KAREN DAVIDSON

Bradford, Ontario -- A man-made river runs through it.And a six-lane highway too. Thisis the Holland Marsh, one of thetwo sensitive agricultural areasprotected by Ontario’s GreenbeltPlan.

It’s now a decade since thecontentious plan was enshrinedby the provincial government,and by law, the growth plan is upfor review along with three otherland use plans: NiagaraEscarpment, Oak Ridges Moraineand the Golden Horseshoe. Whilethese plans had different origins,this is an ideal time for a unifiedapproach. The intent of theGreenbelt plan was to protect prime farmland but nonetheless,160,000 acres havedisappeared under the bulldozersof townhome developers andhighway engineers. According to the Ontario Federation ofAgriculture, that’s 350 acres lostevery day.

Can this plan be deemed a

success? That’s been underdebate this spring as provincially-organized town hall meetingshave sprung up like maple sapspigots. It’s too early to say iftheir harvest will be sweet.

“While farmers within theGreenbelt are generally supportive of the plan, many wantchanges and assurances that farmers can be sustainable,” saysAvia Eek, Holland Marsh onionand carrot farmer. “It’s notenough to protect the land iffarmers aren’t permitted to beprofitable through value-added,on-farm activities or they can’tget their perishable product tomarket through increasing gridlock.”

In the Greenbelt alone, thereare 5,500 family farms. Not onlyare they producing food, they arestewarding large areas of naturalheritage features, water, woodlands and wildlife. One ofthe key points to emerge from thetown hall meetings is that multi-generational farmersshouldn’t be responsible for the

buffer zones. Developers shouldshoulder the costs.

From her experience as amunicipal councillor, Eek seesthat connectivity of agriculturalsystems should be maintained.Encroaching urban areas andhigher traffic volumes put stresson the safe movement of farmequipment, especially if land orrental acres are not contiguous.

“Language and intent of thepolicies should be consistentacross all these plans,” says Eek.“The four plans were written atdifferent times and for differentpurposes, but they should now bealigned with the provincial policystatement. We now have theopportunity to amend the policyto actually support agriculturaloperations.”

Phil Tregunno, chair of theOntario Tender Fruit Growers,agrees with this assessment.“The key issue is that farmersneed to own the land,” saysTregunno who farms with hisfamily at Niagara-on-the-Lake.“We do not want to become

tenant farmers beholden to landspeculators. My ancestors leftEurope for a better life preciselybecause they were tenant farmers.We shouldn’t let this happenagain.”

The Niagara peninsula, withits 7,800 acres of tender fruit, isalso attractive to citizens purchasing land for non-farmingpurposes. In fact, land ownershipin agricultural belts is a hot topicright now.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

MAY 2015 CELEBRATING 136 YEARS AS CANADA’S PREMIER HORTICULTURAL PUBLICATION VOLUME 65 NUMBER 05

LAND USE PLANS

Sustainable farmers are key to rural infrastructure

INSIDENew product showcase at CPMA Page 7

Pollination strategyin PEI Page 10

Focus: Grapes, berries,vineyards and wineries

Page 18

www.thegrower.org

P.M. 40012319

$3.00 CDN

In southern Ontario, 160,000 acres of farmland were lost between 2007 and 2011. That stark fact adds urgency to the simultaneous reviews of land use planning includingthe Greenbelt Plan, Oak Ridges Moraine Plan, Niagara Escarpment Plan and Golden Horseshoe Plan. The Holland Marsh, shown above, and the Niagara Peninsula’s tender fruit area fall under that review. What’s at stake is the future sustainability of this prime farmland at the outskirts of cities that house nine million consumers. Photos by Glenn Lowson.

“Language andintent of the policiesshould be consistentacross all theseplans.”

~ Avia Eek

Chef Michael Smithbecomes brandambassador

Chef Michael Smith is the newbrand ambassador for The HalfYour Plate Campaign. The PrinceEdward Islander is host of ChefMichaels Kitchen, Chef Abroadand Chef at Home on FoodNetwork Canada. Smith has devot-ed his career to helping Canadianscreate a healthy food lifestyle thatincludes lots of daily fruits andvegetables. Smith made his firstappearance on April 16th at theCanadian Produce MarketingAssociation’s (CPMA) 90th annualconvention and trade show inMontreal.

“We need to get families backin the kitchen preparing fresh andhealthy meals, and chef Michael isthe perfect ambassador to inspirechange,” says Ron Lemaire, presi-dent, CPMA.

“I’m a big fan of Half YourPlate and proud to be joining theteam,” says Smith. “We all know

how important it is to eat lots offruits and vegetables every singleday but not all of us know how.That’s where I come in. It’s mymission to remind everyone howsimple healthy cooking is, that it’snot expensive, difficult or timeconsuming. We’re all in thistogether and together we can helpevery family improve their health,every day.”

The Half Your Plate Campaignwas launched in January 2015 bythe Canadian Produce MarketingAssociation and health partners theCanadian Cancer Society, theCanadian Public HealthAssociation (CPMA) and the Heartand Stroke Foundation. This newhealthy-living initiative empowersCanadians of all ages to eat morefruits and veggies to improve theirhealth while providing simple andpractical ways to add a variety ofproduce to every meal and snack.The campaign emphasizes how fun,practical and easy it is to prepare awide variety of fruits and vegeta-bles for meals and snacks at home,at school, at work, eating out or onthe go. More information is avail-able at www.halfyourplate.ca.

ONFruit blog islaunched

OMAFRA is now publishing ablog called ONfruit written by fruitcrop specialists. One of the firstinstalments was about a new fungi-cide to control mummy berry inhighbush blueberries. In addition tothis blog, growers can sign up toreceive email updates whenevernew content is added to the site. Goto www.onfruit.wordpress.com

Walmart Canadapushes Half yourPlate messaging

Walmart Canada is the winnerof CPMA’s 2015 Fresh HealthAward. Since its introduction in1998, the Fresh Health Award hasbeen presented to a company ororganization which has shown out-standing leadership in their effortsto increase consumption of fruitsand vegetables.

Award recipients must effective-ly use the messaging and marketingmaterials developed by either theHalf Your Plate or FreggieChildren’s programs.

“This year, the award recog-nizes one of the early adopters ofthe Half Your Plate message,” saidCPMA president Ron Lemaire.Since October 2014, WalmartCanada has included the Half YourPlate logo, message and informa-tion in their flyer which reachesmore than 10 million consumersacross Canada.

NEWSMAKERS

THE GROWER

AT PRESS TIME…

PAGE 2 –– MAY 2015

Congratulations to theUniversity of Guelph’s MaryRuth McDonald and her teamwho were honoured last monthin Salt Lake City, Utah at the8th International IPMSymposium. The Award ofExcellence was for the MuckCrops IPM program in Ontario.Team members were: DennisVan Dyk, IPM coordinator,Kevin Vander Kooi, technical support, Matt Sheppard, industrypartner at Bradford Co-op, Jody Mott, Holland Marsh Growers’Association, Marion Paibomesai, OMAFRA vegetable crops specialist.

Several awards were presented at the Canadian Produce MarketingAssociation’s (CPMA) Convention and Trade Show in Montreal.The Mary Fitzgerald Award was presented to Ben Alviano, theCanadian national account manager for Mann Packing. CPMA’sLifetime Achievement Award was presented to ChristianBourbonniere, senior vice-president, Quebec division head, MetroInc. The Most Creative Booth Award was presented to JBLaverdure.

The Ontario Tender Fruit Producers’ Marketing Board honouredHugh Fraser with its 2015 Award of Merit at its recent annual gen-eral meeting. The OMAFRA agricultural engineer for horticulturalcrop protection and post harvest is retiring after 35 years of supportand solutions for horticulture. His “Not a Roast” party is May 28.

Len Troup, past chair of the Ontario Tender Fruit Growers, hasbeen presented with the Ontario Institute of Agrologist’s HonouraryAgrologist Award for contributions to the sector.

Summerland Varieties Corporation (formerly PICO) welcomed newgeneral manager Michael Bechtel earlier this year. The organization,a wholly-owned subsidiary of the B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association,administers technical, legal and contractual items for the owners ofnew varieties and ensures the commercial success of promising newvarieties of tree fruits and berries. Nick Ibuki is operations manager.

The International Fruit Tree Association (IFTA) braved winterstorms to hold its 58th annual conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia inlate February. Congratulations to John Eisses, Centreville, NovaScotia who won Grower of the Year Award. He’s one of the largestHoneycrisp growers in Canada, achieving high apple yields in theAnnapolis Valley. Spurr Brothers Farm, Kingston, also received aGrower of the Year Award, recognizing its large acreage of appleorchards and six acres of pears in a high-density, biaxis, V-trellissystem.

IFTA’s Outstanding Extension Worker award was won by horticul-turalist William Craig, recently retired from Perennia Food andAgriculture. He worked for AgraPoint before Perennia was createdin 2012 as a new agency of the provincial government.

Charles Embree was named IFTA’s Outstanding Researcher of theYear. Embree, recently retired, began working as a tree fruit special-ist with the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture in 1963. In 1982,he moved to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to become aresearch scientist in tree fruit physiology. He was the reference coor-dinator for the United States North Central Regional Research-140committee, which evaluates rootstocks; a member of the UnitedStates Germplasm Committee; and a member of the Northeast PlantGrowth Regulator working group.

Terence Robinson, a Cornell University horticulturist, receivedrecognition as an inductee into the IFTA Hall of Fame. Robinson hasannounced a three-year sabbatical starting in July 2015. Projectssuch as perfecting the tall spindle orchard design and apply thinningusing the carbohydrate model will be continued by postdoctoralresearchers, Poliana Francescatto and Jaume Lordan Sanahuja.

IFTA’s Outstanding Industry Service Award went to Larry Lutz ofScotian Gold and owner of Lutz Family Farm. Since 1988, Lutz hasbeen the grower technical adviser for Scotian Gold Cooperative,which packs most of the Nova Scotia apple crop for its grower/mem-bers. Lutz is also a grower with 70 acres of high-density apples andpeaches. He has provided volunteer leadership to IFTA and theentire industry for many years, including serving on the board ofdirectors, organizing educational tours and educating many growerson the advantages of high-density orchards. He is a past president ofIFTA.

Photo courtesy of CPMA

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

It may seem incongruous to look to the endless horizons ofSaskatchewan for a model. But this spring, the breadbasketprovince is reviewing its Farm Security Act. Farmers,there, have mixed opinions about how to keep largeswaths of land under their control while considering thepotential benefits of cash infusions from institutionalinvestors such as pension plans. Saskatchewan’s debatewill be worth considering across all of Canada.

In most discussions about sustainable farming, theissues can be summed up under three headings: people,planet and profit. Planning for succession should reason-ably be a fourth. That topic doesn’t rise readily to the topof politicians’ agendas whose planning cycle is four yearsat best. It’s critical, though, to look to the longer horizonof how to keep farmlands intact and by extension, farmersprofitable for future generations.

In Ontario, as the provincial government weighs massive expenditures on transit infrastructure, equal consideration should be given to rural infrastructure: natural gas, phase-three electricity, high-speed internet.These are hard assets which will help keep the next

generation of farmers in business.Layered on top of these land use planning exercises is

federal redistribution of political ridings for the October2015 election. Seventeen of the new 19 seats will fallwithin the Greater Toronto Area. These ridings are to beadopted provincially, encompassing about nine million citizens. With so few farmers as voters, they worry thaturbanites view farmland as parkland to be enjoyed atleisure.

“To date, the Greenbelt is working,” says Tregunno “inthat it’s not death by a thousand cuts from land develop-ers, but it could be death by environmentalists. We’realready governed by rules on setbacks from streams, forexample, but we don’t need new rules that would preventus from erecting new buildings. Placing 30-metre bufferson man-made systems such as municipal drains doesn’tmake much sense.”

The proximity of agriculture to urban areas has translated into an arcane list of regulations. “We have a lotmore oversight for small projects than are needed,” saysTregunno. “There are very long delays on land use decisions with no sensitivity to the growing season. Timeis of the essence to us.”

Tregunno also points out that average farm sizes havechanged considerably since the Greenbelt Plan was enacted. “To encourage new farmer entry into the tenderfruit industry, a more reasonable minimum parcel size of20 acres for farm splits is needed,” he says.

It would seem farmers agree that one cohesive land useplan is needed. The pressures are regional, not plan-specific. To address farmers’ concerns, current environ-mental management policies should encompass not onlyfarmers but developers too. These plans should be craftednot to control farmers as though they are an environmentalthreat, but to support food production which is essential toOntario’s future health.

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 3

THE GROWER

COVER STORY

Sustainable farmers are key to rural infrastructure Legend: The distribution centres of major retailers and theOntario Food Terminal are identified on this southernOntario map to show their locations relative to Greenbeltfarmlands and high-density urban areas.

Loblaws Inc.1. Cambridge, ON2. Ajax, ON

Sobeys 3. Whitby, ON4. Milton, ON

Metro Ontario Inc.5. Toronto, ON

Costco 6. Brampton, ON

Wal-Mart Canada Corp.7. Mississauga, ON

Longo’s 8. Vaughan, ON

Ontario Food Terminal9. Toronto, ON

Protecting irreplaceable farmland Moving farm machinery safely Enabling food routes to millions of consumers

“To date, the Greenbelt is working in that

it’s not death by a thousand cuts from land

developers, but it could be death by

environmentalists.”

~ Phil Tregunno

PAGE 4 –– MAY 2015THE GROWER

CROSS COUNTRY DIGEST

QUEBEC

Serres Sagami acquires the Savoura brand

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Royalties on Ambrosia apples required until 2017

A brutal winter on the east coast hasdelayed Prince Edward Island’s (PEI) applepruning workshop from April 11 until May 2.That’s to allow growers into orchards. In earlyApril, snow was measuring anywhere between33 and 42 inches deep.

“I worry more about an early spring,” saysJohn Brady, Tyne Valley, who expects fullbloom to be a little later than the usual June 2

to 5 time frame. “There’s an expression that aweek in spring is worth a day in the fall. ByLabour Day, we’re usually all caught up.”

It was a tale of two winters on PEI with little snow until late January. Frequent snowstorms were experienced after that. Now thewatch-out is for ice around the island. Coldwater temperatures affect air temperatures,potentially delaying the start of the growing

season.On the west coast, it’s been a different

story. “We’re two weeks early across theboard,” says Chris Pollock, director of marketing for BC Tree Fruits. “Apricots, nectarines were in full bloom in mid-Apriland I expect cherries and apples in the northern Okanagan to be in full bloom by firstof May.”

Protection through Plant Breeders’ Rights for theAmbrosia apple variety will be expiring on August 20,2015 says Michael Bechtel, general manager, SummerlandVarieties Corporation.

However, Canadian Plant Breeders’ Rights legislationand subsequent agreements with nurseries allow for thecollection of a royalty on any trees that are propagatedwithin the window of registration on that variety. As anindustry standard, Plant Breeders’ Rights allow for thatroyalty to be collected for up to two years following

expiration of that variety registration, providing it was propagated within the registration window and timeline.

If growers intend on planting the Ambrosia apple variety after the expiration date in Canada, this means:

• Any Ambrosia tree propagated prior to the end of August20 will have a $2 CAD royalty attached to it. Trees propagated after that time will have no royalty.• If growers plant any Ambrosia trees within two years ofAugust 20, providing those trees were propagated prior to

the end of the registration window, a royalty of $2 CADper tree is required, up to and including the 2017 season.

As Bechtel explains, Plant Breeders’ Rights andIndustry Standards recognize that plantable material caneasily take up to two years to prepare for planting. If agrower wants to plant, that material still needs to undergothe expense of being prepared including licensing from thelicensor. In this case, it’s Summerland VarietiesCorporation.

Greenhouse tomato grower Serres Sagami hasannounced its successful bid for the assets of Serresdu Saint-Laurent. The company which was wellknown for its Savoura brand declared insolvency inFebruary. Serres Sagami, headquartered in Sainte-Sophie, Quebec, said it planned to add Englishcucumbers to the mix.

“This is obviously a very strategic acquisition forus since it will allow us to strengthen our footholdin Quebec’s greenhouse industry,” said StéphaneRoy, president of Serres Sagami, in a news release.

“This iconic brand – Savoura -- is part of Quebec’s agricultural heritage, and it deserves to keep itsplace on Quebecers’ tables.”

With this latest acquisition, Serres Sagami is nowone of the largest greenhouse growers in Quebec.Total conventional and organic greenhouse tomato production totals 62 acres in several Quebec loca-tions.

Right: Stéphane Roy, president of Serres Sagami

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND TO BRITISH COLUMBIA

Bloom check

ISRAEL

Digital camerasidentify pests

Researcher David Nestel ofthe Israeli Volcani Institute isreporting early success with digi-tal cameras placed in fields. Thepilot project targets a fly whichharms melon, zucchini, pumpkinand watermelon crops.

Traps were distributedthroughout the fields with digitalcameras which shoot pictures ofthe trapped pests. The photos areforwarded to the researchers whocan identify the pests andwhether their frequency is economically harmful enough towarrant spraying. With this particular pest, a preventativespray may not be needed.

This project is funded by theEuropean Union.

Source: FreshPlaza.com

INTERNATIONAL

ITALY

World pear exhibition to launch

Italy has found such a loyalfollowing for its biennial appleexhibition, Interpoma, that it’slaunching a sister one for pears.Called Futurpera, this event willbe held in the heart of the pear-growing region in Ferrara.Expect to see different varietiesof pear grown in the Po Valleybetween Emilia-Romagna andVeneto.

The show is dedicated to promoting the pear supply chain,from sustainable growing techniques to storage, and frommarketing to retail. For moreinformation on the show to beheld November 19-21, visitwww.futurpera.com

Source: Good Fruit Grower

NETHERLANDS

Asparagus tips:avoid drones

A PR stunt went up in flames,literally, when the first asparagusdelivery of the season crashedand burned in a drone. DeZwaan, the Michelin-starredrestaurant in Etten-Leur, isknown for its novel ways ofkicking off asparagus season. Inthe past, a hot air balloon, a heli-copter and a Formula 1 racingcar have successfully deliveredthe tender stalks.

The 2015 season wasn’t solucky with new technology. Thedrone crashed on a country roaden route to the famous restaurant.Grilling asparagus is a tasty wayto enjoy spring’s first vegetable,but in this case, going to extralengths didn’t pay off.

Source: FreshPlaza.com

BELGIUM

Conference pear todebut this fall

This new pear, unique toBelgium and the Netherlands,was introduced at the CPMAtrade show in Montreal lastmonth. Conference pears can beeaten at the beginning and end ofthe ripening process, makingthem adaptable to many eatingsituations. As it ripens, the firm-green-bronzed skin andsweet white flesh will turn lightyellow.

Julienned into a salad ofgreens, sliced with blue cheese,or eaten out of hand, this pearwill expand the category.

UNITED STATES

New process forhandling registrations ofneonicotinoids

The Environmental ProtectionAgency has informed registrantsof neonicotinoid pesticides thatany new uses for these productswill not be approved until newbee safety studies have been submitted and pollinator riskassessments are complete.

Affected neonicotinoidactions include: • new uses (including crop groupexpansion requests) • addition of new use patterns,such as aerial application • experimental use permits • new special local needs registrations

This is an interim positionannounced early last month.

Source: AgriMarketing WeeklyUpdate April 6, 2015

Photo courtesy of BC TreeFruits

KAREN DAVIDSON

Montréal, QC -- Growing themarket through execution anddelivery takes more than a buyer,distributor, merchandiser, chefand consumer. This year’s retail-er panel offered insights on howsupply chain collaboration is keyto growing the market.

The panelists were:

• Terri Miller – category managerof produce, Food Lion • Pierre Dandoy, VP operations,QC Market, Loblaw• Pat Pessotto, VP merchandis-ing, Longo’s• Oleen Smethurst, general merchandise manager produce, Costco Wholesale Canada • André Gagné, VP merchandis-ing, Metro Banner Ontario,Metro Richielieu• Rich Dachman, VP produce,Sysco

Panel moderator Reggie Griffin,former senior VP at Kroeger inthe U.S., touched on key trendsin fresh produce: organic, local,fair trade, but interestingly didnot mention electronic com-merce. The format was open tothe audience to ask questions.

Q1. What trends do you see in2015? What’s hot in produce?What categories are sliding?

Pat Pessotto: Kale is a big driver. André Gagné: Rutabaga is indecline. The whole wet greenswall is a big trend with rapini,dandelion. Pierre Dandoy: Juicing is animportant trend. Organic is a bigtrend, but the new reality is thatwe now have 10 to 15 differentvarieties of potatoes, up to 27 different tomatoes with newflavours.Teri Miller: Watch the newchefs on Food Network TV andstay connected with restaurants. Rich Dachman: Different let-tuce blends are a big hit. Newgreenhouse tomatoes that haveflavour are popular. I see morevegetables with main entrees –Brussels sprouts and butternutsquash. They’re not a side dishbut incorporated more into theplate. Oleen Smethurst: Flavour iseverything. Chefs such asMichael Smith are driving thetrend towards flavour and quality.

Q2. A big trend is mining data.Please expand on how you getit and apply it.

Pierre Dandoy: You have to bereally close to the customer. Weare different between cities. Forexample right here in Quebec,it’s totally different between theGaspe and Montreal. You don’t

build a store by yourself. Youhave to be a great leader, greatmerchandiser, good operatorfrom front to back door.Customers vote every day in ourstore so tomorrow you knowwhat your data is. I look at mynumbers every day. It’s my gasoline. André Gagné: If suppliers arerelying on U.S. data, be sensitiveto the fact that Canadians are different.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

THE GROWER

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 5

Arrow® Diurex® Phantom®Weed Control

Alias® Pyrinex® Silencer® Insect Control

Bumper® Folpan®Disease Control

Your money. Your choice.

Adama Canada, formerly MANA Canada, is dedicated to providing choice and simplicity in crop protection, allowing farmers to manage their farms instead of managing complicated, time-consuming rebate programs or bundling. We partner with the highest quality local retails to bring farmers like you the advice, service and quality products you need to protect your crops.

No bundles.No rebates.No waiting.

No kidding.

Simply. Grow. Together.Toll-free: 1.855.264.6262

WEBSITE: adama.com/canada®Alias, Arrow, Bumper, Diurex, Folpan, Phantom, Pyrinex and Silencer are registered trademarks of ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Canada Ltd. 925FV.01.15

For a complete list of Adama crop protection products visit adama.com/canada.

Protect your fruit and vegetable crops with:

Retailers’ message to the supply chain: ‘Don’t just deliver produce. Help me sell one more unit to the consumer’

CANADIAN PRODUCE MARKETING ASSOCIATION 90TH CONVENTION AND TRADE SHOW

“Customers voteevery day in ourstore so tomor-row you knowwhat your datais. I look at mynumbers everyday. It’s mygasoline.”

~ Pierre Dandoy

Retailers’ message to supply chainCANADIAN PRODUCE MARKETING ASSOCIATION 90TH CONVENTION AND TRADE SHOW

NEW PRODUCTS AT CPMA

THE GROWER

PAGE 6 –– MAY 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

Pat Pessotto: Our challenge isthat if PLUs are not visible, thenthe item won’t be scanned properly by the cashier. It’simportant on the organic side ofthe business to make sure thevalue is captured. If I can saveone second on scanning percashier, it’s worth $7 million peryear for my company.Teri Miller: We are data-rich atFood Lion. Let’s talk about potatoes. If one item is not prof-itable in the category, how do Idecide to drop it. My customer ismore loyal to one variety thananother. Understanding the data isimportant along with your gut.

Q3. We have an aging population, changing culturaldemographic and smallerhouseholds. How will thisaffect fresh produce?

Rich Dachman: Millennialsrequire integrity in their food.Going forward, I see millennialswill be positive about fresh pro-duce but they want transparencyin what they eat. This speaks

highly for our category. Butaspects of our category will bequestioned. Be careful in market-ing. You can’t fool this group.André Gagné: Millennials are onFacebook talking about our product. The aging population iseating healthier than in the past.With Metro’s Healthy Plate program, produce is at the centerof this. The trend is shifting tocultural demographics but mostof our produce appeals to our customers. If it needs tweaking,it’s for okra, greens, case fruit. Asour offering improves, we willhave opportunity to cross sell.Pierre Dandoy: In Montreal,many of our customers speakthree languages or more. For thefirst time in Quebec this year,more people will take retirementthan will work. One of our challenges is to reach this group.71 per cent of Quebeckers wantto be healthier according to surveys. 31 per cent are ready topay more.Oleen Smethurst: Transportableproduce is a bigger trend.Teri Miller: Our customers fromPennsylvania to Florida are huge-ly different. It’s more about howthe economy is doing. If the

economy changes overnight likeit did five years ago, then youcan’t continue to group people indemographics or age groups. Itdepends more on following shopping habits of the customer.

Q4. While we’ve seen advance-ments in technology, are youdoing anything to connect yourstores with supply partners?

Pierre Dandoy: People want toeat the apple from the person theyknow. Our Close to HomeProgram promotes the farm fami-ly. We ask growers to come intoour stores. That’s the type of connection we’re seeking. Valuesare more important than the price.Oleen Smethurst: At Costco,we’ve had great success using QRcodes to tell the grower’s story.Rich Dachman: For us, the localtrend has been the romantic trendof our industry. The biggest areaof interest is universities. We tellthe story through local growersand their bios.

Q5. What are the driversbehind the trends? How do westay ahead for new concepts onthe plate?

Teri Miller: We have great part-nerships with suppliers. Kalettesare an up and coming item.(Kalettes are a new vegetablecombining the best flavours ofkale and Brussels sprouts.) Wework with suppliers to share theirconcept of best presentation. Wedon’t have enough supply butwe’re figuring out the best geographic areas. There’s lots ofrelationship building. Somethings don’t work out, but manydo. Oleen Smethurst: We meet withseed companies to find out what’sgoing on. If you find anythingnew, please share it. Canadianconsumers are diverse and theyhave no hesitation to try newthings.Rich Dachman: In the WallStreet Journal recently, there wasan article on the evolution oftrends. Where do they start? Inthe food industry, we’d like tothink high-end chefs have influence. Brussels sproutsweren’t popular but now it’s different. The true evolution of atrend is when high-end restaurants are waking up consumer palates. Then the trendmoves to family dining restau-rants. Consumers then want to eatit at home. Yes, we do havegrowers introducing products butit really starts in a small place.Oleen Smethurst: Keep pushingto have quarantine processeschanged on new tree fruits. Theflavour profile is excellent in thiscategory.

Q6. Notwithstanding quality,service and price, what differ-entiates a good supplier fromgreat supplier?

Teri Miller: Those supplierswho can truly partner, help mesell one more unit to the customer. Pierre Dandoy: Our customersask for consistency. It’s hard todo with weather but the consumerwants quality every time. Pat Pessotto: Align your packagewith the retailer. Oleen Smethurst: We want topartner with suppliers who rein-vest in the business. I attendedthe Ontario Fruit and VegetableConvention in Niagara. One ofthe large peach growers haslooked to Europe which is lightyears ahead on packaging.André Gagné: Freshness makesa great supplier. The customerexperiences that at home. Rich Dachman: Trust is a hugecomponent. It’s all about the relationship. How do we run ourbusinesses together? Trying tomanage expenses while bringingbiggest value to the customer istough. Sometimes it’s okay tochallenge the retailer on how it’sdone.

Q7. Do you see larger producedepartments in the future?

André Gagné: I don’t see largerproduce departments. We need toturn “fresh” products frequently.The equipment we use willchange. We need more refrigerat-ed space and more dedicatedspace for organics.Oleen Smethurst: The fresh lineis expanding but it can only takeso much space.Pat Pessotto: As real estate getsmore expensive, so does the linear feet.

Creative alligatorattracts kids

Giro Pack, Inc. just released anew Fashion Film for UltraBag togive more attractiveness to meshpackaging. This new type of filmis created with die-cut longitudinal edges. The die-cutedge designs can follow printedshapes. Fashion film allows creativity through many shapes

and allows product to be the focalpoint. Fashion Film UltraBag canbe used by current baggers without new investments tomachinery. Now is the time fordesigners to take advantage ofFashion Film to achieve attractive3-D effects. For more info go towww.giro.es.

THE GROWER

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 7

CANADIAN PRODUCE MARKETING ASSOCIATION 90TH CONVENTION AND TRADE SHOW

Pressed for a premium tasting experience KAREN DAVIDSON

Montréal, QC -- Stairway toretail heaven? Actually, it’s onestep at a time for the BC TreeFruit Cooperative launching itsBroken Ladder craft cider thisspring.

“For me personally, you cansmell the apples when you openthe can,” says Chris Pollock, marketing manager, BC TreeFruit Cooperative. “It’s a flavourful experience.”

The venture to open BC TreeFruits Cider Company inKelowna, British Columbia iswell-timed in the growth of thecooperative which representsmore than 500 grower families.It’s an effort to add value toscarred or bruised apples thatdon’t make the fresh grade. Withan anticipated contribution of $1million per year, it’s a small dropto the bottom line of a coopera-tive that grosses $150 million per

year. What’s more strategic is toboost profile to the cooperative indowntown Kelowna and to reinforce the overall brand withconsumers.

The cidery was purposefullybuilt close to a large winery withknowledge that a brewery is soonto come. There’s a tasting roomto attract agri-tourists who cantipple and chat about the localfood movement. The sparklingcider will lead to conversationsabout the Okanagan apple industry and how apples aregrown. Repeat customers arehighly likely after such a sensoryexperience. The cidery also offersexponential exposure for socialmedia.

“We wanted to look at makinga cider the same way you would awine,” says project managerMike Daley. With an alcohollevel of 5.5 per cent, he’s happywith the result which is drier thanmost ciders on the market.

“We envisioned a cider true to

its natural form. The taste is asreal as it gets.”

The decision to package thegolden straw-coloured beveragein a can versus bottle was madeon the advice of an industry consultant. A package of fourcans (473 mL) will retail for$11.99 through select BritishColumbia Liquor Stores, independent wine and beer storesand will be available throughlicensed restaurants. The cidery isplanning to produce 15,000 casesthis year.

Six apple varieties contributeto the craft blend. It’s a ‘family’secret only to the point thatPollock allows: “It’s a blend offive varieties, sweetened with thejuice of a sixth.”

For apple growers and cidermakers, the question will be: Isthat Pink Lady or Ambrosia that Itaste? It would be hard to believethat B.C.’s most well-known varieties wouldn’t be part of therecipe.

Volm Companies, Inc. hasintroduced the Half-N-HalfPouch. It offers the convenienceof a stand-up pouch along withadded breathability by incorporat-ing an eco-friendly Ultratechmesh panel into the bag.

The Half-N-Half Pouch can becreated with many features fromzippers for convenient openingand closing to different film finishes such as high clarity,opaque or matte. This package isalso available with different gusset and formats.

"We expanded our packagingportfolio last year to focus onpouches for fresh produce,” said

Micah Johnson, flexible packag-ing product manager. “At thattime, we also began developingthe Half-N-Half Pouch as a wayto not only differentiate fromother produce on the shelves withthis one-of-a-kind look, but toadd breathability for keeping theproduce fresh longer. This pouchlooks great on the shelf, extendsshelf life of produce, and provides an optimized customerexperience when purchasing andusing the product.

Volm also recently introducedthe Volmpack Kangaroo Bagger.The Kangaroo is an easy-to-use,small footprint bagger that allows

packers to move away from cost-ly and labour-intensive manualpacking to an affordable andautomated process for fillingpouch-style bags.

“We have a long history ofdeveloping packaging solutions toimprove the profitability and pro-ductivity of our customers. To beable to offer the Kangaroo baggeras a way to complement the Half-N-Half Pouch and our com-mon pouch style bags is impor-tant as part of our total solutionsapproach,” added Johnson.

Visit volmcompanies.com/product/half-n-half-pouch formore information.

More breathability in flexible packaging

New sleeve clamshell Creamer potatoes to be grown in QC

Vortex packaging is offering a new sleeve clamshell in all sizes: 4 lb.,3L basket, 3L square, 2L, 1.5L and 1L for blueberries.

Patates Dolbec Ltd. is well-known within Quebec circles for its integrated farming operations near St.Ubalde. With 10,000 acres of soybeans, corn, wheat and potatoes, the field rotations work well and cullpotatoes can be fed to their beef cattle operation.

According to Josee Petitclerc, the company has fashioned new packaging to indicate the best end uses oftheir potatoes. For the first time this year, the company is growing creamer potatoes. The Mozart varietyfeatures red skins with yellow flesh.

Thimet 15-G, containing the activeingredient phorate, is an important management tool to reduce wirewormfeeding damage on potato tubers and toreduce wireworm populations present in a

field. Potato growers are encouraged toadopt Best Management Practices whenapplying Thimet 15-G during planting in2015 to reduce environmental risk.

This fact sheet is designed to help

potato growers understand the risks andactions they can take in best using Thimet15-G. By incorporating these practicesduring the 2015 planting season, identifiedrisks to the environment can be greatly

reduced and mitigated. The fact sheet can be found on the CHC

website: www.hortcouncil.ca/canadian-potato-council.aspx

Canadian Potato Council releases new fact sheet on Thimet 15-G

Effective April 20, 2015, an exemption from therequirements of the Fresh Fruit and VegetableRegulations to allow the test marketing of onionsand potatoes in reusable plastic shipping containers(RPCs) that are clean and in sanitary condition was

implemented on a national basis. This test market,which applies to onions and potatoes marketed inimport or interprovincial trade, has been added tothe list. The list has been updated and is availableon the CFIA website at www.inspection.gc.ca

Exemptions under the test marketingprovision of the fresh fruit and vegetable regulations

Heather Gale, executive director for CanadaGAP, was therecipient of the Food SafetyLeadership Award during theFebruary 2015 Safe Food CanadaSymposium.

Hosted by NSF-GFTC, theSafe Food Canada Symposium

provided insights on the foodindustry's regulatory landscape,global supply chains and businessethics. NSF-GFTC's Food SafetyRecognition Awards are designedto highlight success stories in theCanadian food safety landscapesuch as scientific contribution,

public education advancement,and technology or process innovations as they apply to foodsafety. The Food SafetyLeadership Award is presented toan individual who drives foodsafety excellence and inspiresothers through their passion andactions.

The Food Safety LeadershipAward was presented to HeatherGale for her active role in introducing successful food safetyinitiatives within the fresh produce industry.

The development of theCanadaGAP program beganthrough the CHC and Heather ledthe program through CFIATechnical Review, GFSI

benchmarking and the program’ssuccessful transition toCanAgPlus and integration of the

CPMA’s wholesale and repackprogram into the CanadaGAPprogram.

CanadaGAP executive director receives leadership award

Status of resolutions at the CHC AGM, Quebec CityCANADIAN HORTICULTURAL COUNCIL

THE GROWER

PAGE 8 –– MAY 2015

Number Name Allocation Status

Defeated Amended Carried

2015-01 Adequate Funding and Deadline for the AgriInvest Program Finance and Business Management ✔2015-02 Financial Protection for Canada’s Fruit and Vegetable Sector Trade and Marketing ✔2015-03 National Nutrition Policy Industry Standards and Food Safety ✔2015-04 National Clean Plant Program Crop, Plant Protection and the Environment ✔2015-05 Pre-Harvest Intervals Crop, Plant Protection and the Environment ✔2015-06 Certification of Fruit and Vegetable Packing and Re-packing Establishments Industry Standards and Food Safety ✔2015-07 Application to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program – Agriculture Stream Human Resources ✔2015-08 Improving the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program Recruitment Process Human Resources ✔2015-09 Identification and Mitigation of Food Safety and Biosecurity Risks Associated with the

Use of Reusable Plastic ContainersIndustry Standards and Food Safety ✔

2015-10 Food Tampering Mitigation Measures Finance and Business Management ✔2015-11 Availability of Thimet (Phorate) for Wireworm Control Crop, Plant Protection and the Environment ✔2015-12 Plant Breeders’ Rights and Seed Potato Certification Potato ✔2015-13 Establishment of a Working Group on Sustainability (Sustainability Working Group) Industry Standards and Food Safety ✔2015-14 Policy Statement regarding Production Practices Committee of the Whole ✔LR2015-15 PMRA’s Cost Recovery Framework – Support for the Exemption from Treasury

Board Policies on Special Revenue Spending AuthoritiesCrop, Plant Protection and the Environment ✔

LR2015-16 Canadian Horticultural Council Advocate to the Pest Management Regulatory Agencyfor the Emergency Registration of Bifenthrin (Capture)

Crop, Plant Protection and the Environment ✔

LR2015-17 Establishment of a Greenhouse Working Group Committee of the Whole ✔

Mesh Bagging and Weighing systems

Bag Closing Systems, Sales, Service, Parts

L to R: Stephanie Lariviere (CanadaGAP Board Member), AmberBailey (CanadaGAP Technical Manager), Heather Gale, and AviaEek (CanadaGAP Board Member)

THE GROWER

WHAT’S YOUR STORY?

Wanted: virus-free grape rootstockKAREN DAVIDSON

Bill George’s farming roots goback to 1796 when his Quakerforebears left Pennsylvania forthe relative political calm of theNiagara peninsula. As UnitedEmpire Loyalists, they settlednear Beamsville, Ontario with aland grant from Upper Canada.Today, the original land grantdocument may be faded, butlooking at a map, the geographybecomes clear. The Niagarapeninsula is a hyphen that linksLake Erie and Lake Ontariotogether, sheltered from theAmerican border.

In many ways, that’s BillGeorge’s farm political career. Heseeks to join forces for the greatergood. He’s been chair of theGrape Growers of Ontario (GGO)for nine years now. Some ofthose have been tumultuous yearsas growers have struggled withprices and contracts with winer-ies. But with renewed provincialfunding of $75 million for thenext five years, times are lookingmore stable.

That funding will supportvineyard improvements such asthe purchase of hedging machin-ery and leaf-removing equipment.Research is expected to intensifyon new pest threats. And theindustry will continue to adapt toclimate change. Altogether,researchers and world-class tech-nology are employed to managein local micro-climates. In thisprogressive environment, sometender fruit growers are soencouraged by the economics,that they are entering the winegrape business.

Future expansion

“The direction is positive,”says George. “A lot of grapes arecoming on stream. The GGO hasa vineyard mapping system thathas an accurate data base on whatis currently planted. Based on thatsystem, we can predict threeyears out what the tonnage willbe. I can see that five to six percent annual growth on VQA winesales is realistic.”

In the latest annual report fromthe Liquor Control Board ofOntario (LCBO), statistics showthat Ontario wines comprise 38per cent share of the overall winemarket in Ontario. Of course, it isalways the case that growerswould like more market share andmore margin. The South CoastWineries and Growers’Association, for example, contin-ues its success with four membersnow producing VQA wines.

With growers planting vine-yards with standard eight or nine-foot spacings, it’s now easier formechanization to take hold.Hedge trimmers and mechanicalharvesters are more common.However, some needs stay thesame. That’s clean plant material.

As grapevines become more

susceptible to viruses, it’s impor-tant to start with hardy, resistantstock. For the next year, thescreenhouse at Saanich, BritishColumbia will be funded andoperated by the B.C. and Ontariowine grape industries but afterthat, the future is uncertain. Athird-party is needed to certifythat rootstock is virus-free.George would like to see morefunding to experts at CornellUniversity as well as theUniversity of Guelph and BrockUniversity.

“I think this is an issue that’sideal for the Canadian

Horticultural Council (CHC)grape committee to tackle,” saysGeorge, who is also CHC grape

committee chair. “We want toreach out to representatives ofBritish Columbia, Quebec and

Nova Scotia to bring this need tothe attention of the CanadianFood and Inspection Agency.”

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 9

Bill George

KAREN DAVIDSON

Combined, Maine and PrinceEdward Island (PEI) produceapproximately half of the world’slowbush blueberries. However,pollination practices differ inthese neighbouring geographies.For many years, PEI regulationshave forbidden imports of honey-bee hives with the exception ofnearby Nova Scotia. In order topollinate 13,000 acres of wildblueberries, growers have learnedto innovate.

Thanks to managed bumble-bees, conserving habitat for native pollinators and taking up beekeeping themselves, the wildblueberry industry has cobbledtogether a security plan. Some ofthe pressure was relieved whenborders opened in 2013 to beehives from other provinces. Asa result, about 5,000 commercialhives came from Ontario lastyear.

“Researchers and farmers arenow exploring ways to securecrop pollination through integrat-ed use of both commercial honeybees and wild bees,” says environmental anthropologistKourtney Collum, PhD candidateat the University of Maine.Lowbush blueberry is a logicalfocus for pollination research, shesays. Not only is it a completelyinsect-pollinated native plant,many of its natural pollinators arestill present. She recently reportedon her research at the annual general meeting of the PEI WildBlueberry Growers’ Association.

With more than 4,000 wild beespecies in North America, Collumsays growers should be tippingtheir hats to their pollination performance and putting moreeffort into protecting their habitat.

Collum’s research is to identifywhat factors influence farmers’decisions to adopt conservationpractices. She’s been comparingthe industries of lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) farmers in Maineand PEI.

Despite similar environmentsand economies, Maine and PEIhave dissimilar policies regardingcommercial bee importation, saysCollum. The Maine industryrelies on importing commercialhoneybees from out-of-statewhereas PEI manages diversepollinators ranging from wildbees to honeybees, bumblebeesand leafcutter bees.

In 2014, for example, the stateof Maine imported 80,000 polli-nator hives from migratory bee-keepers to service 44,000 acres ofwild blueberries. Prince EdwardIsland pollinated its 13,000 acreswith 6,225 colonies from its ownbeekeepers plus 1,500 coloniesfrom Ontario and about 1,700colonies from Nova Scotia.

“PEI growers appear to possess strong adaptive capacity,enabling them to effectively adaptto changes in the price and availability of commercial honeybees,” says Collum.

Their management practicesinclude:• renting honeybees from localbeekeepers and migratory beekeepers• purchasing commercial bumblebees• becoming beekeepers them-selves and managing honeybeesor leafcutter bees for pollination• reducing the use of pesticides• practising IPM to reduce thepressures on bee health• planting bee-friendly flowermixes around edges of fields orletting unproductive areas of the

farm return to wildflower to provide a food source and nestingsites for wild bees.

To maintain this resilience, sheencourages PEI growers to continue experimenting withdiverse pollination practices andto increase conservation of wild

bee habitat around their fields.For starters, never spray whenmanaged bees are in the field.Erect nesting boxes and leavedead trees around edges of fieldsfor nesting sites for bees.

“As PEI begins to import morecommercial bees, I am

documenting any changes in thefarmers’ conservation efforts,”says Collum. “At the same time,I’m monitoring and documentingany changes regarding bee healthin Maine.”

PEI innovates with native pollinators and commercial beesPOLLINATION

THE GROWER

PAGE 10 –– MAY 2015

Can supply of pollinators keep upwith demand?

Wild blueberry producer and processor, Kevin Byers, isconcerned about the growing need for pollinators versus littlegrowth in numbers of bee colonies. At the recent CanadianHorticultural Council meeting, he referenced a StatisticsCanada chart that showed number of Canadian bee colonieshad grown in the last five years from 592,000 to 672,000.

“If you look at the growth of the Canadian blueberry industry plus apples, the increase of 80,000 colonies doesn’ttotal a hill of beans,” says Byers. “As an actively expandingblueberry grower, our concern is getting enough pollinators.”

As farm manager for Jasper Wyman & Son Limited,Morell, PEI, he questions whether there’s enough commercialbeekeepers to fill demand for pollination services. He alsowonders where sufficient bee pasture will be found and ifthere’s enough off-season nutrition for bees.

“I hope that the industry as a whole will endorse a sustainable effort for wild and commercial pollinators.”

University of Maine researcher Kourtney Collum learns from aMaine wild blueberry producer, Amos Orcutt.

Source: Statistics Canada

“PEI growers

appear to possess

strong adaptive

capacity, enabling

them to effectively

adapt to changes in

the price and avail-

ability of commercial

honeybees.”

~ Kourtney Collum

THE GROWER

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 11

Hazelnuts are a long-termproposition. It will be 2020 orlater before the first commercialvolumes will be harvested for saleto the Ferrero Canada confec-tionary plant in Brantford,Ontario. The Ontario HazelnutAssociation (OHA) has 160 mem-bers to date, but moving interest-ed growers to committing trees tothe ground is the next step. It’sestimated about 100 acres areplanted now.

Mori Essex Nurseries alongwith Ontario Centres ofExcellence have sponsored aweb-based tool which evaluatesthe costs of production of a hazel-nut orchard. It was unveiled at therecent OHA annual general meet-ing.

“This tool will lead to farmersmaking very informed decisionson what it takes to grow hazelnutsin Ontario,” said Robert Haynes,general manager of Mori EssexNurseries and vice chair of theOHA. “We at Mori Essex arevery pleased to be a part of thesedevelopments and this tool willgive anyone who is interested inan opportunity to evaluate theirown situation using their ownnumbers.”

The tool is currently hosted atwww.moriessex.ca/hazelnuts. Asuitability map is also in theworks with an anticipated launchby end of year. Currently, thebest climate and soils are locatedon the north shores of Lake Erie,from Windsor through to Niagara

Falls. Several Oregon-bred vari-eties such as Jefferson andYamhill are “Ferrero-approved”varieties suitable for zones sixand seven. They are blight toler-ant, but not necessarily cold toler-ant.

Grower Martin Hodgson hasdeveloped Norfolk C16 andChelsea C28, two varieties whichare currently being tissue culturedby Mori Essex Nurseries. Thehope is to commercialize thesevarieties for hardiness in zonefive, says Andrew Nixon, newproduct marketing and sales, MoriEssex Nurseries.

“The Quebec market is alsointerested in hazels,” says LindaGrimo, Grimo Nut Nurseries,Niagara-on-the-Lake. “Growerslook for hardier selections.”

Hazelnuts are not self-pollinat-ing plants so it’s important tohave compatible species, saysGrimo. In Prince Edward Island,growers there have hand pollinat-ed with promising results.

Right: Hazelnut rootstock ispropagated at Mori EssexNurseries near Leamington,Ontario.

Ontario hazelnut plantings in a nutshell: 100 acres

Hops winners

ALTERNATIVE CROPS

To be selected,

they need to be protected.

As with all crop protection products, read and follow label instructions carefully.

The DuPont Oval Logo, DuPont™, The miracles of science™, Exirel™ and Cyazypyr™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. E. I. du Pont Canada Company is a licensee. Member of CropLife Canada.

© Copyright 2015 E. I. du Pont Canada Company. All rights reserved.

Use DuPont™Exirel™ insecticide, powered by Cyazypyr™, early in the season to give your onions the head-start they need during the most critical stage of development. Exirel™ has fast acting, translaminar and xylem systemic movement so you’ll be protecting new growth, from difficult chewing and sucking pests including thrips.

Exirel™, powered by Cyazypyr™, an important part of an integrated pest management program.

Questions? Ask your retailer, call 1-800-667-3925 or visit exirel.dupont.ca

On April 21, winners of theGreat Ontario-Hopped Craft BeerCompetition were formally recognized at The Blue ElephantCraft Brew House in Simcoe.

1st place: The Olde StoneBrewing Company & SlowAcres Organics

2nd place: Garden Brewers &Buttrum’s Family Farm

3rd place: Nick Bobas (Student,NC Teaching brewery) & ClearValley Hops

THE GROWER

PAGE 12 –– MAY 2015

STAFFPublisher: Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ AssociationEditor: Karen Davidson, 416-557-6413, kdavidson@ecomente.caProduction: Carlie Robertson, ext. 221, production@thegrower.orgAdvertising: Herb Sherwood, 519-380-0118, advertising@thegrower.orgThe Grower reserves the right to refuse any advertising. Anyerrors that are the direct result of The Grower will be compen-sated at our discretion with a correction notice in the next issue.No compensation will be given after the first running of the ad.Client signature is required before insertion.The Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association is the soleowner of The Grower. All editorials and opinions expressed inThe Grower are those of the newspaper’s editorial staff and/orcontributor, and do not necessarily reflect the view of the associa-tion.

All rights reserved. The contents of this publication maynot be reproduced either whole or in part without the priorwritten consent of the publisher.

OFFICE355 Elmira Road North, Unit 105Guelph, Ontario N1K 1S5 CANADATel. 519-763-8728 • Fax 519-763-6604The Grower is printed 12 times a year and sent to allmembers of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association who have paid $30.00 (plus G.S.T.) per year forthe paper through their commodity group or container fees.Others may subscribe as follows by writing to the office:

$30.00 (+ G.S.T.) /year in Canada$40.00/year International

Subscribers must submit a claim for missing issues withinfour months. If the issue is claimed within four months, butnot available, The Grower will extend the subscription byone month. No refunds on subscriptions.

P.M. 40012319

ONTARIO FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GROWERS’ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2015

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEEChair Jason Verkaik, BradfordVice-Chair Jan Vander Hout, WaterdownFruit Director Norm Charbonneau, Port ElginVeg Director Mac James, LeamingtonDirector John Thwaites, Niagara-on-the-Lake

BOARD OF DIRECTORSApples Charles Stevens, NewcastleFresh Vegetable - Other Kenny Forth, LyndenTender Fruit John Thwaites, Niagara-on-the-LakeON Asparagus Grws’. Mkg. Brd. Neil Reimer, ViennaGGO/Fresh Grape Growers Bill George Jr., BeamsvilleFresh Vegetable - Muck Jason Verkaik, BradfordON. Potato Board Mac James, LeamingtonSmall Fruit/Berries Norm Charbonneau, Port ElginON. Ginseng Growers’ Ken Van Torre, BurfordGreenhouse Jan Vander Hout, WaterdownGreenhouse Don Taylor, Durham

OFVGA SECTION CHAIRS

Crop Protection Charles Stevens, NewcastleResearch Harold Schooley, SimcoeProperty Brian Gilroy, MeafordLabour Ken Forth, LyndenSafety Nets Mark Wales, AlymerCHC Murray Porteous, Simcoe

“Drowning in data, thirstingfor knowledge.” This is really thebane of our “two-finger” accessto as much information that isavailable on the planet. Theamount of information on the webis astronomical, and siftingthrough the plethora of positionson any given topic is downrightchallenging, even for the well-intentioned and the well-informed.

As horticultural producers,how do we use data to our ownadvantage, to keep ahead of thegame, and keep challenges to production and profitability at aminimum, while at the same timeensuring that we are sustainable

in what we do? Whose informa-tion do we believe and how dowe assess the information that ispresented to us? We still rely onexperts and influencers for ourown situations, and most often itis someone whom we trust thatwins the day.

How does government get itsinformation, and how dopoliticians make their decisions?They are our representatives, andwe have an obligation to asksome of the tough questions ofgovernment so that when theybring a policy to the legislature,they do so with a strong case andcomplete evaluation of the potential impacts that surely willcome from its implementation.

Our current provincial government is trying to be at theforefront of policy, and with theelection to a majority governmenta year ago, the Liberals are moving fast and furiously withnew policies and legislation.Whose information are theybelieving, and how are theyassessing the information that isbeing presented to them? Wewould hope that they rely onOntario-based experts for inputon the majority of their policiesand encourage them to use theirexperts in the horticultural area to

have significant input on thosepolices that impact horticulture.

In horticulture, we face thedilemma that there are many sub-sectors within the sector –these could almost be equated tosilos in the sector. This is a natural phenomenon and producers are going to be muchmore engaged with commoditiesthat they grow and influence, asopposed to other sub-sectorswithin horticulture. It is prudentthat growers be aware of issuesfacing other sub-sectors andunderstand that there could bespill-over impacts into their business. Members of the OntarioFruit and Vegetable Growers’Association (OFVGA) have recognized this and work togetherthrough the Board of Directorsand others to try to minimize theeffect of sub-sector bias. This isdone through efforts to haveexcellent communication acrossthe board.

I have seen this same situationin academic institutions, privatesector corporations, agriculturalcommodity organizations and ingovernment. At my alma mater,the university is subdivided intocolleges, which are then subdivid-ed into departments and location,which are then subdivided into

discipline, which are then subdivided to specialty. It is nowonder that a researcher inRidgetown may not be fully intune with what is happening atthe main University of Guelphcampus. Through multiple formsof cross-communication, there areattempts to inform people acrossspecialties about the things happening at the institution (AtGuelph, Research Magazine, ThePortico, Website, Social Mediaand others).

In government, the “silo-ation”of ministries is a difficult challenge. This is a big, complex,sometimes intertwined, often veryfocused, collection of individualdepartments with agendas thatmay or may not be consistentwith each other. The obvious onefor agriculture is the perceiveddifferent agendas of the Ministryof the Environment and ClimateChange and the Ontario Ministryof Agriculture, Food and RuralAffairs. Like the OFVGA Boardof Directors, the government doeshave mechanisms to address thesechallenges, such as the Cabinetand committee of DeputyMinisters, as well as an expansivecommunications portfolio. Thegovernment also tries to use various communication methods

to get their messaging out, including print, web and socialmedia.

The OFVGA has an excellentpublication in The Grower, aswell as a significant presence onthe web. We recognize thoughthat there are challenges withcommunications and took a bigstep a couple of months ago tohave a dedicated focus on communications excellence, andhired Katie Burt (communica-tions@ofvga.org). She willenhance our communications toour members through web, publications and social media.She is providing the OFVGAwith input on what is happeningwithin and across the horticulturalsector, but also is engaged withkeeping us up-to-date on the latest information from industry,academia and government. Iencourage you to connect withKatie to make sure that she is onyour “list,” and if you want to beon our list, she can help you outwith that as well. You can followher on twitter at @ontfruitveg aswell. We are confident that ourthirst for knowledge will beenhanced through her activities.

The need for excellent communication

JOHN KELLYEXECUTIVE VP, OFVGA

Our society has voted in amajority for both federal andOntario governments in the lastelections. It might be said theOntario Liberals and the federalConservatives don’t have much incommon; maybe that is the understatement of the year.However, if you talk to any member of parliament they willassure you any decisions are forthe betterment of the people theyserve, their seemingly polarizingmandates will try to create jobs,trade, infrastructure, etc. The one

thing they do share is their desireto be re-elected and their abilityto tow the party line and singfrom the same hymnbook. Theirleaders are strong and their mes-sage is united.

We are all familiar with thestatement “united we stand, divid-ed we fall.” If we look back atgreat sport franchises, militaries,governments, businesses, a common thread is woven throughall. That’s strong leadership,cohesive team chemistry, an abili-ty to mobilize the message theybelieve in. Under this umbrella,individual talent still needs toflourish, creativity needs to bewelcomed. There are also differ-ent needs represented within theseorganizations. It is important tounderstand all the needs of thedifferent representations of theteam and work to move them forward under the same banner.

I have the privilege to serve ona board that works very welltogether even though each director is representing a differentsector within horticulture. In hor-ticulture the Ontario Fruit andVegetable Growers’ Association

(OFVGA) represents more than120 different fruits and vegetables. There are 11 differentsatellite associations from ginsengto greenhouse vegetables to ten-der fruit to name a few. Each ofthese crops and organizations hasunique needs, yet we also havevery common goals. Serving onthis board, I continue to witnessan understanding of the individ-ual’s issues and concerted effortto hold true to working for all ofhorticulture. This is true from thestaff, to the ex-officios, the boardof directors as well as other farming organizations.

The Canadian ProduceMarketing Association haslaunched a “#halfyourplate” cam-paign to encourage consumers tohave produce as 50 per cent of alltheir meals. We support this notonly to promote our horticulturalindustry but to encourage healthyeating. We need to fill the otherhalf of the plate too, with protein,grains, and dairy. Agriculture represents so much variety that isvital to our existence. There aremany associations that representthis variety, from Ontario Grain

Farmers, Christian Federation ofFarmers Ontario, OntarioFederation of Agriculture toCanadian Beef within ourprovince and country. It is important that we work togetherin the spirit of agriculture. We

need to understand our uniquedifferences and work together inour lobby and marketing efforts.Let us continue to reach out toeach other. Agriculture now morethan ever needs to mobilize ourmessage.

Mobilize the message

JASON VERKAIKCHAIR, OFVGA

Delegates on the move at the CPMA convention and trade show,Montreal, QC. Photo courtesy of CPMA.

THE GROWER

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 13

Each day of the year, governments see before them theresults of the research they’vefunded, in the homes of everyCanadian. Much of that fundinggoes to work behind the scenes,in labs, studios and fields forexample, which most peopledon’t see.

But still, they get it. Theyknow at some level the things thatsurround them, bring them joyand bring them nourishment areconnected to research, and thatresearch is basically a humanendeavor that leans heavily ongovernment support.

Despite all kinds of competinginterests for government money,for the most part in this country,there’s a broad culture of researchsupport. That culture was clearlast month during what theCouncil of Ontario Universitiesdeemed Research Week, whenthe contributions of those who’vededicated themselves to makingour lives better, brighter andfuller was recognized.

One of the most vivid examples of our province’ssupport for research took place inGuelph on a spring-like evening.There, sciences of all kinds converged during a presentationat the sparkling Civic Museum, aspart of a University of Guelph-led

event called Why ResearchMatters. Over the course of morethan two hours, five University ofGuelph researchers explainedhow their activities were “gamechanging,” a term the provincialcouncil had challenged them tofocus on.

And they certainly did.Veteran atmospheric controlresearcher Mike Dixon explainedhow his lab was developing environments for food plants suchas tomatoes that could be grownin space ships headed for Mars.He’s a world leader in this field,part of a global effort to developa better understanding of oursolar system by reaching otherplanets.

The lessons learned in his labcome from years of developingbetter terrestrial greenhouse environments, which are likewisecontrolled by humans. And theknowledge he gains about how tocoax the most out of a plant withthe least amount of essentialinputs such as water is givingCanadian greenhouse producers aleg up.

Dixon needs some prettysophisticated equipment to succeed – in some cases, equipment that hasn’t even beenmanufactured yet, and exists onlyas an idea in his head.

That’s where artist ChristianGiroux and engineer John Phillipscome in. Accomplished in theirown fields, they work together inwhat’s called a digital haptic(touch) lab at the university,interpreting ideas fromresearchers such as Dixon and,using their artistic and engineer-ing skills and a revolutionary 3-Dprinter, turning ideas into tangibleitems. They’ve worked withDixon to create one-off technology that was unavailableelsewhere.

And finally, bringing it allback home at the recognition

event were researchers David Maand Jess Haines, who are leadingwhat is destined to be a ground-breaking study in familyhealth. They’ve received initialsupport to keep track of, and promote, the wellness of whatcould be as many as 3,000Guelph-area families in a cross-section of social and economic conditions, for the next20 years. Their goal is to introduce best health practices tothese families (includingincreased fruit and vegetable consumption), to see how theyfare in the long run and offer it asa model for others to follow.They’re looking for new participants now.

Those who fund their researchknow we need people to behealthy mentally and physically ifthey’re going to create and contribute, make life fuller, startnew businesses and be leaders.

The provincial council is alsosponsoring a contest for Ontariansto vote for what they consider thetop innovation from universities

in the past 100 years. Fifty innovations have been put for-ward; five are from the Universityof Guelph, which is an impressivepercentage given that Ontario hasmore than 20 universities. You

can vote for your favourites athttp://yourontarioresearch.ca.

Research happens 24-7. Itnever stops. It’s great to see itsupported, and its many contributions recognized.

Research results are in every field and every home

OWEN ROBERTSU OF GUELPH

PERSPECTIVE

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

CPMA clarifiesresponsibilities

I just read thearticle, Safety of

reusable plasticcontainers ques-tioned, whichstated: Linda

Delli Santi, chair ofthe CHC’s greenhouse committeeechoed his concerns, saying that aRPC technical working groupunder the auspices of theCanadian Produce MarketingAssociation is moving at “glacialspeed.”

As clarification, the RPCTechnical Working Group isunder the auspices of theCanadian Horticultural Councilnot the Canadian ProduceMarketing Association.

Jane ProctorVice President Policy & IssueManagementCanadian Produce MarketingAssociation

fofeyoceCon

storruo

eentrat

your

ovidesr

e

ans

op.cr

oad-br

%

fofe

moEch

stor

*ese acror40% Cover ®.ho %

ougthr

long-l

DuraS

you ca

The co

spect

conce

Echo

mo

®Echoougthr

Givegh any kind of weather

otection that sticksasting pr

rainfast technology ™Shield

es, and the acran cover mor

oncentrated formulation me

ol in yourrum disease contr

othalonil foentration of chlor

fungicide delivers a high

es.e acror

. Give ygh any kind of weather

s

pr

he

ea

r c

or

o U DuraShield is a trademark of Sipcam Agr™ed trademark and egisterEcho is a r® ections.ead and follow label dirAlways r

es.e acrovides 70% mored. One unit of dry pr*One unit of liquid compar

DEFUNGICI

®EchoeStr

with E

op tcr

g

-604-534-88151-9369 BC: 1-800-361Quebec:

-800-265-54441-5444 Ontario & Maritimes: 1-800-561est: W

.uap.ca for full label information.Visit www

13002 02.13USA Inc.

™

Excellent RainfastnessDurashield

.uap.cawww

ength. Concentrated.

Echo fungicide.

otection it deservesthe disease pr

yg y

4

This overview shot of the Victoria Avenue farm at the VinelandResearch and Innovation Centre speaks to the long horizons needed for research. Photo by Denis Cahill.

PAGE 14 –– MAY 2015

THE GROWER

BRUCE KELLY AND MICAHSHEARER-KUDEL

“Water, water everywhere, butnary a drop to drink.”

A line from The Rime of theAncient Mariner just mightbecome the reality in Californiaas the drought continues to stretchwater resources thin. Politiciansare finally taking action asGovernor Jerry Brown hasannounced a 25 per cent reduc-tion in water use by residences,businesses and farms, as theSierra Nevada snowpack disap-pears, and reservoirs throughoutCalifornia dwindle to record lows.

But what does this mean forOntarians where there really iswater, water everywhere withplenty to drink and irrigate cropswith? It means we will need tochange production practices. Weseem to have a business opportunity to grow more imported commodities such as

strawberries, lettuce, tomatoesand broccoli. Canada currentlyimports $2.1 billion worth of foodfrom the Sunshine State. That statistic could change greatly ifCalifornia cannot meet demanddue to the drought.

Ontario farmers will have togrow more for domestic demand,and possibly more to satisfydemand south of the border. Withabundant water to grow our crops,this may seem like an obviousdecision, however our winterweather means we would requiresignificant investment in infra-structure to replace winter pro-duce currently supplied fromCalifornia.

We can learn from California.Growing more fruits and vegeta-bles to meet greater demand inOntario and the United States canonly be sustainable if farmersmonitor their irrigation practicesand use water as efficiently aspossible.

The Natural ResourcesDefense Council, a U.S.

environmental group, has suggested some agricultural waterefficiency tools to better copewith the drought. They include:• Use smart irrigation to ensurecrops are watered when they mostneed to be.• Use deficit irrigation to limitwater use at drought-tolerantgrowth stages.• Expand efficient drip and sprinkler irrigation technology.• Use recycled water to irrigatecrops.

These same points apply toOntario as well. Smart irrigationand storm water capture are fundamental to a whole-farmwater management plan, a keycomponent of sustainability forany farm that uses irrigation.Even though the Great Lakes provide abundant water resources,the threat of drought looms inOntario as well. Growers willrecall the 2012 season in whichmany crops suffered or were lostdue to the heat and lack of naturalprecipitation. There is a theoretical opportunity to growmore lettuce, broccoli, strawber-ries and tomatoes if the droughtin California continues. Learningfrom California’s mismanaged

water resources, Ontario farmerscan implement innovative tech-nologies and practices to improveyields while conserving water.Innovative farmers such as JudgeFarms (corn) in La Salette, andJohn Jacques (asparagus) inThamesville have adopted subsur-face drip irrigation to apply waterdirectly to the root zone of theircrops enhancing the crop andreducing overall water used.Using techniques such as irrigat-ing in the early morning andevening, variable rate applicationtechnology and offline sourcessuch as ponds will contribute togrowing more efficiently and sustainably.

All of North America hascome to rely on the CentralValley region. It’s estimated that99 per cent of all almonds, walnuts, and pistachios and morethan 90 per cent of all broccoli,strawberries, grapes and tomatoesconsumed in the U.S. comes fromCalifornia – as well as 74 per centof all lettuce.

The impacts of water restrictions on California agricul-ture will cause a fundamentalshift in the pricing structure ofproduce across North America.

As prices are supported byCalifornia’s low cost base, thecompetitive structure will changeoffering improved opportunitiesto other regions that have thepotential to fill the void.

Washington, Michigan, NewYork, and Oregon are a distantsecond, third and fourth in fruitproduction respectively. But climates limit opportunities tomove production to many regions. In vegetable production,Washington, Oregon, Michigan,Wisconsin, Minnesota, NewYork, and Ontario will all haveimproved cost structures as pricesin California increase. Michigan,Ontario and New York benefitfrom their proximity to the north-eastern concentration ofconsumers as well.

The drought in California hasmoved beyond shocking headlines to an economic forcewith the potential to shift the production dynamics of NorthAmerican produce production.

Bruce Kelly is environmental program manager for Farm &Food Care. Micah Shearer-Kudel is environmental coordinator.

California drought could provideopportunities for Ontario growers

May 9 Drumlin Farm Spring Open House, Puslinch, ON

June 1-7 Ontario Local Food Week

June 8-10 United Fresh Trade Show, Chicago, IL

June 14 Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Country Heritage Park, Milton, ON

June 17 Cornell University Extension Fruit Field Day, Wayne County

June 27 Ontario Garlic Growers’ Workshop, Ridgetown Agricultural College, Ridgetown, ON

July 4-5 Lavender Festival, Prince Edward County Lavender Farm, Hillier, ON

July 4-5 Norfolk Lavender Festival, Apple Hill Lavender and Bonnieheath Estate Lavender and Winery, Windham Centre and Waterford, ON

July 12-17 International Farm Management Association & Congress, Quebec City, QC

July 27 – 30 World Potato Congress, Yanqing, Beijing, China

August 4 Nova Scotia Fruit Growers’ Association Orchard Tour, Kentville, NS

August 13 Peak of the Market 17th Annual Family Fun Day, Winnipeg, MB

August 20 Ontario Potato Field Day, HJV Equipment, Alliston, ON

August 20 Processing Vegetable Field Day, New York State Agricultural Experimental Station, Geneva, NY

Sept 15 – 17 Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show, Woodstock, ON

Sept 15 – 17 37th International Carrot Conference, Nottawasaga Inn, Alliston, ON

COMING EVENTS 2015

The United States' ability to produce fresh fruits and vegetables lies in several key areas, each withtheir own advantages and disadvantages. Ontario growers may be able to meet some demand not metby California growers. Chart from the USDA.

A photo from CNN shows a housing development on the edge of the desert near Cathedral City,California.

THE GROWER

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 15

RETAIL NAVIGATOR

Innovation at the CPMA Trade Show

The CPMA annual conventionand trade show is always a sourcefor new innovation in the producedepartment. At this year’sMontreal convention, there weresome interesting ideas in packag-ing and display. Often we thinkinnovation has to be the productitself. The definition is broaderand really can be any improve-ment to the offering that helps getmore produce in the shoppingcart.

There were many examples ofre-sealable packaging. This has agreat story in that the plastic fromtraditional clamshells is reducedand the graphics options for thetop improve from the traditionallabel on a clamshell. These blue-berries from Consolidated FruitPackers present well. (1)

Smaller packages give the con-sumer an option to make it eveneasier to take fruit with them on

the go. Whether it is for a kid’slunch box or your gym bag theseare great options. Mucci hasintroduced their “Smucci” straw-berries in a number of sizesincluding this two- pack – greatbranding to draw attention to theitem. (2) The second example ofsingle serve packaging came froma European company with themore traditional clamshell insmaller formats. (3)

Organic produce is a challengeto differentiate on the shelf andthen put through the front end ofthe store properly. Novo Bio fromMontreal had some great sleevesfor organic cooking greens. Thebrown wax paper gives theimpression of a premium itemand it reinforces the organic posi-tioning. With the UPC there is amuch better chance the productwill go through the cash registerproperly. (4)

Display at retail is a key toincreasing sales. Off-shelf displays give retailers extendedlinear feet of selling from theirtraditional fixtures and they aremore flexible for placement. Thecorrugated bins from RockTennare great for product that can beshipped and displayed in the bins.The different shapes and designhelp draw attention in a busystore. (5) The half- pallet with thebacker card is ideal for shippingand draws attention to the display. (6)

Remember with any of thesegreat offerings you need to planwell ahead with your customersto ensure great execution. Greatideas without great executionthrough the warehouse and thestore will not deliver the results.Every year at CPMA, we seemore ideas that will help get yourproducts in the shopping cart.

Make your meetings more effective There is nothing better than

walking away from a meetingwith your customer feeling thatyou really accomplished a lot andthat your relationship is strongerthan it was prior to the meeting.There are some simple things tofocus on that will make the meet-ing more effective and result inmore of your items in the shop-ping cart.

What you say and how you sayit are both very important

Category managers arefocused on driving sales and prof-it in their categories. Your con-versation should be built aroundhow your item will support theseinitiatives for the retailer. Youneed to make the conversationspecific to this retailer andinclude examples of where yousupport their programs. It is theretailer’s store; you need to proveyou deserve to be there. Everylinear foot of shelf space is valu-able to them.

Do not repeat yourself. We allget nervous but if possible try notto repeat yourself. In short meet-ings it is frustrating to hear thesame point several times. Thecategory managers will assumeyou believe your item tastesgreat.

Keep the discussion on facts.Let them decide if your product is

the best in the category. You areproud of it and you want that tocome across.

You should try the other itemsin the category, especially the pri-vate label. If you like the privatelabel you should tell them. Thisdoes two things; it illustrates thatyou are interested in the categoryand that you understand the roleof private label.

Talk in terms the categorymanager will understand. Theyare not production experts so donot expect that they knowacronyms or specific terms. Thecategory manager will talk incases sold and shrink. Shrink forthem is defined as the cases solddivided by the cases that areshipped to the store.

What you don’t say can be asimportant as what you do say

Category managers are peopletoo. They do not appreciate peo-ple who tell them how to do theirjob. You can reinforce your posi-tive attributes but don’t suggestSafeway will be lacking if theydo not have your item. Let themfigure that out.

Do not speak poorly about theprivate label products. The cate-gory manager sees the privatelabel as his own. If you do nothave something good to say, donot say anything at all.

Do not speak poorly aboutyour competition. Rememberthey made the decision to putthese products in the store sothere must be a reason they didthat. Let them figure out thatyour item is better or that they aremissing the opportunity.

When you are in the store youmight have noticed some thingsin the category that did not makesense to you. This is not the timeto critique it. You can ask whysomething is done but do not passjudgment, especially before youunderstand the rationale.

If you do not have a number orthe answer to a question, do notlie. The opportunity to follow upwith an answer via email orphone is just fine. It can be agood opportunity to stay in touch.

Peter Chapman is a retail consultant, professional speakerand the author of A la cart-A suppliers’ guide to retailers’ priorities. Peter is based inHalifax NS, where he is the principal at GPS BusinessSolutions. Peter works with producers and processors to helpthem navigate through the retailenvironment with the ultimategoal to get more of their items inthe shopping cart. pchapman@gpsbusiness.ca.

PETER CHAPMAN

Your Hard Workis a Work of Art.

The wait is over! We’re proud to reveal this year’s group trip is to two world-class cities: Rome and Florence. Let Italy sweep you off your feet with its architecture, museums, and of course, delicious

cuisine. Just remember your camera... and all those rewarding Hot Potatoes points that you can redeem for the group trip or cash.

Visit Hot-Potatoes.ca or call 1 877-661-6665 for more information.

1 2 3 4

65

THE GROWER

PAGE 16 –– MAY 2015

KAREN DAVIDSON

Bradford, ON -- Any day now, expect7,700 trees and shrubs to be planted alongfour kilometres of the Holland Marshcanal. Bare root stock is planted in thespring to allow enough time for establishment.

These riparian plantings act as living filters to trap and treat materials from

entering water courses. They stabilizewater temperatures and prevent soil erosion. The typical species are dogwood,shrub willow and elderberry.

“Patience is required,” say KatleyaYoung-Chin and Pamela Martin, employees of the Lake Simcoe RegionConservation Authority. As the accompanying pictures demonstrate, two orthree years are needed for the plants to get

established. Since the Landowners’Environmental Assistance Program(LEAP) funding started in 2008, more than10 kilometres of buffers have been planted.About 20,000 native trees and shrubs arealready in the ground.

Land owners are encouraged to applyfor grants while funding is available. Ofthe grant categories, the most applicableare soil erosion prevention, cover cropping

and irrigation water management. Theyalso point out that grants are available forupgrading chemical and fuel storage andupgrading septic systems. Funding ratesare from 50 to 100 per cent.

If farmers wish trees to be planted,employees of the Lake Simcoe RegionConservation Authority will hand plant.Machines are used for larger blocks ofland.

For growers look-ing to sanitize fruit andvegetable washwateror flume systems, consider a new chlorine dioxide tabletavailable in Canada.This new tablet formulation will makesanitizer accessible tothe smallest operator atan affordable price.

Chlorine dioxide isan interesting moleculeconsisting of one chlorine atom and twooxygen atoms. It is 2.5times more efficient than chlorineand 10 times more soluble inwater.

“In a nutshell, the chlorinedioxide tablets are an economicalalternative to on-site generationof chlorine dioxide in a smalloperation,” explains BrianSutton, Provide Agro. “This sanitizer can be used for irrigation water in the field or ingreenhouse applications or forproduce washwater.”

The tablet is effective in awide range of pH up to 10.Sutton recommends the tabletsfor greenhouse irrigation water.The chemistry will penetrate andbreak up biofilm in the irrigationsystem. Reduction of biofilmresults in a reduction of cloggedemitters and better sanitationoverall. The level of chlorine

dioxide can be controlled andmonitored using PPM or ORPsensors. If you are currentlymonitoring chlorine and acidwith ORP and pH, you can continue using the system.Simply substitute chorine dioxidefor the chlorine.

In very small systems, chlorine dioxide tablets can beintroduced directly into the dumptank to maintain proper sanitationlevels. These levels can be monitored with test strips, ahandheld meter or a completemonitoring system with datalogging to satisfy food safety

programs. For more informationvisit www.provideag.ca

Preventing soil erosion, protecting waterways

Chlorine dioxide tabletsoffer simple sanitizingsolution

MUCK VEGETABLE GROWERS’ CONFERENCE AND TRADE SHOW

These photos demonstrate the difference in shading water courses before and after riparian plantings. Photos courtesy of Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority.

THE GROWER

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 17

THE GROWER

PAGE 18 –– MAY 2015

FOCUS: GRAPES, BERRIES, VINEYARDS AND WINERIES

On the grapevine

Optical sorters reduce herbaceous wines

Textbook for reference

Written by a recognized expert Markus Keller, TheScience of Grapevines: Anatomy and Physiology compre-hensively explores the physiology of the grapevine as itoccurs around the world. He takes into account the global-ization of the wine industry and the resulting increase oflands being used for grapevine cultivation. This bookaddresses not only the specific issues and concerns ofgrapevines from regions around the world, but includesimportant emerging topics such as global climate change,water relations, temperature effect and more.

Award of Merit to PR pioneer

After 40 years in the grape and wine industry, DebiPratt has earned her retirement. The Grape Growers ofOntario Award of Merit was presented to her at its recentannual general meeting.

1975 was the year that Inniskillin was granted the firstOntario winery license since 1929. It was also the yearthat Debi Pratt traded in a teaching career to join foundersDonald Ziraldo and Karl Keiser at Inniskillin, where shebecame the winery public relations manager. She’s beenat the helm of media and public relations until her retire-ment last year.

As an acknowledgement of her important contributionsto Inniskillin and the related wineries, ConstellationCanada has renamed a 90-acre vineyard in her honour.

Ontario invests in grape and wine strategy

Ontario’s ag ministry has announced the details of theprovince’s $75 million, five-year Grape and WineStrategy.

The new Marketing and Vineyard ImprovementProgram will help to increase the sale of Ontario wines inand out-of-province and enhance the marketing ofOntario's wine regions as tourist destinations. The programwill also support vineyard production improvementsincluding the purchase of new machinery and equipmentor new technology. Additional research focus will be ongrape diseases and pests. Growers will benefit from anumber of supports previously provided through theVineyard Improvement Program.

The renewed VQA Wine Support Program will helpincrease LCBO sales of Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA)wines, encourage innovation and improve exports andtourism.

Mechanical harvesting ofgrapes has come a long way, withoptical sorters as the latest option.It’s an effective tool for

improving the quality of the grapeharvest while decreasing labourrequirements.

Once the grapes are harvested,

the machine can sort 2,000berries per second, up to 12tonnes per hour. Perhaps one ofthe biggest benefits of the Pellenc

machine is easy transport betweenwineries.

The end result is a more complex and aromatic wine.That’s because any herbaceous orbitter character has been removed

with stems. Astringency and dryness are reduced so that suppleness of the tannins canshine.

For more information, go towww.pellenc.com.

A

l

NEAVHAL

auratuNashe HaTh

ARM

ed!

FATURALAT

ail

ry.p Berrilly Inspi d!

skava

culti19

MS

ablearsv

9

lauraatuN

oror further infF

y and sua healthap and can advise yHask

aal Fture Navt LaHaA

ers vood-loers and fwogrdelicious berry is gawn in Japan and RoGr

evoou disce yvHa

ed!reilly Insp

tion and plant salesrma

d.charap orsful Haskesccwing and maintaioou on gry

o pioneee helping te’rarms, w

otia and Ona Scve in Noalikaining huge momentum with

enturies, this uniqor csia fus

et? ap berry yed the Haskr

ining er

ntario! h

, ue

omcapa..haskwwom wcarms.alfturenav.lahawww

otia B0J 1a Scv, Nod, Blockhouse6 Northfield R177

omcarms.alfturenavemail: lynn@laha

2 209 2912ell: 909 C7 21322 5el: 90T

e:ettypiecynn Pontact Lction and plant sales, ormaor further infF

m

1E0

2

THE GROWER

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 19

PAGE 20 –– MAY 2015

THE GROWER

FOCUS: GRAPES, BERRIES, VINEYARDS AND WINERIES

Viruses, vectors and vines: Oh my!

WENDY McFADDEN-SMITH

As the grape crop matured in2013, striking symptoms of grapeleafroll and grape red blotch diseases were noted in manyvineyards of both red and whitevarieties across Ontario. While weknew that grape leafroll diseasewas present, the extent of thesymptoms far exceeded anythingpreviously seen. Grape red blotchwas confirmed in one vineyardblock in Niagara in 2012.

Grape leafroll disease iscaused by several related virusesthat are identified by number.Grape Leafroll-associated Virus(GLRaV)-1 and -3 are the mostprevalent throughout the world.In red varieties, GLRaV causesleaves to turn red between theveins while in whites, interveinalareas may be yellow. In bothcases, the leaves curl downwardwith symptoms first becomingapparent in late August to mid-September, starting from thebase of shoots and progressingupward.

Grape red blotch disease iscaused by another virus, GrapeRed Blotch-associated Virus(GRBaV). In 2008, a group fromWashington State developed amolecular (PCR) test that identi-fied the causal agent. Before thistest was developed, grape redblotch had been misdiagnosed asgrape leafroll disease, nutrientdeficiency or other vine stresses.In fact, it has been around for along time. It was recently identi-fied in archival samples collectedin Sonoma in the 1940s. Sincethe development of a test forGRBaV, it has been identified inCalifornia, New York, Maryland,Oregon, New Jersey,Pennsylvania, Washington, Texasand Ontario. Like GLRaV, vinesinfected with GRBaV showsymptoms on basal leaves in latesummer; however, leaves havepink to crimson splotches in redvarieties and yellowish splotchesin white varieties, smaller veinswill turn red rather than stayinggreen and leaves do not roll

downward.Fruit yield and quality can be

significantly reduced by infectionby either virus. Fruit from infected vines lags behind uninfected vines with respect tomaturity. This is especiallyimportant for late maturing varieties that can be challengingto ripen in cooler climates.

All Vitis (vinifera, hybrids,rootstocks, labrusca) are susceptible to these viruses, noresistant varieties exist and once avine is infected, there is no wayto cure it. Both viruses can betransmitted through propagation.According to Dr. Marc Fuchs ofCornell University, they cannotbe transmitted through vineyardactivities such as pruning, hedging, trimming, harvesting orsuckering. Many species ofmealybug and soft scale insectshave been identified as vectors ofGLRaV-1 and -3, some of whichhave been documented in Canada.If a single vector insect feeds onan infected vine then moves to anadjacent healthy vine and feeds, itcan transmit GLRaV.

To make things more challenging, symptoms may beextremely variable. Differentstrains cause different severitiesof symptom expression and it ispossible for vines to host morethan one virus so symptoms maynot be “typical.” Some grapevarieties may be infected but notexhibit typical foliar symptoms.Environmental conditions may befavourable to symptom expres-sion in some years but not in oth-ers. Production practices, espe-cially crop load, can affect symp-tom expression. Vines thatshowed strong symptoms oneseason may be asymptomatic inthe next.

The only way to be absolutelycertain that a vine is infected is tohave samples tested by a quali-fied lab. Leaf samples from thebasal part of shoots should becollected after veraison. Theviruses can also be detected indormant wood; however, this isgenerally more labour intensive

in the lab and therefore morecostly than foliar testing. Consulta local pest diagnostic lab formore information on sample submission procedures.

Only female mealybugs cantransmit virus and they do nothave wings so their movement isrelatively limited unless theybecome windborne. Mealybugsspend the majority of their livesburied deep beneath the bark ofthe trunks, feeding on phloem tissue. To date, no vector hasbeen confirmed for GRBaV.

During the growing season of2014, commercial vineyards weresurveyed for mealybug and softscale insects. Mealybugs werefound in 32 of the 58 vineyardssurveyed and scales were foundin eight. Representative samplesof adult females were submittedto the Canadian NationalCollection of Insects, Arachnidsand Nematodes for identification.Based on morphology, all mealy-bugs were identified as grapemealybug (Pseudococcus maritimus) and scales asEuropean fruit Lecanium scale(Parthenolecanium corni). Thefact that it was grape mealybugand not vine mealybug is signifi-cant because grape mealybugdoes not infest the roots whilevine mealybug does. This meansthat replacement vines will not beinfected by soil-inhabiting, virus-carrying mealybugs.

Also as part of this project,vines at four vineyards weremonitored twice a week formealybug development, vinegrowth stage and temperature.Mealybugs overwintered asyoung instars. These developedinto adults with a peak in mid-June (pre bloom) and the nextgeneration of mealybugs hatchedstarting in early July (fruit set).A single generation of mealybugswas found.

The youngest mealybug instars(crawlers) are the most motileand efficient at transmitting thevirus so control should be targeted at this growth stage. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Symptoms of GLRaV infection on Chardonnay: downward rolling and interveinal yellowing.

THE GROWER

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 21

FOCUS: GRAPES, BERRIES, VINEYARDS AND WINERIES

Only malathion and Movento areregistered for mealybug control ingrapes in Ontario. Because thevast majority of mealybugsremain under the bark, it is nextto impossible to control themwith insecticides that rely oncontact to work. Therefore, ifGLRaV-3 and grape mealybugs

are confirmed in a vineyard, themost effective spray for reducingspread of GLRaV is a pre-bloomspray of Movento followed byanother application 30 days later.

In collaboration with Drs.Chrystel Olivier and LorneStobbs of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, we are

investigating potential insect vectors of GRBaV. Insects werecollected on yellow sticky cardsin the canopy and by sweep netsin the cover crops and headlandsof six vineyards with more than50 per cent infection by GRBaV.

The predominant insects collected include: watercress

sharpshooter (Draeculacephalamollipes), aster leafhopper(Macrosteles quadrilineatus),grape leafhopper (Erythroneuracomes), blackfaced leafhopper(Graminella nigrifons), and pota-to leafhopper (Empoasca fabae).These are currently being testedfor the presence of GRBaV usingmolecular techniques (PCR).

Growers are now faced withthe question of whether theyshould remove just infected vinesor entire blocks. A study byresearchers at Cornell investigat-ed the economic impact of grapeleafroll disease on Cabernet francin order to answer the question ofwhether it was more economicalto retain infected vines, removejust infected vines or removeentire blocks. They concludedthat disease control should bebased on the values of infectionlevel, yield reduction, price penalty incurred, and vineyardage. We will be using informa-tion accumulated in the 2014Grape Cost of Production document to determine thresholdinfection levels to assist growersin making the decision regardingroguing individual vines or blockremoval.

The long-term solution to the

problem with grape virus diseasesis to replace all infected vineswith certified, virus-free nurserymaterial. The Canadian grapeindustry is working toward establishing mother blocks ofvirus-free vines. However, thesevines will not be commerciallyavailable for several years. Evenwhen virus-free vines are planted,there is still a risk that vectors canmove virus from nearby infectedvineyards so vector managementwill still be key to keep cleanblocks clean.

Do these diseases spell the endof the Ontario grape industry?Absolutely not! Ontario grapegrowers are still able to producehigh-quality grapes that produceexcellent quality wines. Grapeleafroll disease has been recog-nized in many grape-growingareas of the world for decades.The Ontario grape industry isresilient and will weather thischallenge as it has many othersover its history.

Wendy McFadden-Smith is tenderfruit and grape IPM specialist forOMAFRA.

Viruses, vectors and vines: Oh my!

Ontario exports of theprovince’s wines into China aresignificantly expanding with twoimportant agreements that willbring more investment to localwineries.

As part of the April 2015Agri-Food Trade Mission toChina, ministers Jeff Leal andMichael Chan participated in cer-

emonies involving two majorOntario wineries and their international partners.

Ontario’s Pillitterri EstatesWinery and China-based HareWine Company have signed a $6million agreement that will bringmore Ontario icewine to Chinaand help meet growing demandfor the signature product. The

investment from Hare WineCompany will establish a newvineyard and build a new wineryin Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The second announcementinvolves Ontario’s VinelandEstates Winery which will nowsell its wines at a retail outlet inTai’an, a city in China’sShandong province. The retail

outlet is operated by Vineland’slong-term Chinese partner,L’Huillier Wine Company.

Source: OMAFRA news release

Ontario to expand wine exports to China

The ‘AQUA Wetland System’“A new breed of constructed wetland”

AQUA Treatment Technologies Inc. designs and installs the ‘AQUA Wetland System’ (AWS) for tertiary treatment of many types of waste water including sanitary sewage, landfill leachate, dairy farm & abattoirwastewater, greenhouse irrigation leachate water &mushroom farm leachate water (i.e. manure pileleachate) and high strength winery washwater.

The ‘AQUA Wetland System’ is operated out of doorsand can achieve year-round tertiary treatment of waste-water. This sub-surface, vertical flow constructed wetlandconsists of sand & gravel beds planted with moisture tolerant plant species. Water is pumped vertically fromcell to cell. There is no open or standing water.Treatment occurs through physical filtration & biologicaldegradation. Plants shade & insulate the cells, cyclingnutrients while preventing algae growth. There is noproduction of sludge.

The AWS has been approved for use by the Ontario Ministry of Environment through over 40 EnvironmentalCompliance Approvals. Recently the Region of Niagara began approving the AWS for treatment of ‘smallflow’ winery washwater I.e. < 10,000 liters per day. Other agencies who have issued approvals includeHealth Canada, USEPA and OMAFRA. Recent projects include:1) treatment & re-use of greenhouse irrigation leach water at greenhouses in Niagara & Haldimand2) treatment of winery wastewater at Greenlane Estates Winery & numerousother in Niagara 3) treatment of landfill leachate at sites in Pembroke, Niagara and Alabama

For additional information please Contact LloydRozema at: cell. 905-327-4571email. lrozema@aqua-tt.com

Symptoms of grape red blotch : pink to crimson blotches, no downward rolling, smaller veins turnred. Photos by Wendy McFadden-Smith

Ministers Leal and Chan check out Vineland Estates Winery VQAwines now available in Ta'ian, China.

THE GROWER

PAGE 22 –– MAY 2015

FOCUS: GRAPES, BERRIES, VINEYARDS AND WINERIES

Long live Sovereign Coronation grapes: extending postharvest storability KIMBERLEY CATHLINE

Slowing down the agingprocess, preventing excessivedehydration, maintaining firmnessand fighting infection – thesetasks sound like the benefits of amiracle cream, but in reality eachone is part of the job of a posthar-vest scientist. At VinelandResearch and Innovation Centre(Vineland), postharvest scientistsfocus on developing and applyingtechniques to extend shelf andstorage life for fresh horticulturalproducts, as well as, creatinginnovative technologies.

Enter Sovereign Coronationtable grapes. These blue-skinnedberries are the most widely growntable grape in the Niagara regionand a perfect candidate for evaluating methods to extendstorage life. Coronation grapesare available during a short window of time, from late summer to early fall. In the past,demand for lengthy storagepostharvest has not been high.However in recent years, growershave had to compete with thelocal market, which is saturatedwith other produce, resulting inpicked and packed grapes thatcannot be sold in this short timeframe. Combined with thissituation and the limited ability tostore grapes postharvest, there hasbeen a need for developing strategies to extend the storagelife of these berries.

The two main goals when storing grapes are inhibitingmould caused by growth of thefungus Botrytis cinerea and preventing stem browning due towater loss. In order to obtain thebest fruit quality and longestduration of storage, preparationmust begin in the field. Propercare, including gentle handling,removal of diseased and damagedberries, quick transport, rapidcooling and storage at optimal

conditions will extend postharveststorage life. The use of sulphurdioxide is also a key factor ininhibiting the growth of Botrytisand preventing stem browning.

In 2014, Vineland’s posthar-vest team performed a study toinvestigate the use of sulphurdioxide-generating pads duringstorage of Coronation grapes.Sulphur dioxide is released fromthe pads when exposed to humidity in the air and works toinhibit mould and reduce stembrowning until the active ingredient is depleted. In thestudy, grapes were stored withtwo different types of pads orwith no pad at all. The grapeswere removed from storage atvarious time intervals, followedby three days at room temperaturein order to simulate shelf life conditions. They were then evaluated for marketability.

Scientists at Vineland wereable to demonstrate thatCoronation grapes could be successfully stored under optimalconditions (-1°C to 0°C and 90-95% RH) for at least five weeks,using dual release sulphur dioxide-generating pads with sixgrams of active ingredient(Infruta S.A., Santiago, Chile).The grapes stored with no sulphurtreatment were completelyunmarketable by three weeksstorage time.

The next step would be toevaluate the potential of usingsulphur dioxide fumigation during storage of Coronationgrapes, through a gas treatmentsystem. Such an approach wouldproduce a richer concentration ofactive ingredients around thegrapes than sulphur dioxide-generating pads. In addition, thesulphur could be continuallyrenewed during storage, whichhas the potential to further extendthe storability of Coronationgrapes, beyond what can beaccomplished with sulphur pads.

It might not be creating thenext miracle cream, but the goalof a postharvest scientist is toextend the life of horticulturalproducts and to allow for the progression of a “graceful aging”process. Innovative ideas and theadoption of new techniques inorder to improve the quality andextend the marketability and storage of horticultural products,such as Sovereign Coronationgrapes, is what postharvest science is all about.

We wish to acknowledge theOntario Fresh Grape Growers’Marketing Board and the OntarioFarm Innovation Program fortheir support and funding provid-ed to this project. The OntarioFarm Innovation Program isfunded through Growing Forward2 (GF2), a federal-provincial-territorial initiative. TheAgricultural Adaptation Councilassists in the delivery of GF2 inOntario. Thank you also toEduardo Maldonado of InfrutaS.A. for kindly providing the sulphur pads, as well as to Carlosand Gayle Crisosto.

Kimberley Cathline is seniorresearch technician, postharvestscience, Vineland Research andInnovation Centre.

Sovereign Coronation grapes. Photo by Glenn Lowson

THE GROWER

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 23

FOCUS: GRAPES, BERRIES, VINEYARDS AND WINERIES

Reducing spray drift for wild blueberry pest management

KEN LINGLEY

Public and regulatory concerns over how growers sprayblueberry crops continue to increase. The days of pickingnozzles for your sprayer by looking at your neighbour’ssprayer are past.

Growers must balance the needs of the crop, site conditions, label and other regulatory requirements to pickthe correct nozzle. I want to make sure all growers areaware that an ASABE droplet classification recommenda-tion is now specifically mentioned on many product labelsso that they can comply with the label.

The labels for many blueberry control products nowstipulate a droplet size class for the sprayer nozzle. If alabel is silent on nozzling, growers still must consider thespecifics of the application site/surrounding area andprevailing weather conditions when choosing a nozzle. If

growers can see a visible spray cloud leaving their fieldonto an adjacent property, corrective actions should betaken.

Currently, defending a spray drift charge is proving tobe difficult for growers. A due diligence defense wouldargue that you have done everything you can (aside fromnot spraying) to minimize spray material from leaving thefield. This would include:

• using the class of nozzle recommended on the label• following the most restrictive buffer and wind speed recommendations• documenting your application details such as nozzletype, pressure and forward speed• supporting with a visual record of the drift from yourboom near any sensitive area

Ken Lingley is owner of On-Target Sprayer Services,Charlottetown, PEI and a speaker at the recent PEI WildBlueberry Growers’ Association annual general meeting.

Boom sprayer for wild blueberries. Photo by Gary Brown.

TOKTAM TAGHAVI, ADAMDALE AND JEAN-PIERREFORTIN

A set of substrate trials wasestablished at the SimcoeResearch Station to compare different substrate andirrigation/fertigation methodsunder the industry-led Researchand Development Stream of theAgri-Innovation Program FederalGrowing Forward 2 initiative. Inthe first three trials, different substrates were examined. One ofthe substrates, referred to Simcoesubstrate, has been historicallyused at the research station togrow strawberries. Other substrates in the trial were provided by the Fafard Company.Field sand was also used in thefirst trial. The Simcoe substratewas made with equal volumes ofpeat, turface, sand and perlite. Allof the Fafard substrates were bet-ter than Simcoe substrate or fieldsand and were used in subsequenttrials. Among Fafard mixes,plants growing in G10 hadfibrous root growth and highervegetative growth. However, ifthis substrate dries out, it takes a

lot of time to absorb water againand may create inconveniencewhen used in pot culture. Fafardmixes G6, G5 and N7 are performing equally well. N7 hasbeen designed for nurseries andhas big chunks of bark. It absorbswater easily and does not dry outas much as G10. When the physical properties of these substrates are compared, G10 hasthe highest aeration score. Thehigher drainage in G10 can contribute to the higher growthrate of strawberries in this substrate. All Fafard mixes have amedium to high capacity to retainwater in their structure, which iscritical for strawberry plants.

A few genotypes have beentested during these substrate trials. Both Seascape and Albionwere used during early trials,however, only Albion is presentlybeing used. An inbred line ofstrawberries with a low growthrate will also be used to highlightthe potential of different mixesfor a slow growth genotype andto develop a protocol for sub-strate trial of our inbred lines forour breeding program.

Early attempts to use fertilizerinjectors to fertigate the strawber-

ries in the research trials wereunsuccessful, due to the low flowrate of the drip irrigation systemwhich did not initiate the injec-tors. In the last trial, fertilizerpump was used to pump thenutrient solutions into the irriga-tion system. Two nutrient solu-tions with EC (ElectricalConductivity) of 1.5 and 2 dSmwere used. The system is workingvery well now. During the winter,halogen lamps were used to pro-vide extra light for the plantsinside the greenhouse, howeverplants were still elongated due tolow light conditions. Withincreasing day length and lightintensity, the growth willincrease, elongation will ceaseand flower clusters will producefruits.

Right: Healthy fibrous roots ina commercial substrate. Photoby Toktam Taghavi.

Toktam Taghavi and Adam Daleare with the Department of PlantAgriculture, University of Guelphand Jean-Pierre Fortin is withFafard et Frères Ltd., Quebec.

A report of substrate trials on day-neutral strawberries

THE GROWER

PAGE 24 –– MAY 2015

STEVE POPPE ET AL

Availability of locally grownstrawberries is extremely limitedin the Upper Midwest, primarilydue to the short growing season.Fruit is an important part of ahealthy diet, and while there is anexpressed interest in havinggreater access to locally grownstrawberries, lack of suitable vari-eties and production systems hasprohibited growers from beingable to fulfill this need in ourregion.

For the last two years, ourmain objective was to conductday-neutral strawberry trials usinga low tunnel organic productionsystem. To make fresh, locallygrown strawberries available foran extended season, we estab-lished six day-neutral strawberrycultivars in raised beds usingplasticulture with and without lowtunnels. We harvested day-neu-tral strawberry fruit from mid-July through mid-October2013/2014 at the West CentralResearch and Outreach Center

(WCROC) Morris site, theUniversity of Minnesota St Paulcampus site, and two farmer-cooperator sites.

A second objective was towork with current and potentialgrowers to educate them on thesenew strawberry production meth-ods. The third objective was toevaluate our success at increasingstrawberry production in theUpper Midwest through collabo-ration with partner organizations.If successful, this new method ofgrowing long-season strawberriesmay help increase the number ofstrawberry growers in the UpperMidwest, increase yields andtherefore availability of locallygrown strawberries from Junethrough October.

Traditional June-bearingstrawberry varieties in Minnesotahave a baseline yield of 6,160kg/ha (5,500 lb/acre).Preliminary data from USDA lowtunnel trials calculated yield forday-neutral varieties varyingbetween 9,632-21,280 kg/ha(8,600-19,000 lb/ac) (Lewers,2012). Average 2013-2014 yield

under low tunnels was 19,174kg/ha (17,120 lb/ac) at the St.Paul site and 24,398 kg/ha(21,784 lb/ac) at the WCROCsite; both within the USDAbenchmark and exceeding June-bearing strawberry varieties inMinnesota.

In order to determine individ-ual size of fruit (g) of each culti-var, we randomly chose 20berries per treatment at each har-vest in 2013 and 2014. AtWCROC, the average berryweight (g) across six cultivars forboth years under the low tunnelwas 16.5g, while the non-low tun-nel averaged 15.2g. At St. Paul,the average berry weight (g)across six cultivars for both yearsunder the low tunnel was 12.9g,while the non-low tunnel aver-aged 12.4g. By comparison,2010-2011 data from theWCROC June-bearing varietytrial shows the average berryweight was 11.4g per individualfruit. After two years of research,the six day-neutral cultivars areproving to have larger individualfruit size when compared to June-

bearing strawberry trials inMinnesota.

During the 2013 latesummer/fall picking season at theWCROC site, we tasted a notice-ably sweet strawberry. We ran-domly took brix/sugar levels dur-ing the picking season of all sixcultivars in the low tunnel andnon-low tunnel treatments. Theresults showed an average brixlevel of 7.6 between late July andearly October in both low andnon-low tunnel treatments. Tocompare these brix levels, wealso randomly took readings inour 2013 WCROC June bearingvariety trial between late June andearly July; the results showed anaverage brix level of 7.7. Thiscomparison shows that day-neu-tral cultivars are just as sweet asJune-bearing cultivars commonly

grown in Minnesota.For step-by-step instructions

on constructing a low tunnel sys-tem for strawberry use, or formore information on the project,please visit our low tunnel straw-berry blog at the UMNCommercial Fruit website,http://fruit.cfans.umn.edu/category/strawberries/low-tunnel-strawberry/. We will con-tinue with this research project2015-2016. Steve Poppe can becontacted atpoppesr@morris.umn.edu.

Guest Authors: Steve Poppe andEsther Jordan, University ofMinnesota, Emily Hoover, EmilyTepe, Andy Petran and JackTillman, U of M, Dept. ofHorticultural Science

Day-neutral strawberry season extension using low-tunnel organicproduction systems

Figure 1: Low tunnel organic strawberry production systems usedby the University of Minnesota research team.

THE GROWER

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 25

PAM FISHER

There are always lots of newregistrations at this time of year!Many new uses are listed in the2015 Supplement to Publication#360, Guide to Fruit Production.

This is now on line at:www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/pub360/sup/pub360sup.pdf

New products in the Supplementto Pub. #360 include: • Nealta (cyflumetofen) regis-tered by BASF Canada Inc, fortwo-spotted spider mite on straw-berry• Quilt (azoxystrobin & propi-conazole) registered by SyngentaCanada Inc. for mummyberry andanthracnose on blueberry.

Label expansions and new uses

in the Supplement to Pub. #360include: • Actara 25 WG for suppressionof black vine weevil and straw-berry root weevil on strawberry • Altacor for raspberry cane boreron raspberry• Exirel for obliquebandedleafroller and adult weevils onelderberry, saskatoon berry, seabuckthorn• Intrepid 240 for obliquebandedleafroller on raspberry• Nova Fungicide for white pineblister rust on currant and goose-berry • Switch 62.5 WG for botrytis oncurrant, gooseberry, elderberryand sea buckthorn

More recent registrationsinclude:• Indar Fungicide (fenbucona-zole) registered by Dow

AgroSciences Canada Inc. to con-trol mummy berry on highbushblueberries• Purespray Green Spray Oil13E (mineral oil) on berry cropsfor suppression of spider mites ,and to deter feeding by aphids,and also for powdery mildew sup-pression on blackberry, buf-faloberry, cloudberry, currant,elderberry, gooseberry, jostaber-ry, juneberry, raspberry, strawber-ry.• Prism SG Herbicide (rimsul-furon) registered by DupontCanada Inc. for control of weedson caneberries (blackberries andraspberries) • Apogee Plant GrowthRegulator (prohexadione calci-um) registered by BASF CanadaInc. for runner suppression instrawberries.

These products are not in the

supplement but details can befound on line in the ONFruitBlog, at https://onfruit.wordpress.com/cat-egory/new-products-2/.

Pam Fisher is berry crop specialist, OMAFRA @fisherpam

New products for berry growers

BERRY FOCUS

Is it possible to control field horsetail?

KRISTEN OBEID

The quick answer is NO.Sorry. There is no silver bullet.Unlike other weed problemswhere we have solutions, fieldhorsetail is a plant where there isno easy answer. That’s probablythe reason why field horsetail hasbeen around since theCarboniferous age more than 300million years ago. It is part of theancient genus Equisetum, a pre-historic survivor and one of thetoughest weeds to manage.

What is field horsetail?

Field horsetail is a perennialthat grows from a tuber-bearingrhizome. This root system com-prises actively growing rhizomesthat can penetrate to greater thanone meter in depth, from whichgreen fern-like fronds grow eachyear (looks like a small pine tree).Attached to the deeper rhizomesare small tubers which remaindormant while the rhizome staysalive. When the rhizome dies orbecomes detached due to cultiva-tion or other means, the tubersinitiate growth to produce newplants.

Controlling field horsetail

It is best to get field horsetailunder control before you plant.Several herbicides provide somelevel of top growth controlONLY because it is difficult toget the active ingredient to depthsdeep enough to control the rhi-zomes and tubers. Few herbi-cides are registered and their useis dependent on the situation inwhich horsetail grows.

The most effective strategiesare based on many years of repet-itive attacks on the above-groundplant in an attempt to deplete thereserves to the point that the plant

dies. Repetitive attacks shouldinclude herbicides, shading, mow-ing and hand weeding. But, asnoted earlier, killing the plant willrelease the tubers to grow andstart the cycle again.

My best advice is to removenew stands of field horsetailimmediately before they spread.Established stands will take a lotof persistence to manage.Cultivation should be kept to aminimum because in most cases itwill spread the rhizomes andtubers around the field allowingplants to regenerate in new partsof the field or in new fields if youforget to clean your equipmentbetween fields. Black plasticsheeting has been found to kill orsuppress rhizomes in the upperlayers of the soil, however;emerging stems can penetratesome woven polypropylenemulches.

I guess we shouldn’t expect aneasy way to manage a weed thathas survived 300 million years!

Kristen Obeid is OMAFRA weedmanagement program lead for

horticulture.

HerbicideTrade Name

ActiveIngredient

HerbicideGroup

Crops Registered Notes

Casoron dichlobenil 10 Woody ornamentals, such asEvergreens and Fruit trees, Grapes,Raspberries, High Bush Blueberriesand Saskatoons.

Top growth control

glyphosate glyphosate 9 As a pre plant burn down applica-tion or in glyphosate tolerant crops.

Field horsetail is fairly tolerant to glyphosate. Inglyphosate tolerant corn, the co-packs of GALAXY 2(glyphosate + ultim) or BROADSTRIKE RC willprovide the best top growth control of field horsetail.Do NOT tank mix glyphosate with MCPA and applyto emerged corn, as unacceptable injury will result.Glyphosate + BROADSTRIKE RC provides the besttop growth control in soybeans.

Ultim +Distinct

rimsulfuron andnicosulfuron +diflufenzopyrand dicamba

2, 4, 19 Corn Top growth control

Various tradenames

2,4-D 4 Many crops, roadsides, turf andnon-crop areas.

Top growth control

Various tradenames

MCPA 4 4 For use in cereals, seedling clovers,pastures, corn and peas.

Top growth control

Field horsetail rhizomes Field horsetail in strawberries. Photos by Peter Smith and PamFisher.

Herbicides registered for field horsetail top growth control

Note: there are also several Group 2 herbicides, including halosulfuron that list suppression of field horsetail. Tank mixes with MCPA are recommended, if MCPA is registered on the specified crop.

THE GROWER

PAGE 26 –– APRIL 2015

MINOR USE

Delegate insecticide label expanded for control of additionalinsects on several crops in CanadaJIM CHAPUT

The Pest Management RegulatoryAgency (PMRA) recently announced theapproval of URMULE registrations forDelegate insecticide for control of severaladditional insect pests on several crops inCanada. Delegate insecticide was alreadylabeled for use on a number of crops inCanada for control of insects.

These various minor use projects weresubmitted by Ontario, Quebec, BritishColumbia and Agriculture & Agri-FoodCanada, Pest Management Centre (AAFC-PMC) between 2010 and 2013 as a resultof minor use priorities established bygrowers and extension personnel.

The following is provided as an abbre-viated, general outline only. Users shouldconsult the complete label before usingDelegate insecticide.

Delegate insecticide is toxic to beesexposed to direct treatment, drift orresidues on flowering crops or weeds. Donot apply this product to flowering crops

or weeds when bees are present. Delegateinsecticide is toxic to small mammals, cer-tain beneficial insects and non-target ter-restrial plants. Do not apply this product orallow drift to other crops or non-targetareas. Do not contaminate off-target areas

or aquatic habitats when spraying or whencleaning and rinsing spray equipment orcontainers.

Follow all other precautions anddirections for use on the Delegate label

carefully.

For a copy of the new minor use labelcontact your local crop specialist, regionalsupply outlet or visit the PMRA label sitewww.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/pest/registrant-titulaire/tools-outils/label-etiq-eng.php

Quash fungicide receives Japanese maximum residue limitsapproval for blueberries

Canadian blueberry growerscan now control key diseaseswith Quash fungicide and accessthe Japanese export market, withthe recent approval of MaximumResidue Limits (MRL) forQuash. Japan is the secondlargest export market forCanadian-grown blueberries,after the United States.

Quash (metconazole) is aGroup 3 fungicide that deliverspreventative and curative controlof mummy berry and anthrac-nose, and suppression of pho-mopsis in blueberries.

“Quash controls the most dev-astating diseases affectingCanadian blueberries,” saysSabrina Bladon, eastern market-ing manager for NufarmAgriculture Inc. “Before thisJapanese MRL approval, growersusing Quash to protect blueberry

yields from mummy berry,anthracnose and phomopsis werelimited to North American mar-kets. They now have the opportu-nity to work with their processorto access the significant Japaneseexport market.”

An important part of anIntegrated Pest Management(IPM) program, Quash deliversbroad-spectrum disease control ofeconomically important diseasesin one low use rate. Quash pro-vides good residual activity, pro-tecting blueberries during theentire infection period. Quash isalso registered for use on a rangeof crops including potatoes andcanola. For more information,consult the complete productlabel at www.nufarm.ca/prod-uct/quash/

Source: Nufarm news release

Crop Target Rate (g/ha) Applications PHI (days)

Basil and dill Cabbage looper, thrips 140 - 200 (looper)200 - 280 (thrips)

3 1 (basil)14 (dill)

Sweet corn, seed corn, pop-corn

Corn borer, western beancutworm

120 - 210 3 1 (sweet corn, seed corn)28 (pop corn)

Ginseng Leafrollers 200 3 3

Leafy vegetables, cropgroup 4

Thrips 200 - 336 3 1

Brassica vegetables, cropgroup 5

Thrips 200 - 336 3 1

Cherries Cherry fruit fly 420 3 7

Stone fruit, crop group 12 Spotted winged drosophila

420 3 1 (peach, nectarine)7 (cherries, plums, prunes)

14 (apricot)

1 e

3

# can be rinsy rOnl

c# ou purythallUse

ycledcesed containers

hasechemicalshe c

2 sites clean

4

# p collecHelps kee

orkers# safe for wps collection eeK

ction

sites

oNo

suco exc5 putat# egood r

ouMaintain y

ot toote nostion

sm’ur far

!o

r eoue yk ta,Now

containeilizer empty fert

ide!ir the roors along ffoerrs

•

Agricultural * Commercial * Industrial

50 Years of Excellent Service

Refrigeration (All Types)

Heating, Air Conditioning

Controlled Atmosphere

18 Seapark Drive, St Catharines ON, L2M 6S6

905-685-4255

www.pennrefrigeration.com

info@pennrefrigeration.com

THE GROWER

APRIL 2015 –– PAGE 27

FOOD SAFETY

10 tips to make CanadaGAP simpler The CanadaGAP food safety

program issued new manuals for2015 which took effect April 1.Version 6.3 is available as a freedownload on www.canadagap.ca.There are some time-saving tipson how to manage these changes.

“We get more than 20 requestsper year to make changes to theprogram,” says Heather Gale,executive director, CanadaGAP.“It’s a process to review and tochange wording, organize sec-tions, update appendices. Thegood news is that the updates areslowing down in terms of vol-ume. There are maybe just threeor four record-keeping formswhich have changed.”

Tip 1. Use the Summary of MainChanges handout on theCanadaGAP website to gain aquick overview of the changes.Determine which changes affectyour operation. Reprint the glos-sary or at least print/review anychanges to definitions.

Tip 2. If you are using a papercopy of the manual, you do NOTneed to reprint the entire book.Reprint only the pages that con-tain changes that affect your oper-ation. Print out only the pagesthat show the section/wordchanges. Cross out 2014, write in2015, Version 6.3.

Tip 3. Use the new forms eachyear. Print them out or downloadthe electronic versions inMicrosoft Excel.

Tip 4. Note that the followingtypes of operations can now beCanadaGAP-certified: brokers,production, packing and storageof greenhouse strawberries,repacking and wholesaling ofmushrooms

Tip 5. Regarding water testing,before the water is used on prod-uct, hands, equipment, packagingmaterials, etc for the first time inthe season, results of water test-ing need to show potabilitybefore water is used. THE TESTMUST BE TAKEN AS CLOSEAS POSSIBLE TO THE FIRSTUSE OF THE WATER, UP TOMAXIMUM OF 60 DAYSPRIOR TO USE.

Tip 6. Note new columns onForm F for water for fluming andcleaning assessment. You mustnow record the commodity thewater is being used for.

Tip 7. Regarding the EquipmentCalibration Section, the personresponsible ensures that calibra-tion instructions are received withequipment or ARE WRITTENBASED ON EXPERT RECOM-MENDATIONS and made avail-able. Sometimes equipment doesnot come with calibration instruc-tions, is homemade or the instruc-tions are lost. In such cases, theoperator must consult with an

expert to receive appropriateadvice.

The new requirement states:THE PERSON RESPONSIBLERECORDS DETAILEDRESULTS OF THE CALIBRA-TION FOR AGRICULTURALCHEMICAL APPLICATORS(file under Tab: Calibrationinstructions). Keep these papersfor two years only.

Tip 8. Section 19.1 – ProductSourcing. Where the product issourced from applies to packers,repackers, wholesalers, storage

facilities and brokers. In the past,it was acceptable that those certi-fied packers would get a letter ofassurance from growers. Thisyear, the letter of assurance is notacceptable. The packer will askfor a certificate from a food safe-ty program such as CanadaGAPor another GFSI-recognized pro-gram, or a report from a third-party audit such as Primus Labs.

Companies can lose up to 10marks if they source product fromuncertified/unaudited suppliers.Partial points are possible (maxscore is 5/10 if any suppliers have

not been third-party audited).This is not an autofail item.

Tip 9. Section 24 – Maintainingyour program.

Program participants will beaudited on the following require-ment: THE OPERATION’SPROGRAM NEEDS TO BEMAINTAINED CONTINUOUS-LY TO ENSURE SUCCESSThe consequences of not main-taining the program is a loss of upto six marks. If you score 0/6, itwill trigger another audit later inthe season. Look to the website

for more information.

Tip 10. If you fail your audit,there will be tightened timelinesfor correction as of April 1. Whenan operation fails the audit, theprogram participant has 60DAYS from the issue of the auditreport - or prior to end of theseason whichever is sooner - torespond to the Corrective ActionRequest. Customers may haveeven stricter timeframes for corrective actions.

THE GROWER

PAGE 28 –– MAY 2015

POTATOES

2015 late blight strategyEUGENIA BANKS

Introduction

Late blight, caused by the fun-gus-like pathogen Phytophthorainfestans, is one of the most dev-astating diseases of potatoes. Ifweather conditions are favourableand no effective fungicides areapplied, late blight can destroy apotato field in four or five days.To prevent this, a managementstrategy is necessary based onpreventing or delaying initialinfection and slowing the rate ofdisease spread once late blight isestablished in the field.

Fungicides must be used effec-tively to control late blight.Spray applications should be

based on weather conditions, cropgrowth and disease pressure.Short intervals of three to fivedays are necessary when lateblight has been found and theweather is cool and damp.Intervals can be extended whenweather is warm and dry.Fungicides with different modesof action need to be rotated toavoid the development of resis-tance. Good coverage is essentialfor fungicides to be effective.

Late blight is a community dis-ease. Once the disease starts, itmay be spread long distances bywind affecting many farms andmany fields. A coordinatedapproach to disease control isbest.

The spread of late blight

Late blight is carried over fromone season to the next in livingtissue. Healthy seed is important

because it reduces early sourcesof infection. Late blight may alsobe carried over in cull piles and

volunteers, so these sources ofdisease need to be eliminated.

Tomatoes and potatoes grow-ing in home gardens may besources of late blight. Some com-mon weeds related to potatoes--hairy nightshade and bittersweet -- are also susceptible to lateblight. These weeds growing inhedgerows may serve as a sourceof spores to spread late blight. Spores are carried long distancesby wind. Rain splash and farmequipment can spread sporeswithin fields.

Weather conditions and diseasedevelopment

Late blight is favoured bycloudy, wet weather and cooltemperatures. Spores need a filmof water on potato foliage to ger-minate. At temperatures of 13°Cto 21°C each spore germinatesdirectly, penetrates the plant andcauses one lesion. At cooler tem-peratures between 7°C to 12°Cand in the presence of free water,each spore produces eightzoospores that swim in the waterfilm. Each zoospore can initiateinfections,

Disease symptoms developfour to five days after the initialinfection. Once lesions form, asingle foliar lesion can produce asmany as 700,000 spores thatspread late blight.

Late blight management practices

I. Before planting be familiarwith late blight symptoms

• Symptoms on leaves.The first symptoms on leaves aresmall, light to dark green water-soaked spots. During cool, wetweather, lesions expand rapidlyinto large dark brown or blackspots usually surrounded by alight green halo. A white fungalgrowth develops on the undersideof affected leaves.

• Symptoms on stems.Dark brown irregular lesions formon stems. These lesions usuallyinitiate at the point of leaf attach-ment. The white fungal growthmay develop on stems underfavorable weather conditions.

• Symptoms on tubers.Tuber infection is characterizedby irregularly shaped, brown topurplish areas on the skin. Theseinfected areas appear slightlydepressed. A dry, granular red-dish- brown rot develops underthe skin.

Destroy cull piles prior to cropemergence

Tubers near the top of a cullpile will normally break downand rot, but those in the middle ofthe pile may sprout and grow inthe spring.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

THE GROWER

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 29

POTATOES

2015 late blight strategyEliminate cull piles by burial,freezing or feeding to livestock.

• Burial.When burying culls, make surethe pile is not buried near a watersource. Check that the watertable is low, and cover the tuberswith at least 1.8 meters (six feet)of soil to prevent re-growth.Moving potatoes to a burial sitecan be expensive. Keep the distance traveled as short as pos-sible. Check the cull site duringthe summer for volunteers. Pullor spray any plants that appearwith herbicide. Add extra soil ifthe cull pile settles during decomposition.

• Freezing. Spread a layer of cull potatoesone tuber thick on fields in latefall or winter to ensure that thepotatoes freeze. Use land that willnot grow potatoes in the future toavoid the spread or build-up ofsoil-borne diseases like commonscab.

• Covering cull piles. This method can be used on cullpiles late in the spring when hardfrosts are unlikely or when immediate action needs to betaken. Spread the culls out even-ly, and cover them with plastic,preferably black polyethylene.The tubers will heat up and breakdown. Make sure the entire pile iscovered so there is no chance ofplant growth or spore escape.One of the problems with thismethod is the watery mess thatwill form in and near the pile.Sawdust or other absorbent mate-rial can be used to soak up thepotato runoff and then removedfrom the site. Covered pilesshould not be placed near water-ways.

• Use as livestock feed. Raw potatoes can be fed to cattle.It is estimated that four pounds ofpotatoes equals one pound ofbarley in nutritional content.

Field selection

• Select well drained fields. In fields with good water infiltra-tion, water does not accumulatebetween rows after a rain. Bycontrast in fields with areas ofpoor drainage water accumulatesfor long periods of time on thoseareas. This creates high humidityconditions that favour late blightdevelopment

• Improve drainage. Consider to eliminate standingwater in low spots or areas nearcenter pivot point.

• Match soil characteristics withvariety growth. Varieties that develop bigcanopies should be planted inlight textured fields.

• Avoid planting potatoes back-to-back.

Do not plant potatoes in the samefield for two consecutive growingseasons. Back-to back growingmakes control of volunteersimpossible.

Seed selection and seed handling

Seed transmission is an impor-tant means of starting late blightinfections in fields and/or production areas.

• Use certified seed.Although certified seed might notbe completely late-blight free,the seed fields have been

inspected carefully. The risk oflate blight infection is less thanthat of using year-out seed.

• Do not mix seed lots. Keep seed lots separated to avoidmixing healthy lots with poten-tially infected seed lots.

• Grade seed carefully. Eliminate any tubers with a firm,rust-brown decay. They are prob-ably infected with late blight.

• Disinfect cutting knivesbetween seed lots. Always clean and disinfect cutting equipment before cutting

a new seed lot.

• Use a seed treatment labeledfor late blight. Some seed treatments containmancozeb, a fungicide that pro-vides protection against seed-borne blight. Mancozeb will notcure existing infections, butshould protect healthy tubersfrom being infected. Seed treatedwith mancozeb should be dry, notsweating.

II. At hilling

Form hills that cover the develop-ing tubers with sufficient soil to

minimize tuber infection.During irrigation or rainfall,spores are washed down fromfoliage and can easily infecttubers that are near soil cracks

Achieve good weed control.Weeds interfere with fungicidecoverage leaving potato plantswithout fungicide protection. Toobtain weed control in drysprings, you have to irrigate afterspraying in order to activate theherbicide.

Eugenia Banks is potato specialist, OMAFRA

To be continued next month.

f the mostMETTLE®,

awberries. fire blight, dd to your

When you find something that works, you strusted names in crop protection for the horta Group 3 Fungicide with enhanced systemiAnd KASUMIN™, a highly effective bactericidas well as offering bacterial disease suppr

crop protection toolbox. For

tick with it. Arysta LifeScience is proud to offer some ofticulture market, along with some relatively new names. c activity for powdery mildew control in grapes and stra

de to protect apples and pears from orchard-threatening fiwo great products to adression in fruiting vegetables. Tw

.gowithwhatworks.ca., visit wwwr the whole story

TE logo, KANEMITE, KAATE, ELEVAAAlways read and follow label directions. MAESTRO, MAESTRO logo, ELEVAtrademarks of Arysta LifeScience North America, LLC. SHUTTLE is a registered trademark of Agro-Kanesho Cthe METTLE logo are trademarks of ISAGRO S.p.A. Arysta LifeScience and the Arysta LifeScience logo are re©2014 Arysta LifeScience North America Corporation, LLC. CDNH-1301

ANEMITE logo, SHUTTLE logo, ORTHENE, DECREE and DE. KASUMIN is a trademark of Hokko Chemical IndCompany

gistered trademarks of Arysta LifeScience Corporation.

ECREE logo are registered dustry Co., Ltd. METTLE and

THE GROWER

PAGE 30 –– MAY 2015

MARKETPLACETo advertise phone: 519-380-0118 • 866-898-8488 x 218 • Fax: 519-380-0011

EQUIPMENT

DON ARTHUR ORCHARD EQUIPMENT(519) 599-3058 donarthur3@gmail.com Clarksburg, ON

** LOW DRIFT SPRAY TOWERS TO FIT ANY TURBO-MIST - IN STOCK **

TURBO-MIST 400 GAL, 24” FAN, DIAPHRAGM PUMP $7,250TURBO-MIST 500 GAL, DIAPHRAGM PUMP , HYDRAULIC CONTROLS $11,900 TURBO-MIST 500, NEW MYERS PUMP, TALL SPRAY TOWER $12,800TURBO-MIST 600 GAL, DIAPHRAGM PUMP, HYDRAULIC, LOW HOURS $14,500TURBO-MIST 600 GAL, HIGH OUTPUT FAN, TALL TOWER $16,950TURBO-MIST 600, CENTRIFUGAL, ELECTRIC, ALMOST NEW $17,900USED STAINLESS STEEL SPRAY TWOER FOR 30” TURBO-MISTNEW PERFECT KG220 H.D. FLAIL AT 2014 DISCOUNT PRICINGUSED VOTEX 3-PH 10FT ROTARY MOWER, SIDESHIFT $4,250

** All Turbo-Mist parts in stock - 7 days/week in season** Seppi flail mulchers for grass and prunings** Perfect rotary mowers & heavy duty flail mowers

HELP WANTED

NEW TURBO-MIST SPRAYERS JUST IN!!!NEEDED: GOOD USED TRADES

• VEGETABLE SEEDERS

Planet Jr. Gaspardo Cole

• CASH CROP PLANTERS

Conventional – Pneumatic (Air)

• FERTILIZER ATTACHMENTS

(SideDressers)

• ROW CROP WEEDERS, ETC.

• DISC HILLERS

• SPECIALIZED ROW CROP EQUIPMENTCultivator Steels, Sweeps, Hoes, Furrowers,Hillers, Etc.

JOHN C. GRAHAM CO. LTD.DISTRIBUTORS

88 Erie Street North • P.O. Box 13Leamington, Ontario • N8H 3W1

Tel:(519) 326-5051 Fax: (519) 326-0480

1-800-811-6238pfs@reach.netSPRAYING EQUIPMENT

OUR SPECIALITY

NEW . . USED . . SERVICE

YOUR SOURCE FORJOHN BEAN AND

DURAND-WAYLAND

YOUNOW

have beento the rest,

call theBEST!!P

HIL

LIP

SFA

RM

SU

PPLIE

S

Algoma Orchards Ltd201 Regional Road 42,

Newcastle, ON L1B 1L9

Farm Supervisor – coordinating & supervising workers, harvesting apples, general farm duties, operatingequipment and supervising allaspects of Farm operations.

Working outside in all weatherconditions in Newcastle, ON

Completion of University coursesand 5+ years apple orchardexperience

Full time, benefits/pension package, $15-$20 to start.

Please send resumes toresume@algomaorchards.com

FMC 4 Lane Weight,Sizer

Includes: Washer,Waxer, Packing Tables

Excellent condition!$25,000

905-570-3395Email: tlizak@cogeco.ca

GREENHOUSE

Propagation Grower(Delta, BC)

Position specializes in the careof vegetable seedlings withduties related to germination,grafting, irrigation, hygiene, climate, & pest control.Experience in commercialgreenhouse growing and/ornursery production is required.Applicant will be familiar withcomputer functions and beable to carry out commands ina greenhouse climate system.Applicant must work well in ateam environment and beavailable to work weekends ina rotating schedule with colleagues. To apply for thisposition, email your resumeand cover letter toresumes@houwelings.com

FOR SALE BY OWNER8 Ton Scroll compressors­ Kool Jet twin cooling unit

All in one pop in unit self­contained. Very easy to setup.Approx. age: 10 years. Very clean and in good shape.

If you have questions or want to see the unit, contact:(416) 984­6552 • farm2931@gmail.com

Asking $14,500.

CompleteGreenhouse Systems

For Your Needs!

Tel: 519-582-3081 Fax: 519-582-0851Toll Free: 888-786-4769

RR 1, Simcoe Ontario, Canadainfo@decloetgreenhouse.com www.decloetgreenhouse.com

Complete Greenhouse Systems Since 1986

NEW YAMATO CHECKWEIGHERrated for food packaging, still in its box.Series CSI06LW, rated for small weights

(pound or less), with rejection arm.See website:

http://www.yamatocorp.com/product/scales/ISH.htmlAsking $25,000.

Call for details: (613) 277-3086, Carmen

www.thegrower.org

THE GROWER

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 31

MARKETPLACETo advertise phone: 519-380-0118 • 866-898-8488 x 218 • Fax: 519-380-0011

IRRIAGTION

Pipe& Fittings

for Water Systems• PVC, ABS, Poly, Copper

• Stainless, Brass, SteelProduct Lines

• Drip & Micro Irrigation• Septic & Sewer• Drainage & Culverts• Berkeley Water Pumps

Winona Concrete & Pipe Products Ltd.

489 Main St. W., Grimsby, ON. L3M 1T4

info@WinonaConcrete.comPhone (905) 945-8515 Fax: (905) 945-1149

or call toll-free

1-800-361-8515

LABELLING EQUIPMENT

REFRIGERATION

One-Piece and Portable Skid-Mount Systems, Hydro-Coolers, Medical and Process Chillers, Blast Freezers,

Vacuum Coolers, Refrigerated Dehumidifi ers.KOOL JET ®Reliable Refrigeration Systems

1-866-748-7786 www.kooljet.com Visit our website to view our complete line

Custom Built Designs • Domestic and International Markets

VEGETABLE SEED

CLASSIFIED ADS

Oriental Vegetable Seeds

AgroHaitai Ltd. Ph: 519-647-2280 • Fax: 519-647-3188

seed@agrohaitai.com• www.AgroHaitai.com

Spring Tower

Lucky GreenGinwa

Nabai Slo

ORCHARD SUPPLIES

CALL ABE FIRSTFOR BETTER PRICES, MORE

CHOICES, FAST, AND FRIENDLY SERVICE. BUY A DIESEL ENGINE

PUMP UNIT FROM THE DIESEL MECHANIC.

NEW IRRIGATION PUMPUNITS ON TRAILER

• Cummin 4 cyl & 6 cyl• John Deere, 4 cyl & 6 cyl• Iveco/Cummins, 4 cyl & 6 cyl• Kubota & Deutz etc, etc.• Perkins-Cat

Rovatti PumpsBerkeley Pumps, etc.

And many more new or used up to 550 HP.

We build them all big or small.Also couplers, hoses, clamps, forsuction, camlock, ringlock, bauer

etc.

A. KOOLMEESR.R. 1, Otterville, ON N0J 1R0

(519) 879-6878 Fax: (519) 879-6319

For Sale: Model 44 John Deeremanure spreader, ground driven.Model 1900 two row transplanterwith 180 gallon plastic tank.Hardly used. Phone 905-878-3275

For Sale: Allis Chalmers tractor(Model G). New rear tires, manyextras. $3000.00. 519-797-5983

For Sale: FMC Packing line with4 lane, 4 drop, dryer, washer, ele-vator, top dump bin dumper. 4”Irrigation pipe. Gormen Rup 4x4Irrigation pump. 519-791-2371

THE GROWER

PAGE 32 –– MAY 2015

MARKETPLACETo advertise phone: 519-380-0118 • 866-898-8488 x 218 • Fax: 519-380-0011

SEED/ROOTSTOCK

WANTED

Providing quality

apple trees for 40 years.

• Bench graft• Sleeping budded eye• 9 month bench• 1 year old whip• 1 year old feathered• KNIP tree• 2 year old tall feathered

(instant orchard)

Brian Van Brenk31760 Erin Line

Fingal ON, Canada N0L 1K0519-902-6353

www.vanbrenk.cabrian@vanbrenk.ca

ASPARAGUS ROOTSJersey GiantMillennium

Wrightland FarmRR 1 • 1000 Ridge Rd. Harrow, ON N0R 1G0

Keith: 519-738-6120Fax: 519-738-3358

CONTAINERS

LOUTH & NIAGARA ORCHARDSP.O. Box 43 • Virgil, Ontario • L0S 1T0 • 905-468-3297

4000 Jordan Road • Jordan Station, ON • 905-562-8825

Supplying Fruit and Vegetable Growers with:

• Baskets • Berry Boxes• Masters • Waxed Cartons• Fertilizer • Crop Protection Material• Vineyard Trellis Supplies

ASPARAGUS

ASPARAGUS CROWNSMillennium

Mary WashingtonSandy Shore Farms Ltd.

(519) 875­3382www.sandyshorefarms.ca

info@sandyshore.ca• Greenhouse and Field Soil Fumigation• Custom made equipment for bedding, fumigation,

mulch laying, planting, solid tarp applicators and equipment rentals

• Black mulch plastic - Embossed and U.V. treated• Perforated Tunnels - Clear & white• Wire hoops, row cover, mesh cloth field cover & drip

irrigation.

1738 Seacliff Drive Kingsville, ON N9Y 2M6(cell) 519-919-1738

FUMIGATION

REAL ESTATE

MANURE WANTEDPreferably Cattle

and deliveredLocated in

Markham, Ontario.Please Call:

416­984­6552 oremail

farm2931@gmail.com

Gerry Loeters for Royal LePage,

RCR Realty.PH. 519-765-4217Cell. 519-773-6460

FOR SALEOrchard in Simcoe area with total of 148 acres. 85 acresplanted in apple trees.Many varieties. Homerenovated recently. 3mobiles for seasonallabour. 3 gaswells. One producing well supplyingown use. Owner motivated to sell.Asking $1,450.000.G.Loeters Royal LePageRCR Realty.

THE GROWER

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 33

THE GROWER

PAGE 34 –– MAY 2015

Every year in the second week ofApril, the annual meeting of the“CODEX” committee (CCPR-Codex Committee for PesticideResidues) is held (always inChina.) CODEX is a joint com-mittee of the World HealthOrganization (WHO) and Foodand Agricultural Organization(FAO), both of which are part ofthe United Nations. Countriesfrom around the world send delegations to this meeting to discuss the ‘rules’ and proceduresused to set maximum residue lim-its for pesticides in food. Not onlydo countries send their pesticideregulatory representatives but alsochemical companies, growers andtrade representatives to try toinfluence the process and (hope-fully) get some progress in thedeliberations. It is sad to reportthat they have more than fouryears of work already scheduled.In spite of gallant efforts by coun-tries like Canada, Australia, theU.S. and others, the process stillemulates a slow snail. Last yearthere were 57 countries present,but most of the ‘heavy lifting’ isdone by just a few. Sadly, I havebeen continually told that no realprogress will happen nor shouldbe contemplated.

The CODEX meeting reliesheavily on work already done theprevious September at the JointMeeting on Pesticide Residues(JMPR) held annually in Rome.This meeting relies on an ‘expertpanel’ of toxicologists who arenominated for at least four years.The current list of 35 are consid-ered to be independent yet theirhome country is included in thelisting. I find that a little counter-intuitive! Nonetheless, Canada

now has four nominees- two cur-rently with PMRA, one retiredfrom PMRA and one from theUniversity of Montreal. (Canadahad none on the prior listing!)The U.S. has nine reps, Italy hasfour, and the U.K. has three.Germany, Switzerland, Australia,and the Netherlands have twoeach, and China, Japan, France,India, Malaysia, Belgium andGhana have one each.

These toxicologists do theactual work from the data setsprovided to sort out the support-ing information leading to a rec-ommendation for a MaximumResidue Limit on a crop or a cropgroup for each pesticide nominat-ed. They have a tough task, notmade any easier by variable dataproduced under different condi-tions and from around the globe.Just trying to find a commonGood Agricultural Practice(GAP)is tricky. At least they know thatthe pesticide commodity combi-nation has been labelled already-somewhere. They can use the dataand the decision-making processused to arrive at that, but it maybe confounded by many otherthings. The key takeaway is thatthey have a monumental taskwhen one considers the numberof new crop/pesticide combina-tions newly registered somewherein the globe on an annual basis.Add to that an obligatory re-review of older pesticides on a15-year cycle! Given that thesefolks are ‘volunteers’ and mosthave ‘day jobs’ elsewhere, it islittle wonder that the wholeprocess cannot speed up or catchup any time soon. Not only is it afull-time endeavour, it needs ahuge increase in capacity beyondwhat they have at hand. Even if a‘clean-up’ crew of another 100toxicologists were available, theywould need two to three years tocatch up. The current roster couldmanage things after that, but onlyif some innovative approacheswere used.

I suggest that the CCPR is theplace where such innovativeapproaches need to be discussedand implemented. They mightinclude such things as: allowing aglobal registration and MRL-set-ting process to be used as a defacto JMPR review and skip that

stage. Further, the global review-based MRLs should become defacto CODEX MRLs until anyfurther JMPR review alters thosenumbers. After all, the wholeprocess is predicated on a 70-yearhuman exposure, and a few yearsof a global review-approved MRLis no threat to anyone. Perhaps ifa member or members of theJMPR independent toxicologistswere included as a member ofsuch global registration teams itcould facilitate the adoption ofsuch practice.

The same should apply tominor use registrations andresidue limits. In this instance, theconcept of minor use movesbeyond the acres or use patternand goes to the percentage of dietrepresented by the crop. If allcrops that represented less thanone per cent of any global dietwere exempted from the tediousprocess and moved right throughto the final step, a huge amount ofcapacity would be freed up toconcentrate on the most importantones. A ‘pre-clearing’ processcould expedite a huge amount ofthe work, especially if it hasalready had a global approval inthe registration process.

I attended a meeting of theAmerican Chemistry Society acouple of years ago where I cri-tiqued the CODEX process andlamented the lack of timeliness. Iwent so far as to suggest that theJMPR toxicologists needed to beaugmented, and that they needed‘younger’ people with an outlookmore amenable to change. Wow!

I got chastised by one person inthe audience who defended her‘delegate’ to JMPR (rememberthat they are to be consideredindependent reviewers) by sayingthat he continued to go on theirbehalf even though he had beenretired for years! I guess I mademy point, or she made it for me!

Low and behold, Canada whohad NO toxicologists on the earli-er list, has now nominated four.What a great start! If other coun-tries noticeably absent could dothe same, progress would be athand!

Change will not happen untilenough loss of trade potential andpesticide use potential occurs, andenough countries get disadvan-taged to get delegates aroused.The CCPR meetings always hap-pen in China. Maybe the tone ofthe meeting there does not allowfor disagreement, or change.Likewise, the JMPR always meetsin Rome in September. What agreat time of year for relaxing ina great climate just before grapeharvest. How can enough gump-tion for change be engendered insuch an environment?

If all this has not been enough,in the past week (the week imme-diately before the CCPR meet-ing), as an interested partner inthe process, I have been inundat-ed with huge CODEX files toreview almost every day. It is avirtually impossible task to do,especially at the eleventh hour. Inmy perusals, I do note in theirfavour that Canada did commenton virtually every proposal. Very

few other countries did so and thevast majority did not. The enor-mity of the reading tells me thatmost just sit back and let “some-one” (else) do the real work.Perhaps another change should bethat only those countries that pro-vided comment get to vote on thepath forward. What a concept!The BLOC voting and the coer-cion exercises could becomethings of the past. Several reallygood ideas that have come for-ward have been blocked or stifledbecause partisan voting comesinto play.

Maybe the global crops thathave the most to lose need to takethe lead, or be forced to do so. Ifall the crops like tea, coffee,spices, cocoa, grapes wererefused MRLs in those countriesthat set their own (like Canada,the USA, and now Japan andKorea) and refused shipmentsuntil CODEX set a global toler-ance, there would be enoughupset consumers to force theirgovernments to ‘fix’ the problem.This would not affect theirdomestic pesticide use or theapplication of a ‘default’ residuelimit, but it would cause enoughtrade problems to their majormarkets to stimulate change. (Ihave been told this won’t workeither, but I still like the idea!)

I await the outcome of theCCPR meetings that will havebeen completed before this hitsthe street. There will still be timeto stimulate change for the JMPRin September, so I will continueto live on hope!

CRAIG HUNTEROFVGA

MINOR USE

CRAIG’S COMMENTS

Spring forward with change at CODEX

EFFECTIVE. FLEXIBLE. CONVENIENT.

Phostrol is an extremely systemic and highly uniquephosphite fungicide that has both a direct andindirect effect on harmful oomycete diseases on a broad range of crops.

engageagro.com Phostrol is a registered trade-mark of Engage Agro Corporation. © 2013 Engage Agro Corporation.

®

For farmers in the Holland Marsh, it always feels good to spring forward. Photo by Glenn Lowson.

THE GROWER

MAY 2015 –– PAGE 35

Prism SG herbicide for control of weeds on caneberries

New copper hydroxide available for organic vegetables

JIM CHAPUT

The Pest Management RegulatoryAgency (PMRA) recently announced theapproval of an URMULE registration forPrism herbicide for control of weeds oncaneberries (raspberries, blackberries) inCanada. Prism herbicide was alreadylabeled for use on a number of crops inCanada for control of weeds.

This minor use project was submittedby Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, PestManagement Centre (AAFC-PMC) in 2013as a result of minor use priorities estab-

lished by growers and extension personnel.The following is provided as an abbre-

viated, general outline only. Apply as asingle early, post-emergence application toactively growing weeds to caneberries thathave gone through at least one growingseason. Users should consult the completelabel before using Prism herbicide.

Prism® herbicide is toxic to non-targetterrestrial plants and aquatic organisms. Do

not apply this product or allow drift toother crops or non-target areas. The use ofthis chemical may result in contaminationof groundwater particularly in areas wheresoils are permeable and/or the depth to thewater table is shallow. Do not contaminateoff-target areas or aquatic habitats whenspraying or when cleaning and rinsingspray equipment or containers.

Follow all other precautions and direc-

tions for use on the Prism label carefully.For a copy of the new minor use label

contact your local crop specialist, regionalsupply outlet or visit the PMRA label sitehttp://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/pest/registrant-titulaire/tools-outils/label-etiq-eng.php

Jim Chaput is minor use coordinator,OMAFRA, Guelph

Canadian organic horticulturalgrowers have a new copperhydroxide available for use invegetable production. ParasolWG is now compliant withCanadian Organic Standards. Allproduct manufactured after 2013contains only substances thatappear on the OrganicProduction Systems PermittedSubstances Lists and is suitablefor use in organic agriculture.

Parasol WG is a wettablegranular formulation of copperhydroxide used to control variousfungal diseases in beans (dry andedible), potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and sugarbeets. An easy-to-use, dust-free formulation, ParasolWG controls bacterial spot,Cercospora leaf blight, commonbacterial blight, early and lateblight, and halo bacterial blight.

“Parasol WG offers an important management tool inorganic operations when culturalpractices alone aren’t enough tocontrol fungal diseases,” saysSabrina Bladon, eastern marketing manager with NufarmAgriculture Inc.

Parasol WG is now certifiedby Pro-Cert, providing professional organic certificationto the Canadian OrganicStandard (CAN/CGSB – 32.310and 32.311) and ProductsRegulation (COR). All newlycertified product can be clearlyidentified by date of manufacture(2014 and later) and lot number(beginning with “14”) located atthe base of the 10 kg paper bagof Parasol WG.

Source: NuFarm AgricultureInc. news release

MINOR USE

tractor for vineyards and orchard

PTO plus choose wheels or low c

Shuttle, Category I & II 3 pt h

or Factory Cab in 70 to 85 Hp

ROwidth, overall 48" features; on

ractos M Series Narrow TTrKubota’

ds.

compaction tracks. An ideal

hitch with live independent

p Kubota diesel, Hydraulic

Hp85 to 60 in models OPS

ors are anything but narrow

y

Crop Target Rate (g/ha) Applications PHI (days)

Caneberries, crop sub-group 13-07A

Labeled weeds 60 g + non-ionic surfactant

1 (One) or 2 (Two) if banded at 50%band or less

21

Cercospora leaf blight on peppers

THE GROWER

PAGE 36 –– MAY 2015

MAKE TIME FOR WHAT REALLY MATTERS.

CORAGEN® CAN HELP.You’re proud of your vegetable crops. Let’s face it. No one ever looks back and wishes they’d spent

more time controlling cutworms, armyworms, diamondback moths and swede midge. We get

that. DuPontTM Coragen® is powered by Rynaxypyr®, a unique active ingredient and a novel

mode-of-action that delivers fl exible, long-lasting control of key insects, so you have time for

more important things. Did we mention it’s also easy on bees,1 benefi cials2 and the environment?

For farmers who want more time and peace of mind, Coragen® is the answer.

Questions? Ask your retailer, call 1-800-667-3925 or visit coragen.dupont.ca

DuPont™

Coragen®

Insecticide

1. Studies from the University of Guelph, conducted by Dr. Cynthia Scott-Dupree and Angela Gradish, indicate that Coragen® is an excellent alternative product when bees are present if used in accordance with the label instructions.

2. Recommend spraying when bees are not actively foraging.

As with all crop protection products, read and follow label instructions carefully.

The DuPont Oval Logo, DuPont™, The miracles of science™ and Coragen® are trademarks or registered trademarks of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.

E. I. du Pont Canada Company is a licensee. Member of CropLife Canada.

© Copyright 2015 E. I. du Pont Canada Company. All rights reserved.