By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup for Thursday November 18, 2021

Nov 18, 2021 | 10:13 AM

MELFORT, Sask. – Thousands of farm animals in British Columbia have died in what officials are calling an agricultural disaster.

The Chicken Farmers of Canada said dozens of farms under evacuation orders in the Fraser Valley region are poultry farms.

The B.C. Dairy Association said it’s unclear how many milking cows have died because of the floods. The industry is still reeling from a disastrous summer.

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said the province is rushing to develop routes for veterinarians to access animals that survived flooding.

She said desperate farmers tried to rescue their animals but had to abandon them as floodwaters started swamping roads.

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Popham said even animals that were ferried out of barns are in poor health and need help.

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The federal government is spending $4.3 million to support pulse and special crop farmers.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada said the money is to be spent on marketing to find more foreign buyers for beans, chickpeas, lentils, peas, and other crops.

Canada is the world’s largest exporter of pulse crops and the largest producer and exporter of peas and lentils.

In the 2020-2021 crop year Canada sold roughly $3.9 billion worth of pulse and special crops.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW