Universal Ostrich Farms was originally charged with the penalty for failing to follow quarantine requirements under the Health of Animals Regulations.

The fine was upheld by the Canada Agriculture Review Tribunal in December but overturned Feb. 6 due to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) failure to properly deliver the quarantine notice in person.

Universal Ostrich Farms was at the centre of a months-long conflict between government agents and protesters, after positive H5N1 tests resulted in a CFIA cull order of the flock of more than 300 birds.

According to the Feb. 6 tribunal decision, which Universal Ostrich Farms posted to social media, the farm challenged the fine “on a procedural basis by asserting they were not properly served with the quarantine notice that they have been penalized for breaching.”

It called the CIA’s failure to personally deliver the order “fatal to its case” and said the agency did not prove any exceptional circumstances justifying it.

In a post to the Universal Ostrich Farms Facebook group, Katie Pasitney, daughter of the farm’s owners who has also been at the forefront of the cause, said the farm “welcomes the clarity provided by the Tribunal and hopes the decision contributes to improved transparency, consistency, and confidence in regulatory processes across Canada’s agricultural sector.”

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“After consulting with experts experienced in managing ostrich disease outbreaks, the CFIA concluded that the most appropriate and humane option was to use professional marksmen in a controlled on-farm setting,” the agency said in a statement.

The cull was completed under CFIA supervision and was consistent with Canadian Veterinary Medical Association recommendations, the CFIA said.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced Thursday it would move forward with depopulating over 300 birds at Universal Ostrich Farms, near Edgewood, about 120 km northwest of Castlegar.

Flock depopulation is considered standard procedure when a flock of farmed birds tests positive for avian influenza.

The farm has been in an ongoing standoff with the CFIA since last winter, when a cull order was given after two dead birds tested positive for highly-pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

The farmers argued that the flock could provide research opportunities for disease management. The CFIA said it has not provided evidence of on-farm research.

Some media outlets, such as Politico, have reported the farm collaborated with researchers from Boston and Japan on antibody research.

Universal Ostrich Farms has drawn crowds of supporters ever since the initial order. The farm’s legal battle drew attention from public figures in the U.S., including Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Updated Nov. 13. Added more information about farm’s research associations.

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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced Thursday it would move forward with depopulating over 300 birds at Universal Ostrich Farms, near Edgewood, about 120 km northwest of Castlegar.

The farm has been in an ongoing standoff with the CFIA since last winter, when a cull order was given after two dead birds tested positive for highly-pathogenic avian influenza (HAPI).

The farm has already made several attempts at stopping the CFIA order, including an appeal denied in August. The stamping-out procedure is standard practice for infected flocks.

“The CFIA has respected all orders and decisions of the courts throughout the legal process and expects the ostrich farm owners and supporters to do the same now that the Supreme Court of Canada has issued its judgment,” the CFIA said via a Thursday written release.

It also reminded the public any obstruction of the process of officers performing their duties would be an offence. Universal Ostrich Farms has drawn crowds of protestors ever since the initial order.

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The Supreme Court issued an order Wednesday granting an “interim-interim stay” of a culling order made on Dec. 31.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency late last year ordered about 400 ostriches to be killed. Since then the Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, British Columbia, has fought the order. They lost multiple lower court rulings but won some powerful supporters in the U.S. who have launched a campaign to stop the cull.

Why it matters: Experts have called the ostriches a risk to animal and human health.

In their motion for a stay co-owners Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski included an affidavit from a University of British Columbia professor arguing the ostriches have immunity to avian flu.

Mehmet Oz, U.S. administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, offered in August to house the birds to study them. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has also argued against the cull.

The culling had been scheduled for later on Wednesday, the farm’s lawyer Umar Sheikh told Reuters.

He said he was “obviously very, very happy” with the order but emphasized this is “a very uphill battle” and “this is just a very short, temporary breather.”

A severe bird flu outbreak in recent years resulted in millions of chickens, turkeys and other birds being killed in the United States to contain the spread of bird flu, which can infect humans and is fatal in poultry. The cullings contributed to egg prices at U.S. grocery stores climbing to a record high. Smaller commercial poultry flocks have been eliminated in Canada.

The farm, whose owners say they specialize in studying ostrich antibodies, had argued culling the birds would cause “irreparable harm” and “permanently destroy unique genetics and a specialized research‑based business.”

The ostriches’ reprieve could be short-lived as the court has yet to determine the ostriches’ fate.

Now the food inspection agency maintains custody of the birds and has until Oct. 3 to file its reply to the farm’s application to the Supreme Court. The court will deal with the case on an expedited basis, it said in the ruling granting the stay.

— Additional reporting by Ed White in Winnipeg

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Following a meeting of federal, provincial and territorial governments last week, Agriculture Canada announced the compensation rate would increase from 80 to 90 per cent, the compensation cap would be doubled from $3 million to $6 million and interest-free payments to farmers would be advanced for up to 75 per cent of their expected final claim.

The changes are a result of increased strains on producers such as international trade concerns and extreme weather damages from flooding and wildfires, according to the federal government.

Agriculture minister Heath MacDonald said the federal and provincial governments “agreed to make changes to AgriStability so that producers facing trade uncertainty and dry conditions have more protection” after last week’s meeting.

“The improvements take into account the practical considerations that producers must apply to their operations as they respond to market and environmental challenges,” B.C. Agriculture Council president Jennifer Woike said.

The AgriStability program is meant to protect Canadian farmers from large drops in income from external factors. Farmers in B.C. have until July 31, to enrol for the 2025 program year.

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Lana Popham was named Monday as minister of agriculture by returning Premier David Eby, following the New Democrats’ whisker-thin return to majority government in the Oct. 19 election.

A co-founder of Vancouver Island organic vineyard Barking Dog Vineyard and former president of the Vancouver Island Grape Growers Association, Popham has been the MLA for Saanich South since 2009.

Before entering politics she also served as chair of the certification committee for the Islands Organic Producers Association, and a member of the province’s Investment Agriculture Board.

While on the opposition benches, she served as critic for agriculture and later for tourism, then served as the NDP’s ag minister from 2017 to 2022, before being shuffled to the tourism, arts, culture and sport portfolio. On Monday she was also named as vice-chair of the legislature’s environment and land use committee.

Eby’s incumbent ag minister, Pam Alexis, lost her seat in last month’s election while Popham defeated Conservative challenger Adam Kubel by a spread of 5,335 votes.

After days of official counting and recounts, the election saw Eby’s NDP hang onto majority status with 47 of 93 seats, while John Rustad’s Conservatives won 44 and the Green Party two.

Eby on Monday also announced Harwinder Sandhu, the MLA since 2020 for what’s now Vernon-Lumby, as Popham’s parliamentary secretary for agriculture.

Sandhu, who before the election was parliamentary secretary for seniors’ services and long-term care, is a registered nurse by profession; her biography notes she comes from a farm family and has lived in rural communities across the province.

Among other cabinet appointments Monday of interest to farmers, Randene Neill was named minister for water, land and resource stewardship; Kelly Greene, minister for emergency management and climate readiness; Tamara Davidson, minister of environment and parks; and Rick Glumac, minister of state for trade.

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Alexis, the minister of agriculture and food for David Eby’s New Democrats since late 2022, was defeated in her constituency of Abbotsford-Mission in Saturday night’s election by Conservative challenger Reann Gasper, by a spread of almost 2,700 votes.

If the initial vote count holds, Eby’s NDP will be in a minority government position with just 46 of 93 seats, while John Rustad’s Conservatives captured 45 and Sonia Furstenau’s Greens won two. (Furstenau also lost her own seat, in the riding of Victoria-Beacon Hill.)

Elections BC said Sunday it will conduct a final count from Oct. 26 to 28, at which time official recounts will also take place for two ridings (Juan de Fuca-Malahat and Surrey City Centre) where the spread between the top two candidates in the initial count was smaller than 100 votes.

Alexis, a former mayor (2018-2020) for the Fraser Valley city of Mission, was a rookie MLA when she was named to cabinet in 2022, as Eby replaced John Horgan in the premier’s chair.

As ag minister she replaced Saanich South MLA Lana Popham, who’d handled the ag file since the NDP regained government in 2017.

Popham, who was Eby’s incumbent minister for tourism, arts, culture and sport heading into Saturday’s election, held her seat by a spread of almost 4,900 votes over Conservative challenger Adam Kubel.

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Assuming food grown in the region is first sold and consumed there, the Okanagan is 38 per cent self-sufficient, said researcher Kent Mullinix.

Local food consumption isn’t prioritized in the area, so actual self-reliance is maybe half that, he said.

Regions don’t need to be self-reliant to feed residents. However, researchers from the Institute of Sustainable Food Systems at Kwantlen Polytechnic University have demonstrated that regional food systems would provide significant economic benefits while operating alongside the current transnational food system.

Mullinix presented some of that research during a March 20 webinar hosted by the Canadian Agricultural Policy Institute.

Mullinix and colleagues divided B.C. into seven ‘bioregions’ based on topography, plant and animal life, and culture. They then used data like the 2016 census of agriculture to model several different food system scenarios—e.g. status quo, increased population, reduced land base due to urban encroachment, dietary changes, etc.

Assuming an average Canadian diet, the Okanagan can currently produce 88 per cent of its dairy needs, Mullinix and colleagues wrote in a report on the study. It can produce 60 per cent of its poultry needs, 34 per cent of its fruit needs (due to fruits eaten that can’t be grown in the region, or are eaten out of season), and small amounts of other food groups like grains, red meat, eggs and oils.

Tree fruit and wine production is, meanwhile, very export-based and brings a lot of revenue to the region, Mullinix said.

Researchers found that if agricultural land use was optimized to produce food for the region, self-reliance could nearly double. If the wine grape and tree fruit sectors kept up exports as usual, 66 per cent reliance could be achieved.

If even more land was brought into production, researchers suggested 74 per cent self-sufficiency could be achieved while maintaining exports.

In all instances, economic benefits like income, GDP, jobs, and tax revenue “are consistently improved,” Mullinix said.

Modelling showed maximum economic benefits by building out a regional food system while maintaining the export sector. This scenario resulted in $217 million in GDP, up from $134 million produced in 2016. It added $11 million in tax revenue to the region.

“There’s room for both,” Mullinix said.

Modeling for the southwest B.C. bioregion, which includes metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, and sections north of Vancouver, saw similar economic outcomes from regionalization.

Mullinix said that eating more regionally produced food would make for a more resilient food system.

However, it would require a thriving post-production sector, “which doesn’t exist.”

He suggested regional food systems also could not exist without eliminating monopolies and oligopolies.

The report also acknowledged that regional food doesn’t inherently reduce environmental impacts. For example, the only scenarios that reduced food system emissions were either losing productive farmland or changing consumer diets to reduce consumption of meat and animal products.

However, regionalized food production brings those emissions “home,” the report said, increasing “our capacity to mitigate them through locally developed policies and best practices.”

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The feds on Friday announced their 60 per cent, or $219 million, share of AgriRecovery program funding for the three westernmost provinces.

“I’ve had the opportunity to meet with farmers and producers from across Western Canada and they’ve shared just how challenging this growing season has been for their operations,” federal Ag Minister Lawrence MacAulay said in a release.

Program details are still being worked out, the Alberta government said, but its federal-provincial program will see livestock producers with grazing animals able to apply for financial support to cover losses incurred in managing and maintaining breeding herds. Eligible producers could access up to $150 per head for breeding animals, the province said.

In Saskatchewan, the program will cover 70 per cent of extraordinary costs related to feed and freight incurred after May 1, 2023 through to the application deadline of March 1, 2024 with initial payments of up to $150 per head to eligible producers to help maintain the breeding herd in the drought regions, with additional payments to be based on availability of funding. The province had already committed up to $70 million toward its share of AgriRecovery funds.

In B.C., farmers will be able to seek up to 70 per cent support for transportation costs to move livestock to feed and water through the recovery period, and for feed testing for additionally purchased forage, plus support of up to $160 per animal for “extraordinary replacement costs” where breeding herds were downsized.

In areas of B.C. where Crown range or pasture were lost due to wildfire, supports will also be offered for alternative grazing requirements, with up to $80 per head to re-establish safe winter-feeding facilities and general cleanup; and up to 70 per cent of extraordinary wildfire-related costs for veterinary services, mustering of livestock, mortality of breeding animals, uninsurable irrigation and infrastructure repairs, labour costs to repair private fences; and reseeding and re-establishing tame forage.

Also, up to 70 per cent of the extraordinary costs will also be covered for B.C. beekeepers and honey producers to replace lost colonies, apiaries and equipment, the province said.

More details to come.

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Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay on Monday announced an initial list of designated regions for the provision for the 2023 tax year, including major chunks of Alberta and British Columbia and much of western Saskatchewan and south-central Manitoba.

The list so far includes 96 municipalities and other jurisdictions in Saskatchewan, 62 in B.C., 56 in Alberta and 19 in Manitoba.

A preliminary list of prescribed drought and flood regions for a given tax year is usually ready in the early fall of that year, the government said, so making these designations earlier “helps provide assurance for producers as they make difficult herd management decisions.”

As usual, the government said it will continue to monitor conditions across the country and will add other regions throughout the year “if they meet the criteria.” The full list for a given tax year is usually set out in December, when forage yield data for the year are finalized.

Criteria for the deferral include forage yields of less than 50 per cent of the long-term average, whether caused by drought or excess moisture. Eligible regions are identified based on weather, climate and production data, in consultation with industry and provinces.

In areas designated for deferral in a given tax year, eligible producers who had to cull breeding herds by at least 15 per cent may defer part of the income from those sales until their next non-designated tax year.

If the herd is cut by at least 15 per cent — but by less than 30 per cent — then 30 per cent of income from net sales can be deferred.

Where a producer reduces a breeding herd by 30 per cent or more, 90 per cent of income from net sales can be deferred.

Thus, in the 2024 tax year — or in the next tax year in which the designation is lifted off a specific municipality — the deferred taxable income from those sales can be at least partially offset by the cost of reacquiring breeding animals, which works out to a reduced tax burden connected to the original sale.

The government said Monday it “recognizes the significant challenges livestock producers in Western Canada are facing due to exceptionally dry conditions. Compounded by subsequent years of drought, pastures and forage production are significantly impacted, leading to low feed supplies for livestock.”

“My heart goes out to farmers and ranchers who are affected by these extreme weather conditions,” MacAulay said in Monday’s release. Along with the deferral provision, he said, “we have also enhanced support available under (business risk management) programs and we will continue to work closely with provinces to get producers the additional support they need as quickly as possible.”

For example, the government said, it’s “worked quickly” with the B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan governments on joint AgriRecovery assessments and work is “urgently progressing” to finalize the AgriRecovery process, as well as to sort out any additional supports required to cover producers’ “extraordinary costs.”

As for other supports already in place, the federal government said Monday it has already cleared requests from B.C. and Alberta for late participation in AgriStability, as well as requests from B.C. and Saskatchewan to increase the interim payment rate under AgriStability to 75 per cent, up from 50.

MacAulay also noted one-year adjustments to federal-provincial AgriInsurance programs to make more drought-damaged crops available for feed in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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