(Vancouver) After the scorching heat of last summer and fall flooding, BC farmers face another formidable adversary: extreme cold.
The temperature dropped to -16 ℃ in the Fraser Valley, an area best known for its temperate climate. Pipes or manure management systems on many farms froze, equipment broke. Farmers could no longer rely on their labor.
“Which chapter of Revelation are we playing in today? Says a farmer, Richard Bosna.
Mr Bosna does not want to sound like a complainer, pointing out that farmers are not the only ones affected by the cold.
“We have to clench our fists to make sure we do the basic work every day,” he adds.
Environment Canada launched an alert in mid-December to warn of an extreme cold snap in southern British Columbia that would continue until the start of the year. And farmers risk falling from Charybdis to Scylla, as another snowstorm looms on the horizon.
Premier John Horgan acknowledged that the year “has been exceptionally difficult” in his New Year’s greetings.
“For many, the year 2021 will be the year when climate change has knocked on the door. In British Columbia, we have faced record droughts, heat waves, forest fires, floods and landslides, ”he said.
PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER, REUTERS ARCHIVES
The floods had hit farmers and their animals hard, as this photo from last November shows.
According to BC Agriculture Council President Stan Vander Waal, the recent cold has not affected farms equally, depending on the insulation systems or whether the cattle live in the barn or outside. He recalled, however, that the cold was a factor in increased expenditure for heating and feeding the animals.
Farms damaged by flooding in Abbotsford could suffer from the cold due to mold in structures, he adds.
Vander Wall predicts that many farmers will consider stepping up their protection against climate change.
“When you review the year, you see that we have lived through extremes that no one remembers having ever gone through,” he says. When you’ve experienced this once or twice, you start to develop a strategy. ”
Third generation farmer Gagan Khakh’s farm has seen its facilities in Abbotsford heavily damaged by flooding. He considered himself lucky that he could count on other fields in Chilliwack to grow Brussels sprouts, but the onset of cold weather put an end to it all.
“It’s heartbreaking! We were penalized twice, ”says Mr. Khakh. According to him, if people are serious about supporting the farmers in the province, they can buy local products when possible.
He hopes 2022 will be a quieter year.
“We hope for a year when things will return to normal, a year when it will rain normally, where it will not be too cold too quickly. ”