoyable and rewarding. The opportunity to make a dierence both during her tenure and by leaving a solid foundation for her successors was a source of great satisfaction. —Peter Mitham and Barbara Johnstone Grimmer BC youth offer perspectives British Columbia has three representatives among the 25 members selected for the new Canadian Agricultural Youth Council. Sara Kate Smith, Jessica Leung and Marcus Grymonpré are the council’s three members from BC, and bring a diverse set of perspectives and skills to the council. Smith may well be the best-known, having made her mark as chair of 4-H Canada’s Youth Advisory Committee and being Canada’s representative at both the United Nations Committee on World Food Security conference and the UN Innovation Symposium for Family Farmers. Partly due to her lobbying, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization created a youth advisory committee to help guide policy-making. Jessica Leung was a co-op student with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Agassiz while a student at Simon Fraser University. “Beyond research, I have been involved in reporting regional climate impacts on agriculture and in consulting in integrated pest management,” she notes in a brief description of her background introducing council members. University of the Fraser Valley graduate Marcus Grymonpré hopes to speak for new entrants to farming. “I believe my unique perspectives relate to generating awareness and excitement about the industry to attract new entrants, especially youth with no prior agriculture experience,” he says in his introduction. Originally announced by federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on January 24, the council will meet twice a year to “identify new and emerging issues, enable on-going dialogue on challenges and opportunities, share information and best practices, and provide advice on the strengths and weaknesses of policies and programs aecting the agriculture and agri-food sector.” Candidates between 18 and 30 years old were invited to apply for membership, and more than 800 people applied. Unsuccessful applicants may be contacted to participate in other ways with government in the future, notes the announcement of the council’s members. —Peter Mitham Dairy industry selects new entrantsAg Briefs EDITED BY PETER MITHAM

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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 15Financing the future of agriculture.At BMO, we know that farming is more than just a business – it’s a way of life. And as a longstanding supporter of the BC farming community, we’ve been committed to agriculture since we began working with farmers in 1817.Sheep producers told to bear with wildlife Conservation officers encourage conflict avoidance Donkeys, not dogs, work best to protect the ock from predators at Parry Bay Sheep Farm on Vancouver Island. PHOTO / PARRY BAY SHEEP FARMby BARBARA JOHNSTONE GRIMMER METCHOSIN – A black bear has been killing sheep in the Metchosin area on Vancouver Island since July and unlike previous occasions, the BC Conservation Ocer Service (COS) is stepping back and asking farmers to step up prevention eorts. Twenty-one sheep from various farms have been killed to date. Ten of the bear kills were at John and Lorraine Buchanan’s Parry Bay Sheep Farm. An additional ve sheep are missing. “I believe four were chased into the ocean,” says John Buchanan. “One was found on the beach across the harbour. I don’t know yet how many of these will be paid for.” Producers are eligible to receive compensation for most losses if it can be proven to the standard requirements for the provincial Livestock Protection Program. Conservation ocers have been called out to help but have not responded with assistance to remove the bear. The District of Metchosin sent a letter to the BC COS in mid-July and Metchosin mayor John Ranns was assured that conservation ocers would dispatch dogs if a scent remained on the kill. “Nobody has come out,” says Ranns. A statement the BC Ministry of Environment provided Country Life in BC says the COS has been working with Metchosin farmers to minimize the number of sheep lost to bears and the number of bears killed. “These strategies include educating farmers on best management practices regarding livestock, including installing an electric fence, locking up sheep in a barn overnight, regularly checking the condition of the herd and the use of livestock guardian dogs,” says the statement. “Proper livestock husbandry management is critical to help reduce predation and lessen livestock losses. If these practices are not followed, this can result in a wildlife conict and the possible destruction of a bear that could have been prevented.” The province says conservation ocers have been active in Metchosin, responding to complaints and encouraging farmers to follow best practices to reduce conicts. “Conservation ocers strongly encourage farmers to implement best practices to protect both livestock and wildlife,” the statement says. “Livestock management techniques are always encouraged to help prevent conicts from happening in the rst place.” Donkey patrol Buchanan has tried to comply with the recommendations, adding guardian donkeys to his ocks and electric fencing to some elds. He adds that guardian dogs would be dicult to manage in the semi-developed area of Metchosin. “I do believe the donkeys help,” says Buchanan. “There was a cougar hanging around one eld that had two small donkeys in it. That night it moved a couple of miles and killed a sheep with no donkeys present. When we had the kill and the lambs chased into the ocean in East Sooke, we moved a donkey out there. The pasture was large, and the bear came and killed one and took one away. We moved them to a smaller eld and had no more problems. Now we have electric fencing there and the problem stopped.” But the mitigation eorts aren’t cheap. Buchanan spent $2,000 to upgrade the fence and $500 on maintenance. The cost of three donkeys, feed and farrier is another $2,000. He gures it would be too expensive to electrify the entire 10 miles of fencing at all the holdings where he grazes sheep. The Buchanans have the largest sheep ock on Vancouver Island, utilizing small leased pastures around the region, and providing infrastructure to the sheep community by running a small inspected abattoir. “By far the biggest issue for me, though, is if we are pushed o pastures, that will reduce sheep numbers, and threaten the slaughterhouse and our ability to maintain the delivery of lamb to town. That is bad for the industry,” says Buchanan. “On a brighter note,” he adds, “COVID-19 has increased our demand to a level that can maintain the business and allow me to buy when everybody has lambs.” Traps better The province’s statement adds that conservation ocers rarely use tracking dogs when responding to bear conicts, “as the circumstances in which they are eective are very limited and can pose additional safety risks to the public and ocers. Live trapping using a variety of techniques is a much safer and eective option.” The position the COS has taken has been frustrating for Ranns. “Traps and snares have proven to not be eective in our community and run the risk of trapping bears that are not a problem,” says Ranns. “This is a problem that goes beyond the threat to our farming community. There is a concern for the public and our visitors who use our hiking trails, which are the main corridors that the bears use. These people are city people and not bear aware.” Ranns is concerned that the bear will be back worse than ever in September, as he builds up fat stores for the winter. Producers encountering predator kills of their ock are encouraged to call the Ministry of Environment RAPP Line for assistance at 1-877-952-7277 or #7277 on the TELUS Mobility network. To report a livestock predator loss, call 1-844-852-5788 and the Livestock Protection Program will provide verication and mitigation for cattle and sheep producers.

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16 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCCASE IH MAXXUM 120 MFD, CAB TRACTOR W/LOADER $117,700 CLAAS 860 SP FORAGE HARVESTER 12.5’ PICKUP & 6 ROW CORNHEAD $93,700 CLAAS 970 SP FORAGE HARVESTER 10’ PICKUP & 10 ROW CORNHEAD CALL FOR MORE DETAILS/PRICING CLAAS 4000 4-ROTOR RAKE CALL FOR DETAILS X 2 FENDT 930 MFD CAB TRACTOR CALL FOR DETAILS JD 956 MID-PIVOT MOWER CONDITIONER $17,500 JD 8295R MFD CAB TRACTOR WITH DUALS $279,000 NH 900 PT FORAGE HARVESTER WITH GRASS PICK UP $5,400 Pre-owned Tractors & Equipmentwww.caliberequipment.ca STORE HOURS MONDAY-FRIDAY, 8-5 SATURDAYS 8–NOON604-864-2273 34511 VYE ROAD ABBOTSFORD Go with your gut. JAGUAR. Disease has sheep producers on defensiveWild sheep advocates say domestic sheep are to blame for bighorn deathsby BARBARA JOHNSTONE GRIMMER PENTICTON – The ongoing and controversial conict over interactions between wild and domestic sheep has ared up following a pneumonia outbreak in a wild sheep herd south of Penticton. The bacteria, Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (M. ovi), can infect wild sheep if they encounter animals carrying the organism, such as domestic sheep and goats. Reports from the public in mid-July of sick lambs led to two lambs being shot and sampled by provincial wildlife ocers. Both lambs were conrmed to have M. ovi. Ocers are working with provincial wildlife veterinarian Dr. Helen Swantje to test bighorns from the aected herd as part of their investigation. Wild sheep advocates have focussed on domestic sheep as the cause of M. ovi transmission to wild sheep through direct contact and are pushing the province to take action, but the BC Sheep Federation says the issue is complex. “BCSF would very much like to see a resolution to the conicts between wild sheep advocates and the domestic sheep industry concerning pathogen transfer from domestic sheep to wild sheep,” a statement from the federation says. “BCSF is committed to developing a path forward based on sound science and clear thinking.” It says US conservation groups are presenting its eorts as inadequate. “The Wild Sheep Foundation based in the US lobbied heavily in the Yukon to achieve a control order there to restrict sheep and goat farming and are continuing to do so in Alberta, Alaska and BC,” says the BCSF statement. “There is absolutely no evidence to support the claim that domestic sheep have caused the recent occurrences of M. ovi in BC herds of bighorn sheep and until such time that the science is more conclusive, BCSF is committed to using best management practices to run our domestic ocks and being involved in searching for answers.” Research on M. ovi and the causes of pneumonia outbreaks in wild sheep are ongoing. Work in Washington indicates that the pathogen host range extends beyond the group of ruminants known as Caprinae, and is found in healthy moose, caribou and mule deer as well as diseased mule and white-tailed deer. South Dakota research shows that the removal of M. ovi positive carriers from within a bighorn herd resulted in no detection of M. ovi or pneumonia in herds following removal, indicating that the existence of M. ovi-positive wild sheep can allow disease to persist in populations. BCSF participated in a study Dr. Scott Mann of Thompson Rivers University undertook in 2017 to determine the presence of M. ovi in BC’s domestic sheep ock. The study revealed that of 290 domestic sheep tested on 29 farms in areas at high risk of contact with bighorns, 13% tested positive for M. ovi. The bacteria was present in 31% of the 29 ocks tested. Of the 100 domestic sheep tested in the South Okanagan, three sheep tested positive for M. ovi and all were from one ock. M. ovi often displays no symptoms in domestic sheep but it may reduce productivity under some conditions. M. ovi can be cultured from pneumonic lungs in domestic sheep and goats, but it is not considered very pathogenic in domestic ocks and never kills sheep by itself. “It is more an indication of poor ventilation and stocking densities in housed sheep,” says University of Guelph professor of ruminant health management Dr. Paula Menzies. “We don’t see disease in pastured sheep.” BC has been a leader Swantje says BC has been a leader in addressing M. ovi through a collaborative approach with domestic sheep producers. BCSF is part of an active working group, along with the BC Goat Association, Wild Sheep Society, BC Ministry of Agriculture and BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. BC veterinary pathologist Glenna McGregor acknowledges BCSF’s and the BC Goat Association’s willingness to engage on this issue. “They’ve put in a tremendous amount of time and eort and have been willing to sit at the table and explore solutions and that is so important,” she says. “Right now, the working group’s goal is to ll the knowledge gaps and focus on the knowledge gaps. The organism is common in sheep in BC, and work is being done to educate the producers and public and use voluntary measures. The problem is complicated.” She notes that the issue is contentious across North America, wherever there are wild sheep. BC is not alone, but it’s showing leadership on the issue despite what critics may say. “We’ve had multiple comments from our American counterparts about how jealous they are that our sheep and goat industries are willing to engage with this issue and actively look for solutions,” says McGregor. A control order put in place in the Yukon restricts domestic sheep production. McGregor says a control order in BC is unlikely to be eective, due to its cost and heavy-handed approach.

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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 17Serving 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 250-838-6414Pandemic creates virtual season for 4-H clubsPNE hosts drive-thru event It’s the year of the drive-thru, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. The PNE reported lots of trafc through its 4-H and agriculture displays when it opened its gates to vehicle trafc August 22. PHOTO / PNEKeepsake Ornament Contest 2020: Watch for the release of the 2020 design later this fallOctober:Scotiabank Charity Challenge Virtual MarathonNovember:Show your 4-H Colours MonthWear your favourite green on November 4th to celebrate 4-H!4-H British ColumbiaWhat’s happenning atthis Fall 2020?2020Run, walk or donate in support of 4-H BC. Details at www.4hbc.caby JACKIE PEARASE VANCOUVER – BC 4-H groups continue to nd new ways to show and market their animals as the season comes to an end this month. The PNE went with a virtual showmanship competition for beef, swine, dairy, dog, goat, lamb, rabbit/cavy, poultry, llama and non-livestock projects with prize money for the top three nishers in junior and senior divisions. Winners were announced during the 2020 PNE Drive-Thru Fair held August 21-30. PNE organizers invited 10 members of one 4-H club to attend each day. They trained their animals, participated in a mock show and engaged with visitors in their vehicles. PNE agriculture manager Cheryl Chevalier says a small virtual auction was also added August 19-20 to aid club members who could not nd a private buyer. “We realize that what we have to oer 4-H members this year is a fraction of what we would regularly be able to oer, but if it helps normalize things for even just a few members and helps everyone get through this dicult and unexpected time, then it is worth it to us,” Chevalier adds. Langley 4-H parent Sarah French registered two of her sons, Gabriel, 14, and Vincent, 11, for the virtual showmanship competition but passed on the auction. “I think (Vincent) is the only one in his club that can actually participate because a lot of the kids thought it was cancelled and they had their pets processed,” she notes. The family typically supports the auction with a purchase but this year they will keep one side of beef and sell the other. “It was easier to arrange private buyers two months ago than it was to worry about it once you’ve already got hundreds of pounds of beef,” French adds. She said the online option was a great way to keep 4-H going for the kids but it did take some convincing. “It’s been a bit more arm-twisting for the kids because they’re in summer mode and there’s not the camaraderie. For my older son, I kinda had to beat him up to encourage him to complete this,” she says. “There’s just a lack of motivation for a lot of the kids. My kids are lacking motivation because they are motivated by the excitement of peer interaction, not doing this from afar.” The kids also missed the mentorship from experienced members this year, she says. Invitation-only The Nechako Valley Exhibition in mid-August went ahead with limited 4-H displays in the yards and an invitation-only auction. The Interior Provincial Exhibition in Armstrong on August 29 went with a hybrid event, combining a live outdoor auction with an online option. The BC Ag Expo in Barriere is hosting a virtual fair and online auction for 4-H members September 25-28. Kamloops’ annual Provincial Winter Fair will nish its condensed event this year with an on-site and online auction held September 28. In late July, the BC Ministry of Agriculture announced it was supporting an adapted Food for Thought program this summer. The conference was held as six one-day agriculture awareness programs for 4-H members aged 14 to 15. Virtual farm tours and agricultural presentations for small groups were oered in Abbotsford, Rock Creek, Kamloops, Williams Lake, Vanderhoof and Saanich. BC 4-H manager Aleda Welch said the organization worked hard to adapt 4-H programs and events to meet pandemic regulations. “We’re having to really stretch this year. We hope the 4-H community is getting a good experience from this but we do hope things are back to normal next year,” she adds. To further support 4-H over the next year, the BC government is providing $87,000 in annual funding, $63,000 for youth farm safety and outreach programs to support underrepresented groups, and $3,000 for a Buy BC 4-H Instagram contest that encourages 4-H members to celebrate BC products on social media.

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Potatoes grow on part of a 50-acre farm at the Southlands development in Tsawwassen. PHOTO / COLLEEN BURKECOUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 19Flotation Tiresto replace11R22.5 Tires orSilage Boxes620/45R22.5 Scale Repairs for ALL Makes of Feeder MixersHydraulic Hose RepairsHubs, Spindles, Tires & Wheelsfor Artex, Dirks and TyCrop WagonsFloor Chain Assembliesfor all makes of Forage and Manure BoxesCamlock Fittings, Pipe Fittings, and Pressure Washer AccessoriesRENT OURLoewen 925 cubic foot 20ft. Forage Box $500/dayHydumpCylindersWe sell knives for Supreme, Trioliet, Jaylor and Kuhn Vertical Mixers. We also carry Interstate Batteries and Lite kits for farm machinery.3000 Gallon Manure Tank10,, Boom, Dual Pumps, Flotation Tires, Single Axle$88,000.00Manure Agitators3 Point Hitch - Size: 18-30, lg.Lagoon Style - Size: 30-40, lg.Slotted Floor Barnby PETER MITHAM DELTA – An ambitious farm-oriented residential development launches in Tsawwassen this month in what promises to be a landmark test of whether farming can be an integral part of the urban fabric. “We’re trying to foster this idea of people coming together around food. It’s not just the farming or the farmers market. It’s trying to gure out how we curate that down to the scale of where people live,” says Sean Hodgins, president of Century Group, which plans to build 950 homes on the Southlands property formerly farmed by the Spetifore family. The project has attracted 10,000 registrants. Although just a few hundred are likely to be serious buyers, Hodgins considers the response “very, very good.” “At a very simplistic level I think they say, ‘yeah, that’s good,’” he says. “It’ll be interesting to see how deep the connection is.” The history of farmland and development in Delta is typically one-sided. Some members of the Delta Farmers Institute have quipped that “blacktop is the last crop” as hundreds of acres of farmland have disappeared under commercial, industrial and port development in recent years. But after several long and contentious public hearing processes, a deal was struck in 2014 that saw 20% of the 535-acre property designated for residential development while the remainder was given to the municipality for green space. Approximately 275 acres was placed in the Agricultural Land Reserve, and of this, 50 acres is being leased by the Century Group for the community farm at the heart of the new development. “[Delta] got a very good deal out of this,” says Hodgins, which paid the municipality $9 million to upgrade irrigation infrastructure so the property could be farmed. With the launch of sales this month, beginning with 76 townhomes and cottages, public response to the concept is being put to the test. The community farm operated by Seann Dory, formerly of SOLE Food Street Farms in Vancouver, and partner Suzy Keown, will anchor an on-site farmers’ market that begins mid September. “It could really move things forward by a decade in the way that we think about localized agriculture,” project manager Brad Semke said when the development received approval in 2014. Hodgins’ inspirations for Southlands was in part the Serenbe development in Atlanta, which was also an example of how people don’t always come for what’s oered. “The reality is, many people were just coming for the homes,” says Hodgins. “We’ll see how we make out. … We’ve joked – we haven’t put it in our marketing material – but, ‘Southlands may not be for you.’ … Having the tractors going at 6:30 in the morning may not be the thing.” But he also steps back and says an agrihood isn’t a community unto itself. To really work, and for the farming component to be more than a local amenity, the development has to be integrated into the local fabric. This is something the development’s location promises to make possible. “What we’re counting on is not the 950 homes we’re going to be building to make our farmers market hum. It’s the 20,000 people in Tsawwassen and the unbelieveable number of people that come out to Boundary Bay Regional Park Delta development puts agrihoods to the testDevelopers need to show a net benefit to agricultureSee PROJECTS on next page oFiXaTion CloverFrosty CloverCrimson CloverDC Red CloverHybrid CloverWinter PeasFall RyeHybrid Fall RyeWinter Wheat1.800.282.7856 Find out more at terraseco.comFiXaTion CloverFrosty CloverCrimson CloverDC Red CloverHybrid CloverWinter PeasFall RyeHybrid Fall RyeWinter WheatTerra Seed Corp Healthy Soil with COVER CROPS

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PROJECTS engage residents nfrom page 1920 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCeach summer weekend,” says Hodgins. “It’s gone nuts, especially in this pandemic.” Other developments The project follows on proposals in the mid-2000s for vineyard-oriented developments in the Okanagan. Most of them failed to be realized when the nancial crisis hit, but Frosst Creek Development Ltd. in Chilliwack has found success with Creekside Mills at Cultus Lake. Built on a former cattle farm, the project worked closely with the Agricultural Land Commission and Fraser Valley Regional District to achieve a net benet to agriculture. Ten acres of the 79-acre site is in production, with lavender, vegetables, wine grapes, tree fruits, nuts and other crops. A three-acre community garden oers 80 garden boxes and a Langley winery may use some of the wine grapes this year. Some of the produce is sent to local community organizations. “Everything is edible, cutable or pickable in terms of the common area,” says Steven Van Geel, whose family is developing the site. “Everybody who bought in here had probably never heard of the Agricultural Land Commission before, but they got heavily educated. … A lot of them are embracing it.” Similar to Century Group, the Van Geels worked closely to ensure a portion of the property would be farmed. The entire property was originally zoned for agriculture, and an exclusion of four acres was required for the residential portion. But a restrictive covenant was placed on six acres outside the ALR that limit future uses to those allowed by the Agricultural Land Commission Act. The odd shape of the acreage meant it wasn’t included in the ALR but the ALC worked with the Fraser Valley Regional District to ensure it was protected. “If we were just to take land out and not give anything back, I’m sure they would have denied us completely,” says Van Geel. “They saw this as increased agricultural capacity for a site that was otherwise a run-down farm.” The experience sets a precedent for a 43-acre site in Agassiz, known locally as the Teacup properties. An agrihood development is one option for the site, says the District of Kent, noting it “accommodates the residential growth of the townsite while incorporating the agricultural signicance of the land.” It describes it as “an innovative compromise” and has led an exclusion application for the site. Neither the District of Kent nor Neal teBrinke, who has spoken on behalf of the owners, responded to requests for comment. Van Geel says developers trying to exclude land from the ALR for such projects face more challenges making their case for a net benet to agriculture. The diculties aren’t insurmountable, however. “We got a little bit lucky in that the whole land wasn’t in the reserve,” he says. “They could use this as a template, to see what we did. … If you follow through with what you say, it could turn out into something really special.” Hoe, hoe, hoe! Community participation supports food production at Creekside Mills in Cultus Lake. PHOTO / CREEKSIDEMarketing British Columbia to the World®www.landquest.comToll Free 1-866-558-LAND (5263)“The Source” for Oceanfront, Lakefront, Islands, Ranches, Resorts & Land in BC®CAMPBELL LAKE RANCHKAMLOOPS, BCHIGH-END EQUESTRIAN ESTATEKAMLOOPS, BCMULTI-HOME ESTATE IN PRIVATE VALLEYQUESNEL / WILLIAMS LAKECALL THIS HOME FOREVERBRIDGE LAKE - SOUTH CARIBOOLARGE RIVERFRONT ACREAGE NEAR SMITHERSUNIQUE GALIANO ISLAND ACREAGE WITH FISH BEARING WETLAND & BEAVER PONDSSTUNNING AND PRIVATE DOUGLAS FIR LOG HOME ON 21 SECLUDED ACRESDEEP CREEK RANCHVANDERHOOF, BC15 ACRE FARM / EQUESTRIAN PROPERTYTEXADA ISLANDA PIECE OF PARADISE ON CORTIANA’S BAY ON KOOTENAY LAKE Trophy working ranch, many layers of value, 873 acres, 4 titles, high-end new riding arena & 昀rst class shop, 220 acres irrigated hay land, ecological paradise on Campbell Lake & White Lake, 昀shing, wildlife, character ranch house, barn, shop, priced at appraised value. Call listing for more details. $3,995,000Multiple layers of value. 160 acres with picturesque views of Campbell Lake & surrounding hills. Main house + 2 guest cabins, a 2,596 ft2 main lodge with commercial kitchen and dining facilities with 2 bedroom loft. 60 x 30 ft machine shed. New 80 x 200 ft indoor riding arena. $2,595,000Multi-home estate on 182 picturesque acres. 6 beautifully built, unique homes perfectly appointed with privacy & views. Good road access 45 min northwest of Williams Lake. Spring water with water rights, power, high speed Internet & modern amenities. Numerous outbuildings. $1,190,000Dream come true ranch sustainment. Sunkissed 64.7 acres with 32 in hay. solid rancher, RV / equipment shed, garage / workshop, 3 stall hay barn, fowl coops, veggie and berry gardens, duck ponds. Home furnishings and shop equipment for $659,000460 acres in two titles located along the Telkwa River. Features several cabins, large barn & approx. 40 acres cleared. This off-grid property has been used for family gatherings & hunting for many years. There is over 6,000 ft along the river with trails leading down from the cabins above. Offered at $529,0003 bdrm home in near-new condition. 4.6 acres of meadows, ponds & wetlands. Blacktail deer, beavers, river otters, migratory birds, cutthroat trout & a wide variety of creatures frequent year-round. An ideal property for birders & naturalists. Walking distance to south end commercial area & Active Pass. $749,000Bridge Lake, BC. One of a kind log home on 21.3 private acres. Located just off of HWY 24, “The Fishing Highway.” Fully serviced property embodies the true meaning of country living. 2007 residence with 4 bdrms, 4 baths & endless recreational possibilities. Adjacent to 120 acres of Crown land. $745,0001,405 deeded acres, with 40,000 acre grazing lease. 600 acres hay, 800 acres pasture / treed. Brand new equine barn (with suite), barns, workshop, and outbuildings. Two storey home with suite. Updated solar energy and new septic 昀elds. Can operate at 350 cow / calf pairs, or more. $1,925,000Stunning 15.14 acre Gulf Island property. Includes 2,000 ft2 open concept two-storey home with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 covered decks and 1 uncovered deck off the master bedroom, plus a workshop, carport, guest cottage, barn and large open pasture area. Perfect for horse lovers! $599,000Once in a lifetime opportunity for one of the most majestic lakefront properties in all of BC. This historic property has 300+ acres on 2 titles & 3,300+ ft frontage on Kootenay Lake. Offered for sale for the 昀rst time since 1946! Lakeshore consists of long crescent shaped beach, fully forested & stunningly beautiful. $1,800,000RICH OSBORNE 604-664-7633Personal Real Estate Corporationrich@landquest.comSAM HODSON 604-694-7623Personal Real Estate Corporationsam@landquest.comFAWN GUNDERSON 250-982-2314Personal Real Estate Corporationfawn@landquest.comWENDY PATTEN 250-718-0298wendy@landquest.comLandQuest® Realty Corp CaribooKURT NIELSEN 250-898-7200kurt@landquest.comLandQuest® Realty Corp Comox ValleyDAVE SIMONE 250-539-8733DS@landquest.comCOLE WESTERSUND 604-360-0793 CHASE WESTERSUND 778-927-6634JOHN ARMSTRONG 250-307-2100john@landquest.comJAMIE ZROBACK 1-604-483-1605 JASON ZROBACK 1-604-414-5577MATT CAMERON 250-200-1199matt@landquest.com

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The provincial government is proposing a three-tier system to regulate livestock watering on private and Crown range. PHOTO / KARI-LYNN HOFFMANCOUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 21Three-tier system being floated for livestock wateringProposed policy stops short of water guarantees THE HE BREED YOU CAN TRUST BrBrititish ish Cololumbiabia BCHA President John Lewis 250-218-2537 * Fer琀lity * Eciency * Longevity * www.bcbchehereforord.ca BCHA Secretary Janice Tapp 250-699-6466 by TOM WALKER VICTORIA – The province released an update on its proposed livestock watering policy at the end of July. The document is the most recent step in a process that has been on-going for the last 10 years as BC ranchers seek assurance that their animals will have access to water at all times, particularly when they are on Crown range. BC’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy is proposing a policy to classify and regulate cattle watering on three tiers, based on the location and number of cattle accessing the water. On private land, ranchers may water up to 20 cattle as a Tier 1 user, without registration. Users with between 20 and 200 animals fall into Tier 2. Watering more than 200 animals requires authorization as a Tier 3 user, which must include approval from Indigenous governments and may take into account environmental ow needs. Registration for Tier 2 users will be a ‘streamlined process’ the policy update says. Tier 3 users will receive a full licence. Both tiers will pay water rental fees, and be regulated on a rst in time, rst in right basis during times of scarcity. The policy update provides some of the assurances that the BC Cattlemen’s Association has been seeking, says assistant general manager Elaine Stovin. BCCA does have a number of concerns, however. “We are concerned about the extra regulatory burden that registration and authorization will place on both ranchers and the province,” she says, noting there have been a number of challenges around groundwater licensing. She points out that fewer than a quarter of the 4,000-odd groundwater licence applications have been completed by the province since 2016. Rather than the blanket approach being applied across the province, BCCA would prefer registration requirements be based on the amount of water available in an area, recognizing the dierences between the eastern Cariboo and the south Okanagan, for example. “We are suggesting that the government look at a risk-assessed approach based on what they did with ag waste regulations,” Stovin says. “In areas of higher risk and more frequent shortages, they might look towards a licence approach.” The province has stopped short of guaranteeing water for livestock welfare in times of shortage. “The province is engaging with the livestock sector on a proposal to amend the WSA so that water security can be provided to the sector. The proposal would allow provincial decision-makers to assign water rights to ranchers that recognize their historic use of water,” the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy explained in a statement provided to Country Life in BC. “We would be happy to see if they would provide some protection for livestock drinking water in times of scarcity,” says Stovin. Quality Pre-Owned Tractors & EquipmentVAN DER WAL EQUIPMENT (1989) LTD. 23390 RIVER ROAD, MAPLE RIDGE, BC V2W 1B6 604/463-3681 | vanderwaleq.com The COMPACT telehandler WEIDEMANN T4512Unique in the combination of lift height, width and machine capacity, the compact T4512 has all-wheel drive, all-wheel steering and the stability you need to get the job done!The multifunctional Hoftrac Compact design, low centre of gravity, tight turning radius and powerful performance. Hoftracs effortlessly fulfil any work task and work quickly, flexibly and safely — a Hoftrac is simply always ready for use. IN STOCK, READY TO GO TO WORK!AGCO ALLIS 6690 4WD W/LDR . . . 25,000 BOBCAT 5600 TOOL CARRIER . COMING FELLA 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,500 FORD 6610 CAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . COMING JCB 409 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,000 JD 770 4WD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8,000 JD 3038E 4WD LDR . . . . . . . . . . . 24,000 KUHN 4002 POWER HARROW . .12,500 KUHN FC313 MOWER TG . . . . . 20,000 x2 KVERNELAND AB85 4 BOT PLOWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,000 ea KVERNELAND 4032 MOWER . . 16,000 MCCORMICK GX45 4WD . . . . . . . CALL MASSEY FERGUSON 285 . . . . . .11,500 MF 5460 4X4 LDR . . . . . . . . . . COMING MF 6616 4WD LDR . . . . . . . . . . . .95,000 NEW HOLLAND TM150 . . . . . . . 47,000 NEW HOLLAND TS 115 . . . . . . . 25,000 SUNFLOWER 7232 23’ HARROW 17,500 TYCROP DUMP BOX 14’ . . . . . . . 9,500

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Short-term roller coaster for beef marketGlobal marketplace supports long-term optimismWhat will your calves be worth this fall? Two speakers at the CBIC conference originally slated for Penticton in August, but delivered online, tried to provide answers. FILE PHOTOCOUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 23Producer Check-o Supports Beef Industry Projects.www.cattlefund.net 1.877.688.2333www.cattlefund.net 1.877.688.2333BC Livestock Producers Co-opKamloops 250.573.3939Williams Lake 250.398.7174Vanderhoof 250.567.4333OK Falls 250.497.5416Canart Cattle Company Kamloops 250.573.5605Ellis Cattle Co. Williams Lake 604.309.5355Patterson`s Auction Mart Ltd. Dawson Creek 250.782.6272VJV, Dawson Creek 250.782.3766Miane Creek Livestock Armstrong 250.558.9408Western Livestock Marketing Solutions Inc. 250.573.5605OFFERING MARKETING, BUYING & TRANSPORTATION.OUR ADVANTAGESLess Shrink with Less ExpenseLicensed & BondedWe Buy and Sell with IntegrityWe have Extensive Knowledge of Buyer and Seller Needs. Contact Our Friendly Local Livestock Professionals Today.LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS IN BC SELL & TRANSPORT YOUR CATTLE THROUGHMOUNTAIN LIVESTOCK MARKETING ASSOCIATIONMembersContact MLMA 1.250.314.9686by TOM WALKER PENTICTON – The markets session at the virtual Canadian Beef Industry Conference featured presentations from Canfax manager and senior analyst Brian Perillat and Brett Stuart, president of Colorado-based market research rm Global AgriTrends. Perillat found it hard to give a denitive answer to the question on every BC producer’s mind – “What will my calves be worth in the next couple of months?” – however Stuart was very bullish on the prospects for beef in world markets in the coming years. International markets are very important for the Canadian cattle industry, Perillat notes, considering 45% of all Canadian cattle and beef is exported. Perillat describes the current Canadian cattle market as a roller coaster. “We’ve been going on the y for 2020 that’s for sure,” he says. “There is always some sort of roller coaster going on, but this has been a darn extreme roller coaster.” There has been a pretty good recovery from the depths of the pandemic Perillat says, adding, “Things are looking up a little more than they were earlier this summer.” That’s something considering what has happened over the last ve months. There are a number of factors producers need to watch in terms of cattle numbers and the impact that can have on the market, Perillat says. To begin with, there were 9% more cattle on feed in Western Canada at the start of the year than in 2019, but that was in response to increased feeding capacity, more slaughter capacity and higher slaughter numbers. “2019 was one of our biggest slaughter years in decades,” says Perillat. But with plant interruptions and closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of cattle able to be processed in April this year was a multi-decades low of only 20,000 head compared to 70,000 in March 2020. Processing plants have bounced back and in the two months ending mid-August were able to process more See BOUNCING on next page oemail: audreycifca@gmail.comemail: okanaganfeeders@gmail.com308 St. Laurent Avenue Quesnel, B.C. V2J 5A3Producers can apply for an advance on calves, yearlings, lambs, bison, forage and grain up to $1,000,000.00 with the rst $100,000.00 being interest free. Plus, interest relief through the Advance Payments Program is available to association members on their feeder cattle purchases.

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24 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCJUWEL – EASE OF USE AND SAFETY OF OPERATIONFOR ANY STRATEGIC TILLAGE PRACTICELOOK TO LEMKENJuwel mounted reversible ploughs from LEMKEN combine operational reliability and ease of use to deliver excellent performance.0% Financing. Certain Conditions Apply■ Optiquick for ploughing without lateral pull ■ TurnControl for safe plough turning ■ Hydromatic for disruption-free ploughing even in stony soils ■ Skimmer with easy adjustment options – all without tools■ Also available as M version with hydraulic turnover device@strategictill | lemken.ca(604) 864-2273caliberequipment.ca(250) 938-0076agrigem.comVAN DER WAL EQUIPMENT(1989)LTD(604) 463-3681vanderwaleq.comcattle than in the same period in 2019. “The packers have done very well at focusing on fed cattle rather than cows,” notes Perillat. “They have been able to work somewhat through the backlog of animals in the feedlots and some animals have gone east and south.” Perillat expects that to continue. “We are picking away at [the backlog] and we may see non-fed cattle stay on grass through the fall if the weather cooperates for grazing conditions,” he says. “But we did place 150,000 more calves on feed last fall and my caution is that those calves are out there, and it is adding some pressure to the market.” US markets are showing good strength, more so than Canada, he adds. “Their year-on-year feed numbers did not have the year-over-year increase we are stuck with and they are in a little bit better shape working through their backlog,” he explains. Overall, the industry has been eective at slowing cattle feeding down. “Carcass weights are in line with a year ago, even a little below, so that is not suggesting the backlog is as pressing on the market as anticipated,” Perillat says. “It shows we are able to market the cattle we need to and manage feeding programs. I think we are going to manage through it, but those cattle are still out there.” Fed cattle prices were by far the hardest hit with some of the lowest levels in a decade. “We treaded into the 120s and we are still in the 130 range,” Perillat says. Those numbers are not totally unprecedented for the summertime, but with the numbers of cattle left to move, that is going to limit the upside for September and October when all the calves hit the market. Calf prices are stable now in the 2.20 range, Perillat says. “There are a lot of positive market fundamentals from the demand side and the supply side as we head into 2021,” he notes. “And we may see better prices return.” However, with feedlots sustaining losses as they are now with fed cattle prices well below a year ago, there is concern heading into the fall run, he adds. “The pressures of losses in the feedlot sector ($200-$300 an animal) may weigh on calf prices in the fall,” he says. “The question is, are feedlots going to continue to bet on the market rising in 2021?” While the cow-calf operator has had some protable years, margins have shrunk since 2015, Perillat says. “Heading into 2020 fall run, they had a fairly expensive winter due to feed costs,” he says. “Margins continue to shrink but they are not the huge losses they see at the feed-lot level and may be near break-even depending on operations.” Canadian herd numbers stabilized after the protable years of 2014-15, inuenced by some areas of drought from 2017 through to 2019. “Calf numbers continue to shrink and we now have less calves coming to market during the fall run,” Perillat says. “But the US does have herd numbers so there will be cattle out there.” With the loonie creeping up towards 76 cents versus the US dollar, Perillat says ranchers will see an impact. “I always use the rule of thumb, when the loonie goes up a penny, that impacts our calf prices four to ve cents a pound.” “If you are selling calves a huge impact for feedlots is the feed costs,” he says. “If feed costs do come down, that could support our calf prices.” Perillat says futures are projecting higher prices in 2021 than in 2020. “The futures are not as high as last year at this time, but they are up substantially,” he says. “It could be both optimism or reality that supply can align.” When looking at futures, Perillat says the $2.00 calf level always comes back to roost. “Despite all the challenges in the market, there is still support at those levels., he says. That number is not as high as it has been but not a disaster, either. “There is pretty good support at $2.00, but lots of risk in the market,” he says. “We can’t rule out any of the supply chain issues that we have seen. Hopefully, the market can see past the headwinds of the fall and look positive for 2021.” BOUNCING back nfrom page 23Beef prices up Beef prices rose faster than any other grocery item sold in BC during the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistics Canada reports that BC retail prices for stewing beef rose 41% in the four months ended June versus the pre-pandemic average, reaching to $19.68 per kilogram. Striploin cuts, the most expensive grocery item at $33.93 per kilogram, also rose 41%. On a month to month basis, beef prices staged the largest monthly increase since May 1982. “This followed the COVID-19-related closure of several large beef processing plants and the reduction in operating capacity at other plants, in both April and May,” Statscan noted. Pork plants also closed as a result of COVID-19 outbreaks and prices in BC rose signicantly during the period, though less sharply than beef prices. Pork loin cuts were the most impacted, rising 30% to $11.76 per kilogram. Chicken was largely unaected by plant closures but saw prices drop as producers scrambled to ad-dress lower demand from foodservice channels. Chicken cuts fell 2% to 5%, with chicken breasts impacted the least. Breasts averaged $13.02 per kilogram in BC, down 2% during the pandemic but 2% higher than June 2019. —Peter Mitham

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Market analysts are hopeful the global demand for protein will help with fall prices. FILE PHOTO / LIZ TWANGlobal outlook is bright for beef producersDisease outbreaks are boosting demand for available proteinCOUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 25Have you herd? VBP+ TrainingWorkshops or Webinarsare Free!Looking to learn moreabout how to raisehealthy beef cattle?Open to producers of allsizes!free to all beef producersin bc!PROVINCIAL LIVESTOCK FENCING PROGRAMApplications Close: September 30, 2020View program updates at cattlemen.bc.ca/fencing.htmOce: 1.778.412.7000 Toll Free: 1.866.398.2848email: fencebc@gmail.com In partnership with:“Serving and Supporting the Community Together”PROVINCIALLY INSPECTED ABATTOIR B.C. #34ALL SIZES MARKET GOATS & LAMBS604.465.4752 (Ext 105)FAX 604.465.4744 ashiq@meadowvalleymeats.comby TOM WALKER PENTICTON – While Brett Stuart calls the current global beef market an “unprecedented” situation,” he says there is much to feel positive about when you take a long-term view of global markets. “If you are under 30, you have never seen the kind of losses we are seeing in the cattle markets,” says Stuart, president of Colorado-based market research rm Global Agritrends, in his address to the Canadian Beef Industry Conference in August. Stuart says there are two biological Black Swans in the world these days: COVID-19 and African Swine Fever. “When we combine the two, it is a staggering market situation,” he says. Yet Stuart feels these are both temporary crises that do not aect the long-term world outlook for protein. COVID-19 has clearly interrupted the beef supply chain. “There are currently 1.5 million cattle backed up in feedlots in the US,” Stuart explains, and they’ll remain there for months. COVID-19 has moved consumers away from restaurants to retail, but a solid underlying demand for beef remains. “America says, ‘Don’t short us on beef,’” Stuart says. “We will pay more for beef.” Stuart noted a lot of “noise and confusion” around the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. “It is still too early to make bold predictions about COVID and protein impacts three, six, or even 12 months out,” he says. African Swine Fever has been a gamechanger for global protein, Stuart says. One third of the global swine herd died last year, and 75% of the world’s hogs are threatened. ASF is now in Europe, centred in Poland, and appears to be moving towards Germany, a major EU pork producer. “It is a very strong virus for which there is no vaccine,” says Stuart. “They are building fences in Poland to curb the movement of wild boars across the country.” China, the world’s largest consumer of pork, has suered the most from ASF. The country has lost 60% of its swine herd and become a massive protein importer. “China’s imports of pork, poultry and beef have soared to US$2.2 billion per month now,” says Stuart. “But that is not enough to ll the gap and the Chinese consumer will simply be eating less protein.” The gap should be more of a market opportunity than it is. “If I went out to the cattle world and said one third of the global beef herd is going to be dead this year, cattle futures would go through the roof,” Stuart notes. Chinese consumers are paying ve to six times the US retail pork price. While this should create a prime market opportunity for exporters, Stuart notes that China is not a free-market economy. “The politics in China is restricting access to their market,” he says. Chinese beef demand will drive more imports, Stuart believes. Greater China (China, Hong Kong and Vietnam) will buy US$16 billion worth of beef this year, more than double four years ago. A lot of that is from the southern hemisphere, but Stuart says it’s still positive for the global market. “COVID and ASF are the here and now,” Stuart says. “That, of course, is what absorbs our time but if you look at the long-term picture, there is cause for optimism.” The global beef herd has not grown for the last four years, Stuart says. Growth in North America is at and Australia is recovering from several years of drought. But the world’s population continues to grow, consumer spending will increase and Stuart expects a global protein shortage will result. “I don’t think we can produce enough to meet the demand,” says Stuart. “More food may be consumed in the next 100 years than was consumed in the last 7,000 years.” From where he stands, everything looks pretty solid. “I think we are going to be shipping beef to China in the second half of the year. It’s a great time to be a farmer,” he says.

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Five grants awarded to on-farm projects in Shuswap26 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCby JACKIE PEARASE SHUSWAP – The Shuswap Watershed Council is putting its money where its vision is. SWC, a collaborative, non-regulatory program, is promoting “enhanced water quality that supports human and ecosystem health and the local economy in the Shuswap watershed” with $65,470 in grants to ve farm-based water quality improvement projects. The organization approved the grants after a call for submissions from landowners and farmers for nutrient management initiatives to help keep nutrients on land and out of the water. The results of a joint research project with UBC Okanagan helped direct the grant program. The research team collected and analyzed water samples from 100 dierent sites along the Shuswap and Salmon rivers over three years. The study’s results points to small streams, ditches, groundwater and surface water run-o in valley bottoms as key contributors of nutrient-rich water to the two rivers. Agricultural uses contribute more nutrients on a per-acre basis than other types of land use. Mike and Sarah Schroeder received funding to further their eorts at using cover crops to capture nutrients and improve soil health. The couple grow certied organic grains and some forage crops for food and animal feed as well as produce eggs at Lakeland Farms next to the Salmon River just outside Salmon Arm. They expect to have their 300-acre farm entirely under cover crops this winter. Mike Schroeder says the grant will help Lakeland demonstrate the benets of cover crops to farmers and the environment. “We do generate a bunch of nitrogen with cover crops. We also activate phosphorus with some of our cover crops like buckwheat. And we capture nutrients and hold them in place instead of letting it leach away during the winter,” he notes. “I do want to show that farmers are being proactive; if there is a problem coming from farms, that they’re being proactive in dealing with it.” Rewarding such proactive eorts is the aim of a project the BC Cattlemen’s Mike Schroeder of Lakeland Farms planted buckwheat to replace a eld of underperforming corn this season. The cover crop will be plowed under once it goes to seed to provide a winter cover crop that will improve soil health while helping to prevent soil erosion into the Salmon River. PHOTO / JACKIE PEARASE 1-866-820-7603 | BAUMALIGHT.COMDale Howe | 403-462-1975 | dale@baumalight.comMFG A VARIETY OF ATTACHMENTSBRUSH MULCHERS | BOOM MOWERSSTUMP GRINDERS | TREE SAWS & SHEARSTREE SPADES | ROTARY BRUSH CUTTERS TRENCHERS | DRAINAGE PLOWS | PTO GENERATORS EXCAVATOR ADAPTERS | FELLER BUNCHERSTREE PULLERS | SCREW SPLITTERS | AUGER DRIVESBC FRUIT GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION 1-800-619-9022 (ext 1) email: replant@bcfga.com www.bcfga.comANNOUNCEMENT: Application forms and the updated requirements of the 2021 Tree Fruit Replant Program are now available on the BCFGA website, www.bcfga.com. Project applications (along with the required documents) will be received by November 30, 2020. Please avoid the last minute rush and get your application in early. An horticultural advisor is required to sign individual applications for the 2021 Tree Fruit Replant Program. The following information will be provided to assist growers in completing applications. a. A list of qualied advisors. b. Program operational policies. c. A series of reports on replanting and variety performance and selection are available and should be referenced when preparing a Tree Fruit Replant Program Application. The Tree Fruit Replant Program provides funding for quality projects. Project approval is subject to funding availability and is allocated by the date of receipt of applications. Completed projects are veried by inspection and must attain minimum program standards. The Tree Fruit Replant Program is a 7 year program, funded by the Province of BC. 2021 Tree Fruit Replant ProgramAssociation is undertaking in partnership with the Splatsin First Nation with the assistance of an $18,200 grant. BCCA program manager Lee Hesketh says the project to upgrade fencing to exclude livestock from riparian areas will rst seek out farmers and ranchers who initiated riparian area fencing projects on their own or with the regional Salmon River Watershed Roundtable in the late 1990s to early 2000s. The project starts with producers along the Salmon River who want fence posts at no charge to maintain or improve existing fencing. “I think it’s a good way of the Splatsin getting out and working with the farming and ranching community to promote stewardship and getting something done on the ground as well to help the people who have invested for quite a few years already,” says Hesketh. “The goal is, if this works, if we get uptake on it, to keep it rolling for several years both on the Salmon River and the Shuswap River as well.” At Swaan Farms, Neil Swaan has completed the installation of a Harvestore system that pumps euent from a manure pile into a tank for reuse as fertilizer. “Not only is it a benet to the environment by keeping run-o out of the water, it’s also a way for the farm to collect nutrient-rich euent for appropriate use later,” Swaan says. Enhanced on-farm nutrient management is the focus of a project at Grass Roots Dairies, where Gary and Kathy Wikkerink are moving a nutrient-laden water storage facility to a concrete structure. Merel and Barrie Voth of Hillside Dreams Goat Dairy have already started their project, which received the largest grant of $20,500. It includes ood mitigation, bank stabilization and improved manure management systems, including holding ponds. SWC chair Paul Demonek says the council has a duty to act on the research ndings. “Our water quality here is still quite good, and through working together we hope to keep it that way,” states Demenok. “The last thing we want is to look back 10 or 20 years from now and think, ‘We really should’ve done something sooner.’” SWC directors and invited guests will tour the project sites this fall. A continuation of the grant program next year is at the discretion of the council. A summary of the nutrient research done in partnership with UBC Okanagan is available at [www.shuswapwater.ca].Council supports efforts to improve water quality1-888-770-7333BILL AWMACK

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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 27Find resources to prevent injuries at worksafebc.com/agricultureAn effective health and safety plan involves everyone.The planning decisions you make today can affect the health and safety of workers tomorrow.Newer orchardist takes on key ministry roleArts believes knowledge transfer is key to success of tree fruit and grape industriesby MYRNA STARK LEADER SUMMERLAND – Adrian Arts, a self-taught Summerland apple and cherry grower, is the BC Ministry of Agriculture’s new tree fruit and grape specialist. Arts succeeds Carl Withler, who retired in March after more than ve years in the role. Arts grew up in Victoria and worked in the restaurant industry before returning to school and studying geology at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. Graduating in 2014, his plans to work in the oil sector fell at so in spring 2015 he took a job at Carcajou Fruit Company Ltd. in Summerland. He had no agriculture experience. Owners Jan and Keith Carlson told him he might be overqualied for orchard work, but gave him a shot. “That rst pruning season, I fell in love with farming,” says Arts. “I had no idea how to grow cherries but they were ... willing to share their knowledge and helped me network with other farmers.” “He liked the variety of tasks,” says Keith Carlson. “There isn't a daily routine. Every season is dierent. Adrian likes growing food … We paid him a wage to work for us, and he worked hard.” “We tend to hire people for their attitude and work ethic rather than their knowledge about agriculture. With the right attitude, a farm worker can learn the skills on the job,” adds Jan Carlson. Arts began assembling land when the Carlsons introduced him to retiring orchardist David Lane. Lane, a cherry breeder at the Summerland Research and Development Centre from 1974 to 1994, was part of the team that developed the Sentennial, Stacatto and Sweetheart varieties that laid the foundation for BC’s sweet cherry industry. He leased Arts an acre of cherries and two acres of Asian pears to give him a start in the business. One day, Lorraine Bennest from Bennest Orchards stopped by his orchard and introduced herself. “She said, ‘I’m Lorraine. I’ve been farming for 40 years and you need to talk to my brother because he wants to retire,” he recalls. Bennest introduced Arts to her brother, Gord Shandler of Shandler Orchards, and he eventually took over his property, too. Arts now leases ve properties which he operates under the banner of his consulting company, Kamla Orchard Management. These include an acre of 30-year-old Lapins cherries, an acre of pears and eight acres of 15 to 20-year-old When plans to work in the oil sector fell through, Adrian Arts took a job at an orchard. In a few short years, he’s become the BC Ministry of Agriculture’s new tree fruit and grape specialist. PHOTO / MYRNA STARK LEADERSee PLANS on next page o

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Touring Okanagan orchards and asking lots of questions has fast-tracked a steep learning curve for Adrian Arts. He’s growing a variety of fruit on several parcels in the Okanagan. PHOTO / MYRNA STARK LEADERPLANS to expand nfrom page 2728 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCCALL FOR AN ESTIMATE LARRY 604.209.5523 TROY 604.209.5524 TRI-WAY FARMS LASER LEVELLING LTD.IMPROVED DRAINAGE UNIFORM GERMINATION UNIFORM IRRIGATION FAST, ACCURATE SURVEYING INCREASE CROP YIELDS We service all of Southern BCSUPERIOR BUILD. SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE.INVEST IN QUALITY®www.kuhn.comMatsqui Ag-RepairAbbotsfordCountry TractorArmstrongCountry TractorKamloopsVisit your localBritish ColumbiaKUHN Dealer today!PS 250, 260 & 270 PROSPREAD® APRON BOX SPREADER• Heavy-duty guillotine gate for increased material metering and ow management • Multiple discharge options for machine customization to meet the demands of your operation*• Proven, all-welded undercarriage with reinforced tongue that pulls directly on axle - adding strength and durability• Hydraulic apron drive allows innite variability of apron speed for desired application rates500-690 heaped cu. ft. capacities *Horizontal, VertiSpread® (Vertical) or AccuSpread® (Spinner) discharge options apple trees, largely super-spindle Ambrosia and some Salish. He wants to expand his Salish production. To help condense his harvest season from mid-August to October, he’s planning to plant seven acres of late-season cherries. He’s also considering peaches to ll a niche market, as well as some more pears to bring the fruit back to public attention. His sales are diversied to cushion market impacts. Some fruit is packed on farm but most is sold through private packers who ship domestically and for export. Everything’s an experiment With his science education and love of learning, Arts thinks of everything he does as an experiment. In his rst year, he visited more than 50 orchards. He would ask other growers who the best and worst producers were, then he would go visit them. Most were happy to let him watch, and learn. “Many producers aren’t technically trained in farming. We don’t have a tree fruit school in the Okanagan,” he says. “They’ve spent their whole lives honing their craft so having someone they call young – at almost 40 – wanting to learn farming, they are excited and generous with their knowledge.” Although farmers produce similar products, he says everyone farms a bit dierently. With so many variables, each has something to teach. “Everyone wants you to succeed. They take so much pride in what they do and know the industry is going through a shake-up and they want to do what they can to provide information to help the next generation,” he explains. He’s hopeful being a farmer himself will be a benet to his new job. He needs to learn more about grapes, but he plans to nd the best and worst growers, just as he did with tree fruits. His new role means he’ll be busier since he does most of his own orchard work right now. He learns to do by doing and wants to perfect something before hiring sta to take on the task. As an example, he learned to manage his scion-rooted, overgrown Ambrosia trees and their unripening fruit by applying growth regulators, and following the summer pruning, watering and fertilizing plan he learned from other producers. Arts’ has also benetted from his industry work. He chaired Summerland’s agricultural advisory committee, was vice-chair of the New Tree Fruit Variety Development Council, and represented the BC Fruit Growers Association on the Okanagan Water Stewardship Council that advises the Okanagan Basin Water Board. While some farmers question his commitment to and time spent with committee work, Arts has observed some disconnect between farmers and decision-makers and hopes to help bridge that, particularly with some of the challenges facing the industry. He cites climatic shifts, a lack of new apple varieties and annual decreases in grower returns. “There are no easy answers but hopefully if everyone puts their heads together and is working together, a solution can come from it,” he says. Arts hopes Canadians increasingly recognize the Buy BC label and see value in supporting local producers of apples, grapes and value-added products. Producers also need to step up and embrace innovation and new varieties. “If we’re serious about the apple industry, we really have to think about what’s new and be cutting edge,” he says. It’s clear that Arts wants to make a real dierence. He tells the story of talking with Carl Withler at a cherry association meeting during Carl’s rst month as tree fruit specialist in 2014. “I was thinking, this guy has a very interesting job because you can talk to everyone, get information and maybe make some positive change. Now, I have the opportunity.”

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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 29by SARBMEET SINGH ABBOTSFORD – Blueberry growers have turned to mechanical harvesting in unprecedented numbers this year due to a shortage of labour and impacts of COVID-19. While growers usually employ thousands of hand harvesters, this year saw hundreds of machines harvesting berries across the Fraser Valley. Although farmers have been using machines for several years, many did so out of necessity this year rather than choice. Sarbjit Kaur Gill from Prairie Fruit Farm in Chilliwack says he was forced to lease a berry harvester this season. “We have Duke and Bluecrop varieties at our farm. Usually, we prefer rst picking with hands while the second picking is performed with the machines. However, due to shortage of labour, we used a machine for the rst picking as well,” he says. “I feel this was a very bad year for the farmers. Firstly, we couldn’t procure the machine and secondly, the wet condition of the eld made operating it a challenge, causing us great nancial loss.” Rajinder Singh Lally, owner of Lally Farms in Abbotsford, believes mechanical harvesting is the future of berry picking. “The delay in picking results in over-ripening of berries, which leads to a decline in price of the fruit. As there was a shortage of labour, we used three machines per farm to pick the fruit. From this experience, I feel that machines are a more cost-eective alternative and we are planning to purchase more machines in the coming years,” says Lally. But the results don’t please everyone. “I have been engaged in agriculture for 40 years. Last year, we used machines on less than 10% of our acreage but this year approximately 40% of our acreage was picked by machines. We deal in the fresh market but this year, I had to go for processing due to mechanized harvesting,” says one disappointed Abbotsford farmer, who did not want to be named. Cost savings Mechanized picking and hand picking each have their advantages, the chief one being cost. While hand picking costs around 50 to 60 cents per pound, mechanical harvesting costs just 15 to 20 cents a pound. Hand picking is much slower in comparison to mechanized picking. On average, one picker can pick up to 400 pounds of berries whereas a machine can pick up to three acres in a day, or upwards of 60,000 pounds of berries. Despite the apparent advantages, mechanized picking does have a downside. Machine-harvested berries are mostly used for processing and the prices for processed berries are much less compared to the fresh market. “In the fresh market, blueberries can be sold at $1 to $2 per pound during the season. On the other hand, the processed berries can fetch up to 60 to 65 cents per pound only. While it saves the picking cost, there is a decline in the prots made from the mechanically harvested berry," says Kerry Seale, from Blueberry Junction in Abbotsford. “We felt the labour pains during the previous years. So, we decided to grow some varieties that can be easily picked with machines.” The labour issues associated with COVID-19 have more growers considering such moves this year. “Due to CERB and COVID, there was a huge shortage of labour. Many farmers opted for mechanized picking this year,” says Anju Gill, executive director of the BC Blueberry Council. “In case of mechanized harvesting, prior arrangements like pruning are required well ahead of the harvesting. Due to lack of these arrangements, it led to ineective picking by machines also. However, at the same time, there are some growers that grow berries for processing only and they always pick using the machines.” Parm Bains, president of Westberry Farms in Abbotsford, says machines have been popular among farmers for several years as farmers looked to cut costs as production has grown and labour costs have risen. “There has been a signicant rise in the production and acres of blueberries in British Columbia during the last few decades. In the 80s, we had 20 million pounds of berries and last year we had over 200 million pounds,” says Bains. “Around 17,000 to 18,000 workers are needed but only around 6,000 pickers are available. More and more machines are coming to the market every year as farmers are trying to save money on picking side.” The shortage of pickers was front-and-centre this year due to COVID-19, among other factors. “Farmers struggled to pick berries,” says Bains. “Fields were wet. Besides labour, machines were also not available in time.” While more berries went to processing, Bains says it’s dicult to gauge the impact on grower revenues. “At this moment we are hoping for better prices in comparison to last year,” he says. 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30 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCby RONDA PAYNE MOUNT VERNON, WA – Blueberries need a soft landing and soon, equipment manufacturer Oxbo International Corp. will have commercially available over-the-row harvesters modied to facilitate rmer fresh berries post-storage. A study at Washington State University’s Small Fruit Horticulture Research and Extension Program in Mount Vernon focused on rening the catch plate structure and material to reduce the amount of berry bruising during harvest. The greatest impact a berry experiences, and therefore the greatest risk of bruising that leads to softness, is the drop from the plant to the machine’s catch plate during harvest. “We’ve been working on harvester technology for a long time,” says Kathryn Van Weerdhuizen, market manager, berry, vineyard and olives with Oxbo. “We’re in our fourth season of working with Lisa [DeVetter] and Dr. [Fumiomi] Takeda with the USDA.” The project began through the USDA but the Washington and Oregon state agriculture departments have funded it in the last two seasons. DeVetter, an assistant professor with WSU, and her master’s student Yixin Cai have learned in collaboration with Oxbo that a softer landing surface is more important than reducing the drop height. Replacing the material on the catch plate and suspending it to include an air gap reduces the impact as berries land in the collection area of the harvester. The material used this year was softer and rubbery to the touch. “This is the fourth iteration of the material,” explains Weerdhuizen. “It’s got good longevity in the eld.” Reducing damage to machine-harvested fruit is a concern of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada berry researcher Michael Dossett, who says the modications make sense. He believes growers will adopt Oxbo’s technology. “It’s tremendously exciting,” he says. “At the end of the day, I think it’s the one to be the most successful.” He says it may not be a silver bullet, but it will denitely be better than what's currently available. “Even if this machine doesn’t get us fully there in terms of machine harvest for fresh, I think that any improvements you make in terms of the shock of the berry hitting things inside the machine is going to improve quality,” he says. Cai says this year’s harvest is showing promising results. “There is more dierence in the rmness,” she says. “A lot of local growers, they are very interested in this harvester. The grower who worked with us this year, they are happy with the result. … They will probably purchase the [modied] harvester after this season.” Duke and Draper varieties showed improved rmness after storage in 2019 compared to berries collected using a conventional harvester. Results for 2020 appear similar. The rst pick of blueberries this season didn’t show a signicant dierence in rmness from those collected with a conventional harvester. However, there were statistical dierences in berry rmness in those from the second pick. “Starting from day seven to day 14, you can start to see statistical dierences,” Cai says. “I think that this is a promising result.” Hand-harvested berries will still have the best results in terms of rmness but machine harvestability has grown in importance with increased labour costs and the reduced availability of pickers. The modied Oxbo harvester may provide growers with a new option for harvesting fresh berries that reduces the reliance on hand-harvesters. “Historically, the biggest advancements in mechanical harvest of horticultural crops have been through a combination of innovative engineering like this and genetic improvement,” says Dossett. “One of those will only get you so far. If you do both of them in tandem, you can do a lot of things.” Dossett’s research continues to look at producing varieties that machine harvest better than existing varieties. While the modied catch plate is important, research on other aspects of fresh fruit harvesting will continue in BC. “It would be unwise of us to change one thing and say ‘okay we xed it’ and ignore the others,” says Dossett. Weerdhuizen agrees, saying there is no one single element that will remove bruising issues. Rather it is several factors that each will lead to better quality. She anticipates commercial sales of Oxbo harvesters with the softer catch plate will begin in 2021. The ability to machine harvest fresh fruit and sell it or ship it with fewer concerns of quality expands markets available to growers and increases protability. “We have multiple [growers] using the modied machines,” says Weerdhuizen. “It reduces impact to a level that we don’t see the bruising under the skin. It gives it a longer shelf life.” Softer landings mean better blueberries A modified harvester catch plate results in firmer fresh fruit after storageTRACTOR TIMEVICTORIA 4377C Metchosin Rd. 250.474.3301 30 minutes from Victoria and 15 Minutes from Highway#1 in Metchosin.PREMIUM TRUCKPRINCE GEORGE 1015 Great Street 250.563.0696WILLIAMS LAKE 4600 Collier Place 250.398.7411HANDLERS EQUIPMENTABBOTSFORD 339 Sumas Way 604.850.3601HOUSTON 4001 Williams Crescent 250.845.3333Contact your MAHINDRA DEALERLong lasting 7-Year and 5-Year limited powertrain warranties.1-888-770-7333BILL AWMACK

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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 31ORDER MY21’S NOW, SAVE THOU$AND$ANNUAL FACTORY EARLY ORDER PROGRAMPRAIRIECOASTEQUIPMENT.COMTOLL FREE: 1-877-553-3373PRINCE GEORGE 250-561-4260 | KAMLOOPS 250-573-4412 | KELOWNA 250-765-9765 | CHILLIWACK 604-792-1516 | NANAIMO 778-441-3210STRATEGIC PURCHASINGLARGE SQUARE BALERSWINDROWERSTRIPLE MOUNTED MOWER CONDITIONERSSELF-PROPELLED FORAGE HARVESTERSProvince readies sprayer program for deliveryHands-on approach runs headlong into COVID-19 protocolsby MYRNA STARK LEADER KELOWNA – A new train-the-trainer sprayer calibration course developed by the BC Ministry of Agriculture is ready, but delivering the course – which includes a hands-on component – in a way that respects public health protocols is proving a challenge. “A lot of growers go through a basic calibration, but we’d like to see a more detailed one,” says Ken Sapsford, pesticide specialist with the BC Ministry of Agriculture. The province spent $100,000 over three years to develop the new course, which addresses the use of backpack, boom and air blast sprayers. The three-day course gives participants the information needed to calibrate spray equipment and share that knowledge with others, extending the reach of the province’s extension and support services. In addition to ensuring properly calibrated equipment to meet Canada GAP guidelines for fresh fruit and vegetables, the course promises to help applicators navigate the often tricky interface between rural and urban properties. The course material was drafted by two consultants. Then, University of Alberta professor emeritus Linda Hall, a specialist in weed science with the school’s Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, reviewed and modied the content. “I put more emphasis on the technical aspects of spraying calibration, like nozzle choice which inuences droplet size, canopy penetration to reduce drift and give better pest control,” says Hall. The course was piloted at sessions in Kelowna and Chilliwack in March, prior to COVID-19. Sapsford says several key changes were made as a result of feedback from session attendees, which included Health Canada compliance ocers, independent crop consultants and growers. Pilot session participants had experience with pesticides, but not necessarily calibration. Sapsford says their feedback urged more hands-on experience earlier in the course. Sapsford says most people use the area covered and the application rate to gure out calibration but there are some newer methods that can be helpful. Day one of the course focuses on how to teach adults and delves into reading product labels. Day two is in-class calibration. On day three, the students demonstrate what they know by becoming the instructors using real equipment. “We were hoping to run some of these new train-the-trainer workshops this winter but with COVID, I’m not sure,” says Sapsford. “We just need to nd a way to get this out there so it’s on-going.” Instead, he’s hoping post-secondary institutions will incorporate the course within their oerings. Another hurdle is access to equipment to practice on at the same time as classroom training. Producers typically have more time for training during shoulder seasons. But in late fall and early winter, it becomes more challenging to learn about sprayers outdoors. Water in the sprayer freezes, for example. Sapsford says the course will benet crop consultants, grower associations, retailers and individual growers who have larger operations and want to designate someone to become the in-house trainer, saving on multiple enrollment costs while at the same time ensuring calibration is done correctly, pre-empting potential problems or complaints. “If calibration is correct, farmers will also spend less money on their products as well as have better coverage,” says Hall. Touching the equipment was encouraged as part of practicing how to teach others about sprayer calibration. These students from a variety of sectors were test pilots for new provincial course materials which will be rolled out this fall. PHOTO / MYRNA STARK LEADER

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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 33Langley 1.888.675.7999 Williams Lake 1.855.398.7757Contact Your Watertec Sales Rep for a Free Estimate.CENTER PIVOTS & LINEARSwww.tubeline.ca 1.888.856.6613@TubelineMFGFind us onBALEWRAPPERSSPREADERSSILAGE BLADES BALE PROCESSORSWrap up yoursavings with low rate ﬁnancing.Visit us online for program details.by TOM WALKER CRESTON – Enquiring minds, a blend of science and engineering, and a search for a niche market have led Ben and Claudia Herrera to build a specialty grain farm and our milling business in Creston. “When we came 13 years ago, we were looking for a small ag community to settle in after working overseas in the oil industry,” explains Ben. “I had visited an uncle in Creston in the summers as a child and it really t the bill.” They considered various farming opportunities but the idea of grain, a non-perishable product, caught their interest and Treasure Life Flour Mills was born. The two elevators in the centre of town tell the story of a long-standing grain industry in the Creston valley, but Ben and Claudia weren’t looking to go mainstream. An interest in ancient and heirloom varieties and a desire to farm organically led them to build a speciality farming and milling business that produces around 500 MT of a variety of ours a year. Ben gladly shares his knowledge of grains acquired on the quest for suitable varieties to grow on their farm. There are 43,000 grain varieties across the planet, and 21,000 of those are old varieties, he explains. “But when you start looking for ancient grains, you nd that there aren’t many left,” he says. Finding the best Their search for seeds has led them to phone elderly farmers, searching out specialty seed banks and connecting with like-minded growers across the globe. Sometimes they would be lucky to get a ve-gallon pail of seed. Other times, it was only a 10-gram handful. Along the way they purchased an entire heirloom seed bank from the University of Edmonton that held 48 varieties, and a pack of seeds that a retired farmer had kept in his freezer for 47 years. All told, their own collection now sits at 280 varieties. But that’s only the beginning. It takes three to four years of careful propagation – a process involving planting, harvesting and replanting by hand – to produce enough seed for a past, some of which were “fun grains,” says Ben – like the Baxter wheat found in a cave in New Mexico in 1956. Once the plots are large enough, samples are milled the baking qualities assessed. Their research has led them to settle on 23 varieties that they now plant on a rotation. They select just nine grains to plant each year. “We have been milling and selling now for ve years,” says Claudia. “The grains that are grown test plot on a commercial scale. But that’s only the beginning. It takes three to seven years of propagation – a process involving planting, harvesting and replanting by hand – to produce enough seed for a commercial planting. Some test plots have been lost to deer and mice, and others have suered from drought (three years ago, drought in the valley led the Herreras to pause the trials). They have had as many as 90 test plots going in the Wheat growers tap into heirloom grainsCreston business feeds deep-seated need for alternative wheatsSee HEIRLOOM on next page oBen, Max and Claudia Herrera mill the grain they grow. PHOTO / TOM WALKER

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34 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCCall 1-866-522-3447 to book an on-farm appointment.Visit bcefp.ca for more program information.• No cost • Con昀dential • No obligationHave you completed an Environmental Farm Plan?Debbie BulkDebbie BulkEurosa FarmsEurosa FarmsBrentwood Bay, B.C.Brentwood Bay, B.C.commercially in Canada are selected because they produce the best yield in our conditions and are the easiest to grow and harvest and mill with our current technology,” Ben explains. “But heirloom grains have a avour and nutritional values that modern wheat doesn’t have,” adds Claudia. Niche market A move away from the Wonder Bread culture to more artisanal bakeries and breads has created a market for specialty grains, and the ours that are made from them, and most often it is an older variety that has come back into favour. Ladoga wheat, for example, a regular crop for Treasure Life, is a spring wheat that originated in the Ukraine. “It was brought to Russia by Ukrainian settlers in 1654 and came to Canada from Russia in 1887,” Claudia explains. Ladoga breads have a rich nutty avour and can have up to 30 times more nutritional value than breads made from commercial white ours, Ben says. While all wheats contain gluten, the amount of gluten varies greatly between wheat varieties. If you compound that with current farming and milling practices, consumers may develop a wheat sensitivity. Treasure Life grains are not genetically modied, are grown organically and milled on site with no additives to the our. “We have stories from customers who have a sensitivity to commercial our, but are able to tolerate our products,” Claudia says. The Herreras own and lease a total of 900 acres in the Creston Valley and they also source from an organic grain farm in Alberta. The grains are milled using both modern steel impact mills and old stone mills, several of which Ben has sourced as antiques, restored and retrotted himself, as the manufacturers are no longer in business. Normally, they employ up to three people full-time in the mill. As with other our mills, business exploded when COVID-19 hit. “We had 14 people working and were pulling 18-hour days,” says Ben. “I had to get a couple more of my old mills up and running. We were able to keep up with the our demand, but we could not source enough paper bags at one point.” Ben says demand is back to a more normal volume now. “I was getting up to 100 calls a day during the height of the pandemic,” he says. Their products are distributed across BC to specialty bakers and food stores and also sold through Organic Matters, the Nelson-based organic ingredients company that delivers across Canada and the US. In addition to a variety of ours including wheat, spelt and rye, they oer oats, a blended hot breakfast cereal and a specialty pancake mix. It was a quest for the perfect pancake mix that led to tracking down the antique stone mills. “Ben wanted pancakes like his mother could make with the ne our she got from her hand grinder,” explains Claudia. “He was sure if he could track down an old commercial stone mill he could make the best pancakes. He found the eight mills that we use today and the pancakes are the best.” The Herreras grow their own wheat for milling on the benches above Creston. PHOTO / TREASURE LIFE FLOUR MILLSHEIRLOOM grains have niche appeal nfrom page 33

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High-flying plans grounded by pandemic protocolsRising moth populations show need for more controlThe transport of infested bins between orchards is one reason there is an increase in codling moths this season. PHOTO / TOM WALKERCOUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 35COMMITTED TO AGRICULTURE in the FRASER VALLEY, SOUTH OKANAGAN & VANCOUVER ISLAND rollinsmachinery.comCHILLIWACK • 1.800.242.9737 . 44725 Yale Road West • 604.792.1301 LANGLEY • 1.800.665.9060 |. 21869 - 56th Avenue • 604.533.0048 CHEMANIUS • 1.250.246.1203 . 3306 Smiley Road KELOWNA • 250.765.8266 . #201 - 150 Campion Street TRACTORS NH BOOMER 33 ROPS, LOADER, 4WD, TURF TIRES [U32032] . 20,950 NH 8560 4WD, 6,250 HRS [U32312] .................................... 59,900 NH T6.175 5,000 HRS, SUPERSTEER - 16X16 [U32145] ........... SOLD TS135A 4WD, 6060 HRS, CAB, SUSP, PWR SHIFT TRANS [U32120] 42,900 NH TS6.110 600 HRS, CAB, 4WD, NEW TIRES [U32188]......... 54,900 NH WORKMASTER 55 1625 HRS, ROPS, 4WD, NO LDR [U32334] 21,500 QUALITY USED EQUIPMENT AERWAY 11’ TRAILER, AERATOR, NICE CONDITION [U40045] .... 9,000 BOBCAT S185 1755 HRS, HEAT ONLY, NO BUCKET [U32350] ....18,500 FRONTIER 12’ DISC, TANDEM 21” FRONT NOTCH, 21” REAR SMOOTH [U32343] ................................................ 7,900 GEHL 3250 SQ BALER, S/N20743, CRANK BALE TENSION,78” PU, 1/4 TURN BALE CHUTE, GOOD CONDITION, SHED-STORED [U32407] ............... 7,900 KOMATSU LOADER BACKHOE, 7100 HRS, 4 POST, ROPS, 4WD [U40043] .................................................................... 19,500 KUHN PRO 150 MANURE SPREADER, VERTICAL BEATERS, GOOD CONDITION [U32236] ................................................ 36,600 MCHALE FUSION VARIO 2017, 14,000 BALES [U32135] ......... 199,000 NH L220 SKIDSTEER 6800 HRS, HAND/FOOT CONTROLS [U40034] 21,500 NH 258 RAKE 260, HITCH [U32143] ........................................ 4,950 NH 644 SILAGE SPECIAL BALE SLICE [U32169] ....................... 11,900 NH 7550 DISC MOWER 13’ - PIN HITCH [U32358] ................... 16,900 NH FP230 GRASSHEAD, 2 ROW CORNHEAD, PROCESSOR [U32226] .......................................................... 27,000 NH FP240; GOOD CONDITION, 2005, TANDEM AXLE; HI DUMP HOSES; SPOUT EXTENSION; 29P GRASSHEAD (U31570) .................... 29,000 NH FP240 GRASS, CORN, CROP PRO, SINGLE AXLE [U32113] . 44,900 TAARUP 4036 DISC MOWER, REBUILT CUTTERBAR [U32093] ... 14,500 by TOM WALKER KELOWNA – The Okanagan-Kootenay Sterile Insect Release (OKSIR) program is an essential service during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s ying more slowly these days. “Our focus is on keeping sta safe and that has slowed things down for sure,” says the program’s general manager Melissa Tesche. One casualty has been a high-ying initiative to train sta in the operation of drones to release sterile codling moths into BC orchards to ght their native cousins. Washington State University entomologist Betsy Beers has spent three years demonstrating the eectiveness of orchard-specic releases delivered by drones. The technology is appealing to OKSIR, which has been granted an exemption from new Transport Canada regulations prohibiting the carrying of living organisms on board drones. “In two hours, a drone operator can cover the same territory it would take a rider a day and a half to cover,” says Tesche. “We are all set up to go.” But protocols designed to curb the spread of COVID-19 means sta training sessions including in-eld pilot training have been impossible. “COVID kyboshed our training plans,” she says. “The American company was not able to come in due to the border restrictions.” Tesche is now hoping training will take place this fall, with a refresher course in the spring to prepare sta to ght the moth in 2021. Control slipping Codling moths are increasingly a pest of economic concern around the world, and BC is no dierent. While the area-wide OKSIR program remains an overwhelming success across the Okanagan, Similkameen and Shuswap valleys, surveys indicate that control is slipping in some orchards. Of the nearly 8,000 acres OKSIR covered in 2019, 44% were considered moth-free, down from 50% in 2018. Another 32% had low moth pressure, with populations holding steady or declining. But 23% of the acreage saw moth populations increase, up from 20% in 2018. Tesche says the worst 10% of orchards account for 70% of wild moth populations. Orchard management is a key factor where populations are increasing. “We have absentee owners who have abandoned their orchards,” she says. “And we see an increase of boutique growers, small orchards, often organic, that the owner has planted to qualify for farm status and owners are not as on top of the moths as they should be.” The poor returns commercial growers have seen over the last several years have also had an impact. “Growers don’t have a lot of extra cash right now,” she notes, explaining that they might be moving from a seven-day spray schedule to a 10-day interval. “That reduces the ecacy of the treatment and they might be shooting themselves in the foot by having those gaps in coverage. It’s tough, because you also have to keep the bank balance alive.” The moths are also spreading into new areas, something Tesche blames on the movement of infested bins. Codling moths live in the crevices of wooden fruit bins stacked in the corner of an orchard. If the bins are moved to another property without a thorough cleaning, the moths hitch along for the ride. “In terms of spreading infestation to an area that didn’t have a problem and now all of a sudden does, bin movement is the major culprit,” she says. “Once moths are established in an orchard we are just suppressing them with our sterile moths and asking the grower to use supplementary tactics such as spraying to drive that population down.” Despite the many changes that have taken place as a result of COVID-19, moth production at the program’s Oliver facility has not been aected. “Our facility is fairly spacious and divided into production zones, so we are able to keep a safe distance between workers,” says Tesche. “Breaks and lunch times are staggered, and we have been able to get some picnic tables outside.” Two specic challenges have emerged, however. The rst is supply chain woes that have delayed delivery of feed ingredients for the moths’ diet. “What usually takes one week for delivery might actually be three or four,” she says. “So we have ordered the bulk of our ingredients and stockpiled them rather than ordering fresh every month.” The second challenge is with sta illnesses. “If anyone is feeling ill at all we direct them to 811 and often the advice is to be home for 10 to 14 days,” Tesche says. “We support that, but now you have a two-week absence for something that might normally be two days.” w ww.countrytractor.caCLAUDIO ROTHENBACHER 778.921.0004claudio@countrytrac tor.ca=Xccjf`cgi\gXiXk`fe`jZfd`e^]Xjk%>ff[j\\[`e^Y\[jjkXikn`k_^i\Xk\hl`gd\ekc`b\fliBl_eGcfnXe[Xi\\e_XeZ\[YpXgif]\jj`feXccpkiX`e\[]Xid\in_fbefnj_fnkfX[aljkXgcfn%@ekif[lZ`e^9\eflie\n\jkjXc\ji\gZfm\i`e^k_\Jflk_K_fdgjfeI`m\iXi\X%

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36 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCby RONDA PAYNE VANCOUVER – Applying the right amount of nutrients to optimize crop yields is a goal of both conventional and organic farmers, but organic farmers have fewer nutrient amendments to rely on, making correct applications a blend of guesswork and science. Optimizing nutrients for yield is part of the equation, but soil health is another. Sean Smukler, associate professor of applied biology and social science with the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at UBC, discussed building soil health in organic vegetable production in an August 13 webinar hosted by BC Young Farmers. “It’s a buzzword today, for sure,” he says of the term “soil health.” He explains that soil health goals can include aspects like improving ltration, increasing water holding capacity, increasing nutrient cycling and storage, producing a healthy crop and more. Key tenets of soil health are minimizing disturbances to the soil, supplying organic matter and keeping the soil covered when possible. “Soil health is a holistic denition and a holistic concept. It’s really dicult to measure,” he says. Physical indicators of soil health include water storage capacity or bulk density; chemical indicators might be pH, available phosphorus or available potassium but no ocial standards dene it. Smukler explains that regardless of the measures, nutrient management is a central aspect of soil health. Unfortunately, soil health generally is low on the list of reasons for nutrient management, falling below maximizing yields and crop quality, minimizing costs and labour and environmental factors. “Nitrogen availability is usually the target for our nutrient management plan,” he says. Just 1% to 3% of organic nitrogen in the soil is available to plants. Compost and manure provide levels of 10% to 30%, but this comes with guesswork. These sources don’t include the labels conventional farmers often get with commercial fertilizer products that provide application levels. Individual crops needs must be considered, too, so what is good for one part of the eld is not for the other if they grow dierent crops. “We are trying to balance what [nutrients] we put on with the crop demand,” he explains. “We know that more isn’t always better. We reach a maximum yield and after that we don’t get any real return from those applications.” The key to determining nutrient needs is to know what’s in the soil and what a crop requires. Mismatching nutrient application and crop needs can lead to reduced yields, nitrate leaching, phosphorus build-up and other issues. It also wastes a farmer’s time and money. Smukler recommends soil testing. “If we know how much is coming o the eld [in the crop] we can know how much to put on [when we know what is in the soil],” he says. “Make sure that there’s a feedback mechanism. You’re checking and you’re adjusting.” Trials his team conducted, funded in part by the BC Agriculture and Food Climate Action Initiative, found that a hybrid of low compost and certied organic blood meal fertilizer was eective in matching the nitrogen and phosphorus demands of the crop. This was the best of the four options to meet nutrient needs. The other methods included municipal compost that met phosphorus requirements (known as low compost); municipal compost that met nitrogen requirements (known as high compost) and poultry manure that met nitrogen requirements. “We usually end up adding too much phosphorus,” he says. “High compost is a much more typical application approach, they put on as much compost as they can or they are targeting the nitrogen needs of the crop and that typically ends up in more phosphorus than the crop can use. It can take a long time to bring down the phosphorus once it’s been built up.” There are also trade-os to consider. For example, the application best for crop yields may produce an excess of greenhouse gases. “We’ve been gathering data for the last ve years from these nutrient management data trials. Putting it all together may help modelling,” he says. “Climate change is going to make results today very dierent from tomorrow. Trying to use nutrients judiciously is the best approach. We want to be ecient in our nutrient use.” Organic soil requirements need science, guessworkSoil tests can help determine nutrient needsThis one must be about potatoes. It’s all I am doing right now. Digging and selling potatoes. Might as well write about them, too. It will not be a chore, reeling o 650 words on potatoes. I’ll just follow my thoughts. You know you can almost live on potatoes, right? They contain bre, protein, more potassium than bananas, and all kinds of vitamins and minerals. I think they get a lot of this right from the soil. The elds certainly look drained once the potatoes are out. You can add it all back with chemicals or by building organic matter using cover crops for ve years. One way or another, those elds need to be brought back into shape for the next time they grow potatoes. They are hard to dig by hand, aren’t they? Anyone that has dug more than three or four plants in a garden bed realizes this in a hurry. It’s very desirable to have some sort of mechanical harvester. We have a Grimme SE 75-30. Gorgeous machine. It can dig through the most outrageous jungle of potato vines and weeds. Ultimately, the potatoes ow into the hopper and the weeds are deposited in its wake, roots up in the sun. It arrived on the farm 12 years ago. I remember its arrival: looming massively on the at deck, fresh o the boat from Germany. The only tractor with the correct clevis hitch turned out to be the tiny blue tractor that my grandpa had driven up from city in the 60s. I almost cried. Not only because it seemed inevitable that something would go very wrong as the harvester, with its nine-foot wheel base spilling over the sides of the at deck, was sure to run over the teeny tiny tractor tugging away at it, but because it was at that moment that I really understood that mom and dad were investing very long term in the farm. It is a statement piece: this is a potato farm. I also cried because its arrival meant we didn’t need to use the 1953 Farmall 300-with-potato-harvester-attachment anymore. What a nightmare that machine was. It was supposed to be a step up from my great-grandfather’s potato lifter, which was new around the same time round wheels were invented. At least the harvesting experience was sort of peaceful, shuing along on our knees lling buckets. The Farmall belched and bucketed along, bellowing black smoke. Dad drove and performed mechanical miracles on the y. The crew were draped all over it separating potatoes from the dirt and plants. My sister was perched on a platform o the end of the chain juggling laundry baskets as they lled. I was madly driving to and fro collecting full laundry baskets, delivering empty ones and running the washing line. Everyone was always cranky, as I recall. All that is well behind us now, so there is no need to dredge up all these old stories. The Grimme is magnicent, as I think I mentioned, although certainly tears have been shed upon it over the years. That time I wrenched the bunker delivery arm into a corkscrew is etched forever in the annals of “things that went really wrong with the harvester.” Not today, though. This was a banner day. We sauntered out on a whim after enough family members expressed a willingness to crew, and promptly dug 7,000 pounds of potatoes. I was driving about as slow as possible, while the belt loading the bin was going very fast and the potatoes were thick upon it. They were just pouring out. I don’t believe we have ever grown a more beautiful and abundant crop of Sieglinde potatoes. I think the cover crop method of soil replenishment is working ne. The potatoes are actually glowing. Anna Helmer farms with her bubble in the Pemberton Valley and hopes to never get over potatoes. The right machine makes harvesting potatoes a breezeAnd the right cover crops will make the potatoes glowFarm Story by ANNA HELMERDon’t forget to RENEW yourSubscription.Little & Large, Local & Long, Europe & N. AmericaPort to Dealer, Farm to Farm & Anything in Between

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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 37Engineered for the long haul and designed with endurance in mind. Every one of the 21 H&S Manure Spreader models is quality built. We have the machine to 昀t your opera琀on.RENN Mill Center Inc. has a corporate policy of continuous improvement and development; therefore models and speciﬁcations are subject to change without any advance notice. Standard Duty Heavy Duty Ground Drive Hydraulic Push Top Shot Side DischargeManure SpreadersRENN Mill Center Inc., RR#4 Lacombe, AB T4L 2N4The full line of H&S agricultural equipment is available from RENN Mill Center, the exclusive distributor in Western Canada.Call to ﬁnd your local dealer.TEL: 403-784-3518 | www.rennmill.comFor decades, farmers have benetted from cover cropping when a winter or cover crop is seeded right after the summer crop is harvested. But relay cropping, developed by Shabtai Bittman with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Agassiz, is improving on that system. In relay cropping, a winter crop is sown about a month after the main summer crop has been planted. Essentially, farmers double-crop their elds, allowing them to produce more forage, eliminate a time-management bottleneck and protect the environment. A cover crop planted soon after the summer crop is established would be well-rooted before winter sets in. But a lot depends on what cover crop would work best with the main crop. The research on exploring the values of relay cropping was undertaken at both the UBC Dairy Education and Research Centre in Agassiz and AAFC’s Agassiz Research and Development Centre. Trials were carried out on a variety of small plots and strip plots from Agassiz to Abbotsford using 40 dierent crop combinations. Crop varieties, seed volumes, planting methods, when to plant, and irrigation practices were all part of the trials to arrive at a choice of cover crop that ultimately worked best with corn and which would prove to be the most disease-resistant. The expectation was that the system would be an excellent form of forage, soil and environmental management and farm production eciency. The successful trials showed that tetraploid biennial Italian rye grass was the cover crop of choice planted between six-leaf corn rows at a rate of 25 to 30 kg per hectare. This year, the researchers have taken the study to the next level, growing the combination of corn and Italian rye grass in a 150-acre eld, large enough to mirror commercial production. Given cold, wet spring conditions, corn was not planted until May 28. On June 29, the Italian rye grass was planted with an interseeder moving between the corn rows. “We’ve taken that research and put it on a scale that farmers can relate to,” says UBC farm manager Nelson Dinn. “It’s ne under scientic, controlled conditions but what sorts of challenges are there in elds on a commercial level? That’s why we did it on a larger scale to see how it would work. We know there are a lot of advantages. It’s a good environmental strategy. It’s good farm eciency since, [with the grass in place] it’s one less job to do in the fall. There is improved soil quality, soil health, and the rye grass takes up excess nutrients left by the harvested corn.” The immediate pay-o to relay cropping is that, depending on yields, forage and livestock feed is available year-round and soil protection, weed management, and environmental sustainability all come into play. With the corn harvested, the ryegrass will benet from excess nutrients as well as direct sunlight during the fall which could increase growth by 30%. Dinn says that four to ve weeks is a good time to go into the eld to plant with minimal damage to the young corn. “Go slow with the equipment. Watch the turns. But the gains you are getting from having a second crop outweigh any damage you might do,” he says. “It’s all a balancing act. And it’s all depending on weather. Spring weather was challenging in the Fraser Valley this year.” Dinn says that many farmers practice traditional cover cropping but that means more cultivating after the summer crop is o, more compaction of the soil, and more work when daylight is decreasing which leads to more time considerations. “You want that winter crop established so that it can hold the soil down,” he says. “By spring you will have a great crop. This year, the rye grass came up in about ve days. Come corn harvest, we won’t have to do anything further. Nor do we have to worry if the corn comes o late as the grass crop is already well established. The amount of daylight is not an issue.” The corn will come o in September and the ryegrass will be harvested next spring, most likely at the end of April or early May. With the rye o, the land will be cultivated, and the next season’s corn planted followed a month later by the ryegrass. Relay cropping checks all the boxesSystem developed in Agassiz offers many benefits to growersResearch by MARGARET EVANS“It’s all a balancing act. And it’s all depending on the weather.” UBC FARM MANAGER NELSON DINN

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Price risk falls on growers but product demand remains strongThere’s no magic bullet to cope with the impacts of COVID-19, says greenhouse grower and BC Agriculture Council chair Stan Vander Waal. Staff safety is a priority to prevent an interruption to business. PHOTO / RAINBOW GREENHOUSE Insurance products and services are provided through Assante Estate and Insurance Services Inc. Please visit www.assante.com/legal.jsp or contact Assante at 1-800-268-3200 for information with respect to important legal and regulatory disclosures relating to this notice.Financial planning for farm families Farm transition coaching Customized portfolio strategy Retirement income planningDriediger Wealth PlanningMark Driediger, CFP, FEA, Senior Wealth AdvisorBrent Driediger, BAA, CPA, CMA, CFP, Wealth Advisorwww.DriedigerWealthPlanning.com | 604.859.4890 Assante Financial Management Ltd.by MYRNA STARK LEADER CHILLIWACK – Two BC greenhouse operators say COVID-19 has changed their industry, likely forever. Stan Vander Waal is president and owner at Rainbow Greenhouses Inc., which has operations in BC and Alberta, as well as chair of the BC Agriculture Council. Brian Minter and his family own Minter Country Garden, a retail and greenhouse operation. Both farm in Chilliwack. On August 12, both men represented BC on a panel as part of Virtual Grower Day, organized by Greenhouse Canada. The annual professional development and networking conference had originally been scheduled to take place in Abbotsford (its rst time in BC) but was moved online in response to COVID-19. Ontario greenhouse owners Bob and Carmen Mitchell of SunTech Greenhouses Ltd. of Ottawa, which grows indoor tomatoes, and Len Ferragine, owner of Bradford Greenhouses Garden Gallery in Bradford, Ontario, which supplies plugs and liners, joined Minter and Vander Waal. While this season has been very challenging, the potential for a resurgence of COVID-19 this fall means many growers are implementing risk mitigation strategies and adapting. BC designated greenhouses and garden centres as essential services early on in the pandemic, along with other farm operations. This was positive, said Vander Waal. Vander Waal’s operation didn’t close but Minter’s shut down for ve weeks, mostly out of concern for sta health and visitor safety. The shutdown gave Minter time to examine and adapt processes to the new market environment. “We learned a lot in the ve weeks,” he said. Pivoting quickly to online sales allowed him to maintain sales at a third of what they were prior to closing. “We realigned our entire store and this will be our best year in history,” he said, adding that consumer behaviour is forcing change. “The writing is on the wall with Amazon and everything else.” Minter continues to try to predict the impact COVID-19 will have on sales. “Our consumer is 35 to 65, in an upwardly mobile group, so we’ve been lucky but disposable income may become an issue,” he said. However, he remains optimistic about Christmas sales, expecting people will want it to be a bright spot after a stressful and restricted year. He expects sales will match or surpass last year’s. Minter and fellow panelists say demand is for local products – food, plants that produce food and plants to beautify their space or oer cheer to others. Chrysanthemums are selling about a month earlier than normal in the west and east, for example. Coloured owers were hot sellers, although a couple of panelists said additional work was needed to size up certain plants, especially on the West Coast where Minter said 12 weeks of spring rain slowed early-season consumer demand. All are coping with added work to address business and health issues. “I don’t have a magic bullet. We’re working hard to gure it out,” said Vander Waal, commenting on his operation’s risk mitigation planning. “The question is not so much if but when we will see an infection in one of our work groups.” With seasonal workers on his site, Vander Waal says plans must be in place that address working with health and government ocials to ensure operations continue in the event of an outbreak. A COUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 39Flower growers ponder COVID-19 impactsSee STAFF on next page oYOURHelping YouWEEKLY FARM NEWS UPDATEScountrylifeinbc.comYOURHelping YouHelpingpingplinYoulHHping YoeWSfeinbc.com

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STAFF safety is a priority nfrom page 3940 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCAvenue Machinery understands that time is the most important resource you manage. The Kubota FastBale is the 昀rst continuous wrapper baler combo, designed to help you claw back some time off the clock. ABBOTSFORD1-888-283-3276VERNON1-800-551-6411KELOWNA1-800-680-0233EFFICIENCEFFICIENCYYGIVE YOURSELF THE AVE NUEshutdown in March or April would have a signicant impact on the nursery. Sta safety continues to be top of mind for all. At Minter’s greenhouse, a sta member returning from a wedding in Alberta was asked to self-isolate. In other operations, smaller sta work teams have been formed to limit contact among employees. All panellists said nding employees if their regulars are ill is next to impossible, but they also know they must move forward. “We’ve been in this for 35 years. There have been challenges all along the way and we’ve survived. I hope that this is the same,” said Vander Waal, who is proceeding with substantial expansion plans at locations in BC and Alberta in 2021. However, most of the growers plan to simplify their businesses and streamline operations. “We can’t be everything to everyone,” said Vander Waal, explaining that he’ll reduce varieties. “We’re being very targeted in what we bring in,” adds Minter, who will focus on what people have bought in the past. After an initial cutback on production plans for Christmas, Vander Waal said it’s back up. “We’ve shipped 65% of our garden mums out the door. All summer long I’ve seen foliage moving out at an unbelievable pace that we’ve been bringing in from Florida. The consumer seems to have an insatiable demand,” he says. With fewer planes ying, logistics is an issue. Growers need to stay on top of shipments of live material to ensure it’s arriving in a timely fashion and in the best health. Minter said product must be booked early due to a shortage of nursery stock on the West Coast. These and other factors will impact pricing. While Vander Waal hasn’t experienced large increases in plug costs, production costs are up. In Ontario, Ferragine threw out $250,000 worth of plugs, managed with half his sta and spent more than $250,000 dollars on personal protective equipment. Rising expenses need to be made up somewhere for businesses to break even but the marketplace isn’t necessarily receptive to higher prices. “This is one of the times where we’ve found that the price risk falls on the business owner and we need to try to price for that,” said Vander Waal. Minter is also cognizant of trying to balance what the economy will do to public perception. “Scientists are thinking 12-18 months for a viable vaccine and I think you have to look at the longer term … are we going into a recession?” said Minter. “I’m a little concerned about pricing because we don’t want to be accused of price gouging, especially when we are considered an essential service.” The pandemic forced Minter Country Gardens to incorporate online sales this spring, a change Brian Minter says mirrors Amazon-led changes to retail businesses. PHOTO / MINTER GARDENS

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Loren Taves has raised prices to offset the added costs Taves Family Farm has incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he’s prepared to explain that to his customers. PHOTO / RONDA PAYNECOUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 41by RONDA PAYNE ABBOTSFORD – Labour was a key issue in agriculture before COVID-19 hit, and the pandemic has further complicated the outlook. But the need to follow best practices remains as important as ever, according to Jennifer Wright, senior human resources advisor and stakeholder engagement specialist with the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council. This creates obstacles even to common practices such as hiring, training and discharging workers. While many farmers like face-to-face interviews, those may not be possible given social distancing measures. “It’s just not business as usual,” she says. “But there’s lots of ways to work around that.” Wright says it’s still possible to identify great job candidates, even if the methods aren’t familiar. She recommends using social media and online job boards to post positions rather than community papers (while newspapers are an essential service, many have curtailed distribution) or sharing hiring needs at in-person commodity group meetings. Videoconferencing tools like Zoom and Skype have become part of the process this year, Wright says, serving as both interviewing and training tools. She recommends using e-mail for employment, benets and payroll documentation wherever possible. Videos and webinars are useful online training tools. She also recommends creating a standard structure when hiring multiple candidates for similar positions. This is important anytime, but especially so during COVID-19. “You want to be organized, you want questions that are well-thought out,” she says. “Asking the same questions of every candidate.” Online job search Loren and Corinne Taves of Taves Family Farm in Abbotsford typically employ both foreign and domestic workers for their production and retail operations, but this year has meant changes. Corinne oversees hiring and hasn’t encountered many challenges but the farm becomes more active in hiring as fall approaches. She uses online job-search and hiring sites like Indeed.com. “I have just put out Indeed ads and used their screening tests to decide who to hire,” she says. “Other than hiring a few less people, I don’t think it will be super-dierent here.” Given the obstacles to securing foreign workers this year, Loren would like to hire more local workers. But this can be equally challenging. “Canadians aren’t interested in the type of work agriculture oers,” he says. Wright says that shifting to local labour is important, but she understands the trials facing the Taves and other growers. “It’s not always easy for producers, but sometimes it’s necessary,” she says. “If you build a good reputation locally, that will also help you with your recruitment and retention.” No matter where labour is from, it remains the most signicant cost for growers. This is especially true on the retail side, where an attraction is open regardless of how many people feel comfortable walking through the gates. “I have less people coming through … but I still need close to the same number of people to be on site,” says Taves. This has forced him to raise prices, spreading the xed labour costs over a lower volume of sales. He will be at the gate during peak season to personally explain the higher costs to all customers. There are also the costs associated with personal protective equipment (PPE) and changes in the workplace. Wright says employers need to respect these at all stages of hiring Best practices must guide COVID-19 hiringProcedures are changing, but it’s still possible to hire great workersFOR BAGGED or BULK ORDERSDarren Jansen Owner604.794.3701organicfeeds@gmail.comwww.canadianorganicfeeds.comCertified by Pro-Cert Organic Systems Ltd.“Canadians aren’t interested in the type of work agriculture offers.” LOREN TAVES Taves Family FarmUSED EQUIPMENT N/H FP230 27P GRASS HEAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,500 FELLA TH800 6 BASKET TEDDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,500 CLAAS VOLTO 1050 8 BASKET TEDDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,500 FELLA TS1502 2012, HAY RAKE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,000 MF 1372T 2008, 13FT DISCBINE, METAL ROLLERS . . . . . . . . . . . 22,000 KV 9469S VARIO, 2014, RAKE… 1 OR 2 ROWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,500 USED TRACTORS KUBOTA T2380 2017, 48” DECK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,500 KUBOTA BX2360 2010, 1,900HRS, TRAC/MWR . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,750 KUB B2620 2009, TRAC/LDR, TURF TIRE, 600 HRS . . . . . . . . . . 14,500 CASE MAGNUM 225 CVT NEW ALO LOADER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170,000 DEUTZ TTV 6130.4 2014, 1,760 HRS, LDR, FRONT 3PT/PTO . . . . 97,000 NEW INVENTORY: KUBOTA RAKES • TEDDERS • MOWERS • POWER HARROWS . . . . CALL JBS VMEC1636 VERT. SPREADER, SAWDUST & SAND THROWERS, KUBOTA K-HAUL TRAILERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NOW IN STOCK CONSTRUCTION KUB SSV65, 2018, CAB, A/C, H-PATTERN,2 SPEED, 150 HRS . . . . 47,000 KUB KX033 2017, CAB, 2 BKTS, THUMB, 450 HRS . . . . . . . . . . 52,500 KUB SVL95-2SHFC 2018, CAB, 1,700HRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79,900 ISLAND TRACTOR & SUPPLY LTD. DUNCAN 1-888-795-1755 NORTH ISLAND TRACTOR COURTENAY 1-866-501-0801 Quality PreOwned Equipmentand employment. “There are federal, provincial and oftentimes regional guidelines as to what workers need to have as far as PPE goes,” she says. “Every employer should be looking to follow those guidelines.” YOURHelping YouWEEKLY FARM NEWS UPDATEScountrylifeinbc.comYOURHelping YouHelpingpingplinYoulHHping YoeWSfeinbc.com

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42 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCWhen we left off last month, Kenneth and Deborah had gone their separate ways when they arrived home from their vacation. Kenneth headed to the condo in Victoria alone, hopeful to meet up with Janice after convincing Deborah she would be better to self-isolate at the farm. Deborah didn’t put up much of a fight. Rural Redemption, Part 126, continues. Deborah pondered the news that someone who sound like Janice Newberry had left Kenneth a message that his office was closing until further notice. “Should I send a text and tell him?” asked Ashley. Deborah said not to bother because she was sure he was in touch with someone at his office already. Christopher returned from the barn and said that Lisa Lundgren’s mom said there was going to be a rule that everyone had to stay six feet away from everyone else. Ashley said you only had to stay away from strangers and if it was someone you were already close to, it didn’t count. Christopher said that wasn’t the way Lisa’s mom told it. Christopher was soon off to help Newt with some fencing and Ashley left to do barn chores at Fitzpatrick’s. Deborah and Susan were alone at opposite ends of the porch. “How did things go around here?” asked Deborah. “It was wonderful to spend time with Ashley and Christopher. We had some great conversations.” “About what?” “Oh, Chris told me all about cow’s stomachs and all about Lisa, and how pretty she is, and how smart she is, and how pretty she is, and how much he likes her, and wait until I see how nice she is, and she’s really pretty, too. Ashley told me all about Clay and how much she likes him and how she’s hoping their relationship will move to the next level.” Deborah’s jaw dropped. “What does she mean, next level?” “It’s okay,” said Susan. “She’s just hoping Clay will ask her to go steady.” “How can you be sure that’s what she meant?” “I asked her.” “Did she tell you anything else?” “Umm. Huh. She told me I was an absolute fox.” Deborah smiled. “Well, it sounds like you’ve had a lively time of it.” “Oh, that’s not the half of it, I’ve been asked out on a picnic, got flowers from a secret admirer, gone shopping for a sexy dress with my granddaughter, been stood up on a dinner date and rescued by a gallant diner, gone out for dinner with the neighbours who came and fixed your barn, and invited to live with a man I’ve only known for two weeks. I’ve had more excitement in the last two weeks than I’ve had in the last 10 years. “What about you? What was the highlight of your trip?” “Not nearly so exciting,” said Deborah. “It was the day Birdie Wissel and I went swimming with the pigs.” Deborah spent the next hour telling Susan about the vacation. She barely mentioned Kenneth and, coupled with the fact he’d gone to stay alone in the city, Susan started reading between the lines. She came straight to the point. “Are you two okay?” “Us?” said Deborah. “Us like we? I’m okay and Kenneth is okay, but WE are definitely not okay.” The conversation went on until mid afternoon. Newt sensed Susan’s turmoil when she returned. He asked if anything was wrong. Susan said only that she was tired and excused herself for an afternoon nap. Newt didn’t buy it. vvv Newt was awakened at 4:30 the next morning by the sound of Rocky whining softly and scratching at his bedroom door. Rocky slept under the coat rack by the back door in the mud room. If there was something up, he would stand guard at the door and alert the household and warn off unwelcome company with loud and persistent barking. Whining wasn’t in his nature. Newt opened the door and flipped on the hall light. “What’s up, boy?” he asked. Rocky’s tail wagged twice, and he turned and started down the hall. He stopped and looked back at Newt and whined again. “You want out? Okay, let’s go.” Newt followed Rocky to the back door. The water bowl was half full and there was still food in the dish. Nothing unusual. Rocky had started leaving some of his dinner for the morning more than a year ago. Newt opened the door and let Rocky onto the porch. His ears were pricked, and he stared intently into the darkness. Newt listened carefully for some sound of trouble in the hen house but there was nothing but a sigh of breeze. Rocky ‘s head lifted, and his tail started to wag as if he recognized a friend. “Anyone there?” called Newt. There was no reply, but Rocky gave another whine and walked into the night. Newt waited for five minutes and gave a couple of whistles but there was no sign of the old dog. Newt closed the door and left him to it. Rocky preferred to stand watch outside when he sensed trouble. He wasn’t back when Newt checked the porch at 6:30 but Rocky always made a tour of inspection first thing in the morning. Just after seven the phone rang. “Newt? It’s Deborah. Rocky is here, up by Tiny’s old workshop. I think you should come over.” Newt found Rocky lying at the shop door. He was still except for the hair along his back that lifted in the wind. Newt knelt beside him and rubbed a lifeless ear. “So, this is where you were off to. Was Tiny calling you? Is that who you could hear? You’ve been a good boy for a long time and I’m sure going to miss you, but I guess you and Tiny have been waiting long enough to see each other, heh?” Deborah had walked up from the house and stopped 20 feet from the shop. “Is he gone?” “He is,” said Newt. “Gone to be with Tiny, I’d bet. He was fussing at 4:30 this morning like he could hear something. He took off when I let him go and headed for here, I guess. He used to spend a lot of time up here with Tiny.” “Odd,” said Deborah. “Princess woke me up at 4:30, whining and scratching at the door, too.” “Not so odd maybe. Dogs can hear things we can’t. Why not Tiny? You once told me yourself you felt like he was right here with you in the shop.” Newt gave Rocky one last pat on the head and stood up. “Wonder if you would consider letting me bury him up here by the shop?” “Of course.” “Maybe you should see what Kenneth thinks about it first.” “To hell with Kenneth,” said Deborah. “You go ahead. Rocky has more right to be here than Kenneth has to say he can’t.” ... to be continued No place like home for Deborah and the dogsWoodshed Chronicles by BOB COLLINS2274 Loon Lake Roadt 2 bed/2 bath, 2116 sq.ftt-BLFGSPOUQBUJPEPDLt4UVOOJOHMBLFGSPOUWJFXTLoon Lake, BC $598,000Call/Txt Freddy 604.997.5398Loon Lake Waterfront Gem on 2.1 Acres882 S. Green Lake Roadr"DSFTRGU#ESNr"DSPTT3PBEGSPN-BLFrZS3FOFXFE(PW-FBTF.JMF)PVTF#$ Call/Txt Linda 604.997.53995401 Mitchell Bay Roadt"DSFTGU#FBDI tTRGU$VTUPN)PNFtCESNCBUI4BVOB)PSTFóZ#$Call/Txt Freddy 604.997.5398Waterfront Home on Acreage Quesnel LakeHarrison Mills River Front Acreage1510 & 1484 Kilby Roadt"DSFTLNSJWFSGSPOUt.JOT&BTUPG7BODPVWFSt1SJWBUFWJFXCVJMEJOHTJUFT)BSSJTPO.JMMT#$Call/Txt Linda 604.997.5399Green Lake EscapeRecreational Cabin2084 Marriot Street, Clintont0XOFS'JOBODJOH"WBJMBCMFt"DSF#VJMEJOH-PUT t1PXFS1IPOFBUMPUMJOF-PUT4UBSUJOHBUCall/Txt Freddy 604.997.53987465 Cariboo Chalet Road tCFECBUITRGUt1PXFS4FQUJD%SJMMFE8FMMt#BTFNFOU.FUBM3PPG*OUFSMBLFT#$ $309,00Call/Txt Linda 604.997.5399Waterfront Building Lots on Big Bar Lake 25 Acre Getaway Home at Deka LakeCall 604.491.1060www.theBestDealsinBC.comSelling BC’s Lifestyle Properties3agroup@sutton.com 23390 RIVER ROAD, MAPLE RIDGE, BC V2W 1B6 604/463-3681 | vanderwaleq.com VAN DER WAL EQUIPMENT (1989) LTD.IT’S THE MOST POWERFUL HEAVYWEIGHT IN ITS CLASS.The new Massey Ferguson® 6700 Series tractors are unlike any mid-range we’ve ever built. They’re engineered from the ground up, then tested in the harshest conditions around the world, for more power, versatility and long-lasting operation. But don’t just take our word for it, come demo the 6700 Series today.

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Former caregiver brings donkey therapy to IslandThey have a zen-like qualityElizabeth Trenholm’s donkeys are providing comfort to people in need, including children with ADHD or autism, and also to those dealing with the effects of PTSD. PHOTO / SEAN MCINTYRECOUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 43by SEAN MCINTYRE VICTORIA – Elizabeth Trenholm has always loved donkeys, but it wasn't until a recent move to Vancouver Island's Cowichan Valley that she was able to convert a quirky passion into a budding enterprise that is helping people in need. Coco and Winifred, miniature Mediterranean donkeys rescued from the BC mainland, arrived at Trenholm's rural Cobble Hill property on Boxing Day 2018. Right from the very beginning, she said, the pair bonded as though they were long-lost friends. Over the course of a year, Coco and Winnie grew comfortable in their new home and it became clear to Trenholm that she and her “girls” sought a renewed purpose in their new Cowichan Valley home. “My research taught me that donkeys are exceptional at providing therapeutic benets to those in need. They are very social creatures and have a knack for being sensitive to visitors and their emotional states. Therapy seemed like the perfect t,” Trenholm writes on her website [www.eponaswhisper. com]. “This innate ability in the donkeys, combined with my personal history as a caregiver, seemed like the perfect match, and our therapeutic donkey service was born.” Trenholm admits there were friends and family members who doubted her plan, but she persevered and Epona's Whisper was born. Today, in spite of the diculties of starting a business amidst a pandemic, she's seen interest and enthusiasm grow exponentially among clients across southern Vancouver Island. Though horses tend to hog much of the limelight when it comes to equine interventions for people suering from a myriad of physical and mental illnesses, donkeys are slowly and steadily establishing their presence in the eld. Donkey therapy programs have been held in England and France for decades, and similar programs have sprouted across the United States and Canada. As far as Trenholm is aware, she's one of the few people who oers the service in Western Canada. With a background that includes jobs as a veterinary technician, eldercare worker and dog-hiking adventures, Trenholm is no stranger to reinventing herself. Donkey therapy, she said, has given her the opportunity to realize her dream of caring for and owning donkeys while helping others. According to DonkeyWise USA, an online hub for “donkey fans everywhere,” interacting with donkeys has proven to have incredible therapeutic benets for people of all ages. The animals' calm demeanour and slow, steady presence oers a sense of security and comfort to those suering from emotional diculties. “Donkeys have a unique presence, a zen-like grounded quality,” said Caron Whaley, director of donkey assisted therapy with The Donkey Sanctuary, based. “We’re using their abilities as sentient facilitators and encouraging them to be an equal partner in the sessions.” Trenholm said many of her clients on Vancouver Island include mothers who bring children with ADHD or autism. There are also people who have been subjected to trauma and are dealing with the eects of PTSD. Others are folks who are just looking for an alternative form of therapy where they don't have to talk and can just be, she said. Trenholm noted that donkey therapy is a whole dierent beast from the horse-led programs. For one, she said, her clients don't ride the donkeys. Whereas horses have been bred over centuries to work alongside humans, donkeys have a somewhat more mulish temperament. “I've always found them funny. I think they're hilarious and very intriguing at the same time. With donkeys, you've got to go on donkey time, and you can't rush them at all,” Trenholm said. “There is no set agenda when you hang out with donkeys. You just have to let them do their thing.” Trenholm gives clients the opportunity to visit her property, located about 20 minutes south of Duncan, to spend time with Winnie and Coco. Some people enjoy just sitting with her donkeys while others prefer to go on short hikes through the surrounding forest. Trenholm has also acquired a trailer so she can take her donkeys on the road to visit clients at other locations. On a lighter note, she can also attend social functions and corporate events, where donkeys wear pack saddles with attractive baskets that contain gifts or beverages for guests while providing unique photographic opportunities. “As the donkeys would say,” Trenholm said, “'we are not just therapy animals, we are also party animals.'” Proudly offering quality farm equipment and wholesale farm product delivery across BC.Call, email or visit us onlineinfo@reimersfarmservice.com855.737.0110reimersfarmservice.comCheck out our Einbock Tillage Equipment For Organic FarmingTine Weeders t3PX$SPQ$VMUJWBUPSTr3PUBSZ)PFT $BNFSB(VJEBODF4ZTUFNAND On In StockAEROSTAR Tine WeedersDELTA Drain Tile Cleaner *NQSPWFT%SBJOBHFr$POEJUJPOT4PJMr&DPOPNJDBM 3FMJBCMFr-PX.BJOUFOBODFr4BGFBOE1SPWFOSPECIAL PRICING On In Stock

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SFU research associate Amir Niroumand has left city living and bought 40 acres in Agassiz that he’s turned into a community farm to teach urban dwellers more about growing, harvesting and eating the food they produce. PHOTO / RONDA PAYNECOUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 45Farm and Rural Residential Properties in the Peace Country are our specialtyAnne H. ClaytonMBA, AACI P App, RIAppraiserJudi LeemingBHE, AIC CandidateAppraiser250.782.1088info@aspengrovepropertyservices.caTally up your corn heat units and growing degree days on farmwest.com by RONDA PAYNE AGASSIZ – Tucked tight to the mountains near the Fraser River in Agassiz is a farm that invites Vancouverites to learn more about their food through participation and community. Abundance Community Farm is the 40-acre dream that began four years ago when Amir Niroumand sold his house in Vancouver and headed east. “Both [sets of] my grandparents had hobby farms in Iran. They were gathering places,” says Niroumand, a research associate in the chemistry department at SFU. Melanie Buel lives on the farm full-time and serves as key organizer of activities and connections for Abundance Community Farm. She also manages the business mentorship network for Young Agrarians. “We feed about 120 people a week and that doesn’t include anything that we donate,” she explains. The people are part of seven groups known as pods, with each pod including ve or six households within neighbourhoods of Vancouver and North Vancouver. The structure was developed to ensure the farm was maintained and crops were harvested in a timely fashion, something that didn’t happen the rst year. The farm community is a hybrid of a community supported agriculture program, a large backyard garden work party, camp sing-alongs and old-fashioned village meals. A member from each pod must come to the farm every week. Pod members work in the eld, take harvested produce back home and distribute it to others in their pod. Surplus food is donated to local food banks and other organizations. Pod members communicate with each other to ensure their obligations to the farm community and each other are being met. “They are our major labour force,” says Buel. “They live within ve or 10 minutes of each other so they also have community where they live. They even have potlucks together. The commitment is they each come a minimum of one time a month. People come out to spend the day.” The farm features a one-acre community garden, a 1.5-acre food forest (fruit and nuts), 12 acres of hay, chickens, vines, bushes and a pair of greenhouses. Rupert Adams grows a variety of plants for his business Kairos Botanicals, which leases space at the site. Biodiversity is key. “We grow about 90 dierent kinds of vegetables,” says Buel. Farming vs gardening Despite the small scale, she has felt the dierences between garden, farm and production farm. “Farming and gardening are dierent,” she says. “The scale is dierent. Though we’re not at the scale of a production farm, it’s a huge benet for people to see what it takes [to grow food on a larger scale].” This is where the help of the farm’s 120 community members comes into play. It would be challenging without them to farm the land and expand production. The diversity and small scale of production means tasks can’t be mechanized, and it doesn’t generate enough cash to support equipment purchases, anyway. Niroumand bankrolls the operation personally. “This style of farming is not protable,” he says. “I pay for everything. Down the road the vision is education [around farming and food sustainability]. There are many dierent opportunities for education.” Various buildings provide opportunities for education space, kids’ activities, processing and packaging produce and rest. It can get hot in the middle of the farm on a blazing summer day. While farming to feed a community is the goal, Niroumand believes that building the community comes rst. People who value community and creating sustainable food systems will develop long-term farming operations because they’re drawn together around a common goal. “There’s a lot of community development focus here,” says Buel. The next generation is part of the action, too. “We have a very diverse community,” adds Niroumand. “More kids come because of the activities.” Community members share their talents with the group, be it music, art or storytelling. There’s also a trampoline for the kids and the activities help educate them about the importance of eating in season, planting seeds, harvesting, and more. The kids have painted rocks to mark the various crop rows, weeded and run amok in the elds. The future will see expansion into perennial crops, perhaps another greenhouse and more spaces for growing new items. As Buel explains, each year is dierent with new things to learn, no matter the age of the community member. Building community, building a futureAgassiz farm teaches all ages about farming and togetherness

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46 | SEPTEMBER 2020 COUNTRY LIFE IN BCStuffed peppers are good enough for a meal, but make an impressive appie as well. PHOTO / JUDIE STEEVESAdd some pizzazz to the tableThese taste like a special dessert and yet they’re pretty easy to make. Get the kids to give you a hand. They love to play with pastry. 1 1/2 c. (375 ml) pastry our 1 tbsp. (15 ml) baking powder 1/2 tsp. (2 ml) salt 1/3 c. (75 ml) butter 1/2 c. (125 ml) milk 6 good-sized peaches sprinkle of cinnamon 6 tbsp. (90 ml) sugar, or so 6 pats of butter, plus whipped cream • Pre-heat oven to 450°F. • Sift together the our, baking powder and salt. Rub in the butter and then add enough milk to make a soft dough. • On a lightly oured board, roll out the dough to about an eighth-inch thick. • Divide dough into six equal parts and put a skinned peach in the middle of each. Sprinkle with a spoonful of sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon each and add a pat of butter on top of each peach. • Moisten the edges of the dough and fold up over the top of the peach, pressing tightly to seal. • Place in a greased baking dish and sprinkle a little more sugar over each and then add a bit of butter to the top of each. • Put in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350° F for a further 20 minutes. • Top with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired. Serves 6. MOM’S PEACH DUMPLINGSHarvest coloursMAIL TO 36 Dale Road Enderby, BC V0E 1V4 subscriptions@countrylifeinbc.com Don’t miss a single issue of Country Life in BC!CREDIT CARD # _____________________________________ EXP _______CVV________oNEW oRENEWAL | oONE YEAR ($18.90) oTWO YEARS ($33.60) oTHREE YEARS ($37.80) Name Address City Postal Code Phone Email SUBSCRIBE NOW!These make a delightful presentation for guests and are simple to make but are great eating. Use a combination of dierent coloured sweet peppers to stu with lean ground beef and tomatoes. You can spice this up a bit with the addition of hot sauce or a chilli spice mixture to the lling. 8 colourful sweet peppers 1 onion 2 cloves garlic 8-10 mushrooms 1 lb. (454 g) lean ground beef 1 tin tomato paste 1 tin crushed tomatoes 2 tsp. (10 ml) fresh rosemary 2 tsp. (10 ml) fresh oregano 1 tsp. (5 ml) fresh thyme salt and pepper, to taste 1 c. (250 ml) shredded cheddar or Mozzarella • Heat oven to 350° F. • Carefully cut the top o each pepper and set it aside to garnish the cooked peppers with when serving. • Remove seeds and ribs from inside each pepper and compost them. • Chop an onion; mince garlic cloves and chop mushrooms into small dice. • In a deep frypan, heat a dab of butter and soften the onions over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook and stir until they are also soft. Push to the side and add ground beef, cooking until it’s brown and then mixing in the onion mixture and adding the remaining ingredients except the cheeses. You could nely chop up a few garden-fresh tomatoes instead of the tin at this time of year. • Carefully ll each pepper shell with the meat mixture, then top with grated mozzarella or cheddar or a combination of cheeses. • Place on a baking sheet or pan and roast for about 25 minutes or until the tops are brown and bubbly. Garnish with the pepper caps and their handles. • Serves four for dinner, eight as an appetizer EM’S ROASTED, STUFFED PEPPERSAutumn is a beautiful time of year, not only due to the brilliant displays of leaves changing colour, but also to the beauty of all those lush fruits and vegetables that ll the harvest basket as the growing season reaches a crescendo. To farmers and growers of all kinds, to home cooks and chefs, to you and me who enjoy looking at colourful meals before we dig in, September is a delicious month. It’s full of the satisfaction of a season of growing good things, harvesting the crop, presenting it to an admiring customer, and preparing it for loved ones and customers with appreciation for all that was involved in its production. As so many vegetables grow beyond the cute, mini stage at this time of year, remember that they make attractive cases to stu with meats or cheeses, more vegetables, or with a rice and vegetable mixture, along with fragrant local herbs. Zucchini makes a classic stung case, but tomatoes are a good bet as well and so are peppers, especially if you include all the many bright colours they come in. Those colours and the attractive and edible cases or holders for the meal add plenty of seasonal pizzazz to the table. For the ultimate table topper, make your fruit or vegetable container by hollowing out a watermelon, carving a handle out of the top of the rind, and lling it with cubes of watermelon and other seasonal fruits and a drizzle of citrus juice or liqueur. It looks outstanding and tastes pretty good, too. Use smaller produce as appetizer or dessert holders: stu smaller peppers to make a pretty picture on a plate; or cherry tomatoes with the top removed for a bite of cheese and herbs, either broiled or uncooked; or whole slices of cucumber or zuke as the base for cheese and pesto, shrimp or salmon. You can also grill apricot, nectarine, peach or plum halves until they have lovely caramelized surfaces and bold grill marks, then top them with cream cheese, goat cheese, plain yogurt or sour cream. Add a few roasted nuts and a drizzle of maple syrup for a simple but delicious dessert. For a ashy nale, top with a few bold blueberries, raspberries or strawberries. Not only will you knock out your guests with the presentation, but the avours really pop as well. And, you don’t need to tell anyone it’s better for them than pu pastry or a cookie crust. Above all, enjoy the bounty of autumn’s harvest and stay safe and healthy. Jude’s Kitchen JUDIE STEEVES

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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC SEPTEMBER 2020 | 47TRACTORS/EQUIPMENTLIVESTOCKLIVESTOCKTRACTORS/EQUIPMENTFOR SALECOURTENAY HEREFORDS. Cattle for Sale: yearling bulls and bred heifers. John 250/334-3252 or Johnny 250-218-2537.CONEYGEERS BLOODLINES A few yearling rams left - call before they are gone. 250-722-1882. NanaimoToll Free 1-888-357-0011 www.ultra-kelp.comREGISTRATION NO. 990134 FEEDS ACT EXCELLENT RESULTS FOR 35 YEARS! FLACK’S BAKERVIEW KELP PRODUCTS INC Pritchard, BC (est. 1985)HAYSEEDBILL AWMACK1-888-770-7333PYESTERDAY’S TRADITION - TODAY’S TECHNOLOGYMANAGERS Phil Brown 250-293-6857 Catherine Brown 250-293-6858 ccr.princeton@gmail.com www.coppercreekranch.com PRINCETON, BC Raising registered polled & horned Herefords & F1s. BREEDING BULLS FOR SALE. Call DON GILOWSKI 250-260-0828 Royal LePage Downtown Realty Ltd INTERESTED IN BUYING OR SELLING OKANAGAN FARM, RANCH OR ACREAGE? YOUR GO-TO PLACE FOR • Small square bales of horse HAY & STRAW • Distillery WHEAT & RYE EGBERT SCHUTTER 403-393-2418 e.h.schutter@gmail.comDISCOVER PRINCE GEORGE 10070 MCBRIDE TIMBER RD. An outstanding agricultural 445 acre property enjoys a pastoral private setting & lovely views of moun-tains to the east. This attractive home was extensively renovated in 1998 plus some recent updates. NEARLY 500 ACRES of excellent farmland. Stunning views. Only 800 m from Tachick Lake. $1,190,900 WHAT A DELIGHT! Expansive ranch home with exquisite views. Ideal horse property w/private spring fed lake. The home beams with an abundance of natural daylight. Just over 3,000 sqft over 3 levels. 128 acres. $699,900 NEARLY 500 ACRES of prime farm land on Fraser River, almost all in cultivation. 5 bed/3 bath home, outbuildings. Turn-key cattle ranch and/or prosperous haying enterprise. MLS®R2163561 $1,400,000 CASH FLOW! 5 homes on one peaceful 4.4 acre lot. All houses have been renovated. Completely turnkey. RANCHERS & DAIRY FARMERS: 637 acres, 2 residences, 6 mas-sive outbuildings, 15 km from downtown PG. MLS C8030418 $3,330,000 150+ ACRES Turn-key horse breeding ranch, 2,900 sq ft log home, fenced/cross-fenced. MLS R2441103, $1,720,000 STATELY CHARM on 11 acres. 5 bed/3.5 bath.Barn and plenty of room for horses. MLS®R2379161 $699,900 2 ACRE BUILDING LOT, PG, MLS R2446743, $79,900 55 ACRES Development potential close to airport. MLS R2435958, $599,900 112.02 ACRES IN CITY LIMITS. Potential for development. MLS R2435725. $1,300,000 271 LEVEL ACRES Not in the ALR. Residential/commercial rezoning potential. Fertile soil, MLS C8027179. Carrie Nicholson PREC* 250-614-6766 Looking for an organic mineral supplement? Balanced and natural, kelp is a great supplement for horses, cattle, sheep and goats AND its organic! $60 for 25lbs. To order call: (250)-838-6684 Located in Enderby, B.C. FOR SALEBERRIESDeBOER’S USED TRACTORS & EQUIPMENT GRINDROD, BCIHC 474 DIESEL TRACTOR W/LDR 7,950 JD 7200 4WD, CAB, LDR 45,000 JD 2750 MFWD, CAB, LDR SOLD! JD7600 MFWD 45,000 JD 6300 MFWD, CAB, LDR 47,000 JD 230 24’ DBL FOLD DISK 16,500 ED DEBOER 250/838-7362 cell 250/833-6699 CURT DEBOER 250/838-9612 cell 250/804-61472015 INTERNATIONAL TERRASTAR 4WD w/sleeper, 17ft. custom-built deck with hydraulic lift gate, like new in and out with only 16,000 km. $63,500; 2012 business class FREIGHTLINER M2 106 24ft flatbed truck with Cummins diesel, 6 speed standard trans. Many unique features. 240,000 miles. Looks/runs great, recent service, $35,500; Antique CASE-O-MATIC 830 farm tractor, runs like new, looks great, 60 HP $3,800; ROCK PICKER former potato harvester but works great removing rocks. Rugged machine w/large catch box. Ugly but works beautifully. $2,500. SUMMERS rock picker, just like new, hardly used, $8,500. 400 liter MX7 JOHN DEERE finishing mower used only one season, $3,800; FRONTIER RT1207 large tiller just like new, $4,500. 12’ MF DISC HARROW $2,500 Carl, 604-825-9108USED & NEW SHIPPING CONTAINERS Perfect for any storage needs. www.coastcontainers.ca 866-761-2444 IRRIGATIONIrrigation Design New and Used Equipmentpiperpivotsr pumps r power units traveling gun / hose reels250.319.3044beyedynamic@gmail.comEQUIPMENT DISPERSAL • 2017 KUBOTA M6 -141 4WD LH rev, cab, air, stereo, 24sp Powershift, 126 PTO HP, 540/1000 PTO, 2 sets remotes, radials 12 weights front-cast centers, rear. Loaded, as new, 597 hours. Warranty till May 2023. $76,500 • KATO-LIGHT 60 kw PTO generator on wheels, 3 phase or 120/240 volts, excellent, $2,800. • GOODYEAR 28L-26 12-ply good used diamond tread manure tank tire. $1,250. • 1988 FORD 7710 2WD, 4172 hours, cab, air cond., stereo, 12 speed with high low power shift, 87 hp, two sets remotes. Engine rebuilt. Very nice original tractor. $28,500 • NEW HOLLAND 824 2 row corn head $1,250 20 ft • HAY WAGON, aircraft tires, heavy duty, $1,500 TONY 604-850-4718Top DORPER LAMB rams; ready to go beginning of August. 74 Mile House Ranch, 250-706-7077Reg. breeding pair of BELGIAM MALINOIS DOGS. Best of the best. European bloodlines. Reg., vaccintaed, micro-chipped. Some canine exp necessary. 250-333-8862. weldonbay@gmail.comFor Tissue Culture Derived Plants of New Varieties of Haskaps, Raspberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, Saskatoon Berries and Sour Cherries, Please Contact:DISEASE FREE PLANTING STOCK OF NEW BERRY CROPS 4290 Wallace Hill Road, Kelowna, BC, V1W 4B6info@agriforestbiotech.com250.764.2224www.agriforestbiotech.com HAYLAGE EXCELLENT QUALITY HAYLAGE 950-1100 LB BALES Delivery available on Vancouver Island and along the Trans Canada Hwy corridor in BC. Reasonable prices. 250-727-1966200 ACRES CLASS 2 LAND MINUTES TO PRINCE GEORGE 90 acres cleared; Livestock & horticulture potential; Excellent water supply; Well-maintained 3-bedroom ranch home. MLS # R2443138 Kristin Houghtaling Royal LePage Aspire Realty 250-640-1950 NEW POLYETHYLENE TANKS of all shapes & sizes for septic and water storage. Ideal for irrigation, hydroponics, washdown, lazy wells, rain water, truck box, fertizilizer mixing & spraying. Call 1-800-661-4473 for closest distributor. Manufactured in Delta by Premier Plastics Inc. premierplastics.com. REAL ESTATEGUARDIAN DOGSLEYLAND TRACTOR $3,000; M/F 130 $1,200; front end loader fits M/F 135. Prune plums, pick your own $1/pound. Westbank. 250-768-9083Feeders & Panels that maintain their value!ROUND BALE FEEDERS BIG SQUARE BALE FEEDERS FENCE PANELS CATTLE & HORSE FEEDERSHeavy duty oil field pipe bale feeders. Feed savers, single round bale feeders outside measurement is 8’x8.5.’ Double round bale feeder measurement is 15’x8’. Silage bunk feeders. For product pictures, check out Double Delichte Stables on Facebook Dan 250/308-9218 ColdstreamLOVELY MOORIT (brown) large bodied yearling Icelandic ram for sale. Proven producer, we are very happy with this springs lambs. Excellent fleece. 250-888-4428 QUALITY PUREBRED REGISTERED RED ANGUS CATTLE Bred cows; Early spring calves, Herd sire, 2 yr & long yearling bulls 250-483-1283FARM / INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT • NEW HOLLAND 8 row Hyd fold corn head for a Self Propelled Harvester $12,500. • CATERPILLAR 215 excavator; Mechanical thumb, Caged all-around Protection, $22,000 • CATERPILLAR V20 forklift. Triple Mast High Lift on Propane. Excellent condition. $6,800 • BIG HYSTER FORKLIFT High Lift Lumber Style, 8 ft tines extensions on propane. $5,500 • 3PH HYSTER FORK LIFT Heavy Duty attachment. $,2200. Other fork-lifts and attachments. • FORD NH by-directional Attach-ments; Fork-Lift $3500, loader silage forks/grapple $1,000 • ROAD SANDER Dump or deck mount, self contained power unit, medium size. $2,200 • BIG ROAD SANDER S/A Semi Trailer with liquid additive applicator, S/C. Power, X. VGR Airport, mint condition. $12,500 • FORD 4610 Tractor, 60HP, Narrow and low profile 2WD, Nice Cond, $10,500 • FORD 1816 UNI-LOADER; small gas powered with grip tires, good condition, $4,500 • GALLION CRANE All Terran 4X4, IH diesel, extension boom with cable winch. $4,750 • AIR COMPRESSORS Various electric shop and portable diesel trailer style. $750 to $5,500 • BAND SAW for metal, used little, $750. • SHOP WELDERS $250 and up. • BELT CONVEYOR gravel/soil HD in-dustrial 50’x3’ electric on wheels. $7,500 • SCREENER Double Deck separator, belt driven, has been used for wood chip. $2,500 • LOADER ASSEMBLIES: FORD/NH 8360, CASE 56L, IH Ind, Allied 784, Tiger, etc. Call for details. • EXCAVATOR RIST A TWIST 50” cleaning bucket, NEW! $2,600. Many other buckets, call for details. • NEW SKID-STEER Brush cutter $3,200; Bale Spear $550, Pallet Forks $950, Also used pieces. Call Jim for hard to nd items Abbotsford at 604-852-6148 ZcXjj`Ô\[j7Zflekipc`]\`eYZ%ZfdfiZXcc1-'+%*)/%*/(+C@E<8;J1),nfi[jfic\jj#d`e`dld(*gclj>JK#\XZ_X[[`k`feXcnfi[`j%),;@JGC8P8;J1),gclj>JKg\iZfclde`eZ_M[WYY[fjcW`ehYh[Z_jYWhZi$8l^ljk@jjl\;\X[c`e\1Alcp)+#)')' OCTOBER issue deadline September 18

SEPTEMBER 2020

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