Friday, May 3, 2024 - The hottest bulls in dairy

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Good morning!

A few weeks ago, I told you all about my backyard mole problem, and how I wasn’t looking forward to evicting the furry little guys. Now I want to give a shout out to Current reader Katherine, who emailed with a potential solution. She suggested staking a pinwheel into the ground, so that the vibrations from the whirring will scare the moles away. We have since purchased a pinwheel and placed it near the labyrinth of tunnels. Now, I have no idea if it’s working, but the kids love to watch it spin! So thanks Katherine for the fun addition to our lawn, even if the moles end up enjoying it too.

– Grace

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NEWS

Meet Canada’s hottest bulls

They’re big. They’re bold. And they’re ready to impregnate a heifer near you.

Often the “silent partner” of the dairy industry, bulls are a key player without whom milk could not be made. For generations, they lived on the farms where their offspring were born. Not anymore.

Artificial insemination, which was pioneered in Russia at the start of the 20th century, took the bull out of the dairy farm. In the 1940s, the Lower Mainland’s farmers began their own artificial insemination associations, providing choice bulls to local farmers.

Now, nearly 80 years later, it’s pretty much the only way a commercial cow gets pregnant. And that means dairy herds need a dating service.

Enter WestGen, the Abbotsford-based genetics giant that studs out many of Canada’s top bulls. From WestGen’s catalogue, dairy farmers can choose what they want for their herd—whether it’s better milk production, more female calves, strong legs, or beef-friendly crossbreeds.

Three weeks ago, we shared our story about how the dairy industry is changing the future of its herds through cross-breeding and sexed semen.

• Now, join us as we swipe right on the bulls that make it all possible.

Related

Need to Know

🚂 Railway engineers may strike as soon as May 22, shutting down trains on both sides of the Fraser River [Fraser Valley News Network]

👙 Aldergrove’s outdoor waterpark is opening next Friday; residents can register today, although outsiders will have to wait [Township of Langley] / The Current wrote about the ultra-popular waterpark in 2022 [FVC]

📝 BC’s auditor general is investigating how the province handled disaster recovery in Lytton; the report is expected early next year [The Tyee] / You can read all of The Current’s award-winning Lytton coverage here [FVC]

📚 A queer storytime at a Chilliwack school has been cancelled because protestors planned to demonstrate at the event [Fraser Valley Today]

🎶 Mission singer Eshan Sobti is moving on to the next round of Canada’s Got Talent next week [Mission Record]

🚒 A fire destroyed an abandoned house in Abbotsford Wednesday night [Abbotsford News]

💔 Verna Susan Bjerky went missing after trying to hitchhike from Hope in 1981; her friends haven’t given up the search [Hope Standard]

🥍 An ‘unsung hero’ in Langley lacrosse will be returning to coach Langley Thunder’s Senior A team [Inside Lacrosse]

🥁 A youth taiko group will perform traditional Japanese drumming at the Tashme Museum on May 5 [Hope Standard]

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The Agenda

Abbotsford hikes school bus fees

The Fraser Valley’s most expensive school bus fees are getting even steeper. 

The Abbotsford School District’s trustees voted in April to further hike the cost parents pay for their children to ride the bus to school (unless they live several kilometres away and are within a catchment area).

The district will raise fees from $450 to $465 for a single student, or from $670 to $690 for a family pass. 

When The Current reported on bus fees last September, Abbotsford’s fees were already higher than those in the region’s four other school districts. The fees don’t apply to students outside of defined “walk limits.” But that walk limit doesn’t just include nearby homes: it extends more than three kilometres from a school’s boundaries.

Abbotsford school district secretary-treasurer Ray Velestuk noted that many fees are waived each year for families that may not be able to afford them and that it operates on a honour system.

The fee hike was opposed by Trustee Jared White, who questioned whether school districts should accept students who live within the walk limits at all. 

“The kids could walk to school,” he said.

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💾 Flashback Friday

Murrayville was one of the earliest settler communities in Langley. Established in 1875 by Paul and Lucy Murray, the townsite was called Murray’s Corners until the post office forced a name change in 1911. The Murray family built the Traveller’s Hotel a decade after their arrival, and a general store, church, blacksmith shop, and several other homes soon followed.

In 1897, the Murray’s Corners store was run by two men from Ontario, who were apparently eager to give up the venture. When their school friend Davis Coulter came for a visit, they suggested he buy the store. Coulter wrote to his friend John Berry, and Berry agreed to move to Langley and run the store without ever seeing it.

The Berry family moved to Langley and lived above the general store until they purchased land for their own dairy farm. (Berry and Coulter would later purchase the Fort Langley general store, which Coulter ran.) Berry used a high-wheeled wagon, potentially the one pictured in the image above, to cart supplies from the Fort Langley store, over the Salmon River flats, to his Murrayville store. The cart also doubled as the community’s hearse for several years.

The general store would have been at the centre of Murrayville life in the early 20th century. In the image above, several Murrayville residents pose on the porch, including John Lee, Charles McInnes (behind the telephone pole), and butcher Roderick Cummings (in the apron).

🗓 Things to do

Storytelling: Dark Glass Theatre is exploring true stories of motherhood in Abbotsford (May 3) and Langley (May 4). Each evening will have a different roster of storytellers. Tickets online.

Sasquatch: Harrison's new Sasquatch Museum will be open to the community during its week-long soft launch. Sasquatch expert Thomas Steenburg will be at the museum on May 4 as a special guest. Details online.

Thrifting: Chilliwack’s largest thrift market will be at Chilliwack Heritage Park on May 4. Admission is $2 and children under 10 are free. Details online.

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