Going corporate in the Valley
Nova Scotia apple growers buy shares to keep acreage in production. | 30
Deer damage Prevention is key but can come at a high cost to an operation’s bottom line. | 14
2016 Pest charts
Stay up-to-date on the latest products. | 22
March 2016
Eye in
sky Information captured by drones and analyzed by software is about to take the horticultural sector into a brave new era.
BY HUGH MCELHONE
Bartolic
BY BOBBI ANN DWORNIKIEWICZ
Going corporate with apples in the Annapolis Valley Nova Scotia apple growers buy shares to keep orchard in production
WOOLLEY
Trust (noun) – a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.
In November 2015, the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) and Canada 2020 invited agriculture and food industry leaders from throughout Canada and other parts of the world to take part in a two-day event in Ottawa – the Forum on Canada’s Agri-Food Future 2015.
Since then, two position papers have been released outlining the forum process and discussing what might be possible in Canada’s agri-food future. In February, CAPI released the final report from the forum, entitled: Achieving what’s possible for Canada’s agri-food sector. And the key message from that 23-page document? Trust.
“Trust is now the defining issue facing nearly everyone involved in food production and supply, both in Canada and among competitors and customers abroad,” the report states. “How we cultivate trust may very well be the key to future competitiveness.
“For us, the pathway is clear: It is in Canada’s best interest – both economically and for the well-being of its citizens – to see that the country’s agri-food systems delivers a strategy to enhance and retain trust.”
And how can that be accomplished? According to forum participants, by meeting four key challenges: securing social licence, leveraging Canada’s natural advantage within the global food system, addressing complacency about adding value, and influencing rules and outcomes.
“Given these challenges, forum participants weighed this question: What is possible?” the report states. “Developing an agri-food strategy focused on trust is a potentially powerful strategic driver. It speaks to the strengths of the agri-food sector and Canada at large. Trust links the entire sector, from how we manage soil and water to how we deliver food to the consumer’s plate. Every player in the food system has a role in
ensuring that trust.”
According to Forum on Canada’s Agri-Food Future 2015 participants, these are the choices facing Canada’s agri-food sector moving forward:
• to earn consumer trust, the industry needs to demonstrate care is being taken to ensure food safety, improve food nutrition, address animal care, maintain planet health and satisfy other expectations;
• to be more productive and remain competitive, managing and enhancing natural capital must be considered;
• to add more value to the food produced, collaboration between scientists, the agri-food industry, and government must occur differently;
• if more supportive public policies are desired for the sector, agrifood’s benefits as a wealth creator and contributor to social well-being must be highlighted;
• if Canada’s interests abroad are to be advanced, the country’s performance on managing natural capital must be leveraged to shape standards and rules that guide worldwide agri-food trade;
• if Canada aspires to be “the most trusted agri-food system,” that status must be awarded by consumers based on the industry’s actions – not just declared by stakeholders.
“Taking decisions and actions here could set up the ‘breakthrough agenda’ needed for the sector to reposition itself for a changing food world and help fulfill its potential as a priority economic sector for Canada,” the report concludes.
“However, ‘a coalition of the willing’ must rally around one clear message: It is in Canada’s best interest – both economically and for the well-being of its citizens – to see that the country’s agri-food system delivers a strategy that enhances and retains trust.”
It’s time to build that coalition of the willing.
the publisher’s approval. Such approval does not imply any endorsement of the products or services advertised. Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that does not meet the standards of the publication.
CUEVA® Commercial Copper Fungicide concentrate is a patented, fixed copper fungicide made by combining a soluble copper fertilizer with a fatty acid to form a true soap. This copper soap fungicide protects plants from infection from a wide range of diseases, including downy and powdery mildews.
CUEVA® stays strong with less copper, because it comes in a fatty acid soap formulation. It has a broad crop label and leaves behind a lighter shade of blue residue.
broad range of labeled
The virtually dust‐free formulation inhibits spore germination and growth of mycelium while leaving significantly less residue compared to other protectants.
Syngenta Canada Inc. has launched Orondis Ultra, a fungicide for the control of oomycete diseases caused by downy mildews and Phytophthora species in potatoes and vegetables.
Orondis Ultra is a combination of the newly registered active ingredient, oxathiapiprolin, which belongs to the piperidinyl-thiazole-isoxazolines (Group U15), and mandipropamid (Group 40).
Orondis Ultra aims to deliver translaminar and acropetal activity, moving across the leaf surface, as well as upwards into new growth via the plant’s water-conducting vessels. Both modes of action
work in tandem to protect the growing canopy, protecting plants during periods of active growth. Applied preventatively in potatoes, Orondis Ultra delivers 21 days of residual late blight control, according to a press release.
In addition to potatoes, Orondis Ultra can be used on head and stem brassica vegetables, bulb vegetables, leafy vegetables, and cucurbit vegetables. See the Orondis UItra label for a complete list of crops and diseases.
Orondis Ultra will be available for sale in spring 2016.
The federal and Nova Scotia governments recently announced an initiative to help Nova Scotia tree fruit growers recoup the cost of managing fire blight.
The Fire Blight Initiative will provide up to $2.69 million to assist Nova Scotia’s tree fruit growers with an industry-led strategy to bring fire blight under control and minimize
the potential for damage in the future.
“On behalf of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers Association, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to the federal and provincial governments for approving this AgriRecovery support program,” said Andrew Parker, president of the NSFGA. “This will help the Nova Scotia
apple industry reinvest money to continue to produce high-value fruit and capitalize on the strong export market the industry has developed.”
Post-tropical storm Arthur caused significant damage to Nova Scotia apple and pear orchards in 2014, resulting in a provincewide outbreak of fire blight affecting 95 per cent of orchards.
This initiative is being delivered under the AgriRecovery Framework, which allows governments to respond to unforeseen natural disasters that result in extraordinary costs for producers. Information on how to apply is available from AgPal and through the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture.
UAV spending worldwide is expected to double over the next 10 years, growing from $5.9 billion to $11.3 billion annually.
(Canadian Centre for Unmanned Vehicle Systems)
Annual UAV spending projected to reach more than $94 billion in the next 10 years
(Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International)
By 2025, 100,000 jobs in the U.S. are expected to involve UAVs. These jobs are expected to generate $82 billion.
(Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International)
Precision agriculture and public safety represent 90 per cent of the potential markets for UAVs.
(Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International)
By 2025, it’s expected 160,000 UAV units will be sold annually in the U.S. for use in agriculture.
(Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International)
Agriculture market for UAVs is expected to be 10-times the size of the public safety market.
(Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International)
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 exible, long-lasting control of key insects, so you have time for more important things. Its environmental pro le makes Coragen® a great t for an Integrated Pest Management Program and it has minimal impact on bene cial insects and pollinators when applied at label rates1. 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
The solid waste left over from winemaking could make a competitive biofuel, University of Adelaide researchers have found.
Published in the journal Bioresource Technology, the researchers showed that up to 400 litres of bioethanol could be produced by fermentation of a tonne of grape marc (the leftover skins, stalks and seeds from winemaking).
Global wine production leaves an estimated 13 million tonnes of grape marc waste each year.
“This is a potentially economic use for what is largely a waste product,” says associate professor Rachel Burton, program leader with the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls in the school of agriculture, food and wine.
PhD candidate Kendall Corbin analyzed the composition of grape
marc from two grape varieties, cabernet sauvignon and sauvignon blanc. She also investigated pretreatment of the grape marc with acid and enzymes.
Corbin found that the majority of the carbohydrates found in grape marc could be converted directly to ethanol through fermentation with a yield of up to 270 litres per tonne of grape marc. The leftover product was suitable for use as an animal feed or fertilizer.
Ethanol yields could be increased by pre-treatment with acid and enzymes up to 400 litres a tonne.
“Using plant biomass for the production of liquid biofuels can be difficult because of its structurally complex nature that is not always easily broken down,” says Corbin. “Grape marc is readily available, can be sourced cheaply and is rich in the type of carbohydrates that are easily fermented.”
Apple producers in Canada face various challenges throughout the growing season. One of these challenges is being able to predict exactly when crops are ready for harvest.
Fortunately, Canadian apple producers have science on their team. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) researchers in Summerland, B.C., and Kentville, NS, are creating protocols for using the delta absorbance (DA) meter, a new tool that takes the guesswork out of apple harvesting. Delta absorbance, which refers to a calculation of the difference in light that is absorbed by the chlorophyll in the fruit’s peel as it matures, helps fruit producers determine optimal ripeness of their crop, ensuring only the best apples make it to market.
“You can’t judge an apple by its looks,” says Peter Toivonen, a research scientist with AAFC. “That’s why we use an instrument like
Arctic Fuji is poised to follow in the footsteps of Okanagan Specialty Fruit’s first distinctly non-browning apple varieties, Arctic Golden and Arctic Granny, which were approved for commercial sale in February 2015.
On Dec. 31, 2015, OSF formally submitted a petition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requesting the deregulation of the next non-browning variety – Arctic Fuji.
Developed using the same innovative techniques as other Arctic apple varieties, Arctic Fuji apples have been grown and tested in field trial orchards for more than a decade. The petition being reviewed by the USDA contains substantial data collected over many years that demonstrates the safety and healthfulness of Arctic Fujis.
Considering regulatory agencies are now familiar with the science behind Arctic apple varieties (namely, the company’s method of silencing polyphenol oxidase, the enzyme that initiates browning), OSF anticipates the review of Arctic Fuji will progress more quickly than for Arctic Golden and Arctic Granny varieties.
the DA meter to help us know what’s going on inside the apple. This tool could change how and when Canadian apple growers harvest their crops.”
When it first came on the market, the DA meter was not well adapted to reading apple ripeness. Toivonen’s team found that adding a light shroud helped generate consistent readings. This simple, yet effective, modification made it possible to collect the data needed to develop harvesting protocols for growers.
Currently, researchers in Summerland are working on protocols for Ambrosia, Golden Delicious, Gala, Fuji, Salish and Aurora Golden Gala, as well as several yet unnamed cultivars. In Kentville, researchers are working on protocols for Honeycrisp.
Protocol data will be released to apple grower associations for new varieties as they become available.
In a three-year study using Ambrosia apples, data generated by the DA meter was a more reliable indicator of harvest maturity than traditional testing. The data is also useful in predicting how well apples will retain their firmness in storage.
The DA meter has LEDs on the outside of the sensor. When the light from the LEDs shines on the apple, it goes into the fruit and gets reflected back. The instrument reads the light reflection to measure the chlorophyll content of the apple’s peel without damaging the fruit. Growers can test the apples right on the tree and leave them on the tree to continue to ripen.
Growers can also determine which parts of the field are ripening ahead of other parts, which helps them more effectively plan their harvest schedule. Since the tests don’t destroy the fruit, they can do more testing to ensure top quality.
Controlling potato diseases such as early blight, white mould and Rhizoctonia black scurf can be a complex job. That’s why we developed new SercadisTM fungicide. With consistent continuous control of key diseases and highly systemic activity, Sercadis enables you to tailor your fungicide program to fit the specific application timing and tank-mixing needs of your farm. That’s what we call flexibility. Call AgSolutions® Customer Care at 1-877-371-BASF (2273) or visit agsolutions.ca for more information.
directions.
Information captured by drones and analyzed by sophisticated software programs is about to take the horticulture sector – and all of agriculture – into a brave new era.
BY TREENA HEIN
When someone tells you drones are about to revolutionize agriculture, believe them. More and more people in the farming industry believe that use of drone imagery will soon be standard practice on most major farms, helping to manage everything from potatoes to horticulture crops, grapes to field crops.
The way things are currently, growers have to scout for disease and other crop issues (and in many cases, send samples away for confirmation). But the human eye can only detect a fraction of the information that can be measured with today’s sensors. With properly-calibrated imaging tools – which can pick up a great deal of information beyond the visible spectrum – there is a whole new dimension of crop management emerging. It’s true growers can and do use sensors to gather information now by physically walking around the fields with a sensor tool or carrying one while
riding in a machine, such as the Greenseeker. But drones in the sky are more efficient. They are able to take hundreds of images across large areas in a few minutes and send the data wirelessly to a central database. The system software analyzes data as it arrives, comparing it with norms on file, then automatically sends reports back to the grower – in some cases within 24 hours – with the time for the whole process to cycle shortening all the time.
The reports are tied into GPS positioning, so that growers can use their smartphones or tablets to go directly in the field to pinpointed areas of concern. Drought stress and a few diseases are already capable of being detected. Drone imaging is also being used to assess crop status (planting evaluation, growing stage, yield estimates), evaluate and survey for drainage, and to track weed levels.
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Vineyards
Andy Reynolds says most remote sensing work in vineyards so far has been conducted in Australia and Europe using fixed wing aircraft.
“[It] has involved use of sensors that record red-green-blue spectral reflectance from plant canopies that provide a metric called normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI),” explains the professor at the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute at Brock University in St. Catherines, Ont. “The utility of these data comes from spatial relationships between NDVI and yield, vine vigor, water status and possibly berry composition metrics such as sugar (Brix), titratable acidity (TA), anthocyanins, phenols, etc.”
Reynolds says there are generally direct correlations between NDVI and yield, vigor, etc. because NDVI is basically measuring greenness in a plant canopy. A low NDVI is typically associated with low vine water status, low TA, high Brix, anthocyanins, and phenols, partly due to smaller berries and the associated concentration effects.
The remote sensing work done by Reynolds and his team in Niagara in the mid-2000s illustrated these results.
“One of the challenges, which we will continue to have with our drone work which just began in 2015, is the fact that Niagara vineyards have green cover crops in row-middles that reflect the same as plant canopies,” he notes. “So, all the pixels associated with the cover crops need to be masked to provide NDVI data representative of the vine canopies exclusively.”
He names another stumbling block with assessing drone tech to be weather differences from year to year, with high rainfall seasons having the capability to completely change the zonal patterns in NDVI and other pertinent variables. Reynolds and his colleagues saw this happen in a recent five-year study in a large Riesling vineyard in Beamsville, Ont., and a two-year study in four Pinot noir vineyards in St David’s, Ont. These two issues, he notes, are major challenges in the process of convincing the industry that the use of remote sensing – either by drones or standard aircraft – might be worth widespread investment.
Reynolds believes all this research may someday allow scientists to delineate temporarily-stable zones of a vineyard that will end up producing wine of differing quality.
“This information might be used in two ways,” he explains. “If the zones are somewhat geometric in nature, it might be possible to implement ‘precision viticulture’ whereby variable rate fertilization, liming etc. might be used to reduce the variability.
“The other way of using the data is to simply accept the fact that the vineyard is variable, and make two or more different products that reflect the variability, for example a $15 bottle of wine from the high-vigor zone and a $25 bottle product from the low-vigor zone. All this will depend upon a clear correlation between the NDVI data accessed by the drone and all the variables on the ground.”
SkySquirrel Technologies in Hammond Plains, N.S., uses drone imaging and data analysis/reporting to currently serve about 30 vineyards in Canada, Chile, France, Spain, Romania and Switzerland. The company also does a little field crop and golf course work. About half its clients are Canadian, based in B.C. and the Maritimes, with at least one Ontario client coming on board in 2016. SkySquirrel has a partnership with VineView of California, which started gathering aerial infrared data in vineyards using airplanes about 12 years ago.
SkySquirrel formed in 2012 and focussed in on vineyard management in 2013.
“Grapes are a high-value crop and the flight time is a good match for size of vineyards,” says Richard van der Put, company CEO.
Usable analysis is back to vineyard managers usually within 24 hours, and the flight planning training for vineyard managers takes about a day. Van der Put says the biggest challenge in developing their system was image calibration –creating software algorithms that would compare imaging data with norms and also make comparisons over time.
Cost return for drone use is best measured on a per-acre basis, in van der Put’s view.
“There’s an immediate return on investment, but how much depends on the application,” he notes. “One disease that is very important in vineyards is grapevine leafroll virus. As many readers would know, there is no treatment and you have to remove the plant. Early stage management is critical and provides a huge return on investment.”
Leafroll shows up on the images with an obvious colour change, but that could be due to other diseases, so vineyard managers usually send plant samples for
confirmation testing before culling.
SkySquirrel currently has no capability to detect mildew or other diseases, but offers differential harvesting analysis (a determination of when grape harvesting should occur), and is in the process of incorporating water management services. van der Put notes that its partner company, VineView, helps vineyards in California drop water use by 25 per cent.
Drones have been used in several projects in Ontario’s Holland Marsh area, according to Jody Mott, Holland Marsh Growers’ Association’s interim executive director. The projects have mostly focussed on surveying fields and buffers. Mott adds that a recent Campbell’s soup commercial involving a Holland Marsh grower was filmed using a drone.
One current Holland Marsh drone project is being spearheaded by Mary Ruth McDonald, a professor at the University of Guelph and the research trial coordinator at its Muck Crops Research Station. The two-year study, supported by federal Growing Forward 2 funding and involving Bradford Cooperative Storage Ltd., has been extended into 2016. McDonald says one objective of the research is to investigate the use of aerial photography to improve integrated pest management programs – basically to see if crop damage can be identified earlier and more efficiently with drones than through scouting (with the cost of scout labour increasing and drone costs coming down). She and her colleagues also want to see how drone imaging can affect research itself, as it may provide more data and more objective data than that which is currently gathered.
Resson Aerospace of Fredericton, N.B., delivers data analysis for various clients, and the Financial Post newspaper reports that Resson signed a seven-figure multiyear deal with McCain Foods.
According to Nicole Rabe, a land resource specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, barriers at this stage in using drone imagery in the horticulture sector include cost, the time it takes to get usable data back, and risk.
But Rabe also asks about the risk to the grower if something has been missed. With more research projects and private partnerships looking into drones in Canada, it seems clear that answers – and a reduction of barriers to drone use in agriculture – are on the way.
Controlling apple diseases such as scab and powdery mildew can be a complex job. That’s why we developed new SercadisTM fungicide. With consistent, continuous control of key diseases and highly systemic activity, Sercadis enables you to tailor your fungicide program to fit the specific application timing and tank-mixing needs of your farm. That’s what we call flexibility. Call AgSolutions® Customer Care at 1-877-371-BASF (2273) or visit agsolutions.ca for more information.
Prevention is key but can come at a high cost for an operation’s bottom line. It’s recommended growers conduct a damage estimate in the spring to decide whether it’s worth investing the money and calculating how many years it will take to recoup the cost.
BY HUGH MCELHONE
The trick to determining who or what is damaging your crops lies in being able to differentiate between damage caused by deer or damage caused by other wildlife, says Ben Hindmarsh, environmental specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
Deer tend to eat grains as long as they can but when the snow gets to six inches deep, they will change their food source to the available flora.
“It’s initially hard for their digestive systems to make the switch from grains to vegetation, such as
ABOVE
cedar trees, but after that they are fine,” says Hindmarsh.
There are home remedies that can help deter deer from trespassing into fields. A suet or mesh bag can be used to hold heavily scented soap, or wads of fabric softener sheets.
Human hair, attained from the local barbershop, can be used as well. Deer also avoid the smell of rotten eggs. The scent deterrents should be suspended from trees, posts or fencing or wherever deer can catch the scent.
Scent deterrents also come in commercial remedies, such as
Deer tend to eat grains for as long as they can but when the snow gets to six inches deep, they will change their food source to the available flora, like apple orchards.
Before putting up fencing, Ben Hindmarsh, environmental specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, advises you be sure deer are the problem and that the losses are quantified.
ammonium soaps or sprays containing thiram. Taste deterrents are also available, such as capsaicin, which is the active component in chili peppers, or blood or bone meal, which can be spread to deter deer, rabbits and rodents.
There are some audio and visual deterrents that vary in effectiveness, such as suspending pie plates, mylar ribbons or scary-eye balloons. Propane air cannons can be quite effective, as are frightening devices such as sprinkler systems triggered by motion sensors.
“The old fashioned scarecrow still does a good job,” says Hindmarsh.
Auditory, scent and visual deterrents must be cycled regularly to avoid becoming “white noise” that the deer ignore.
Hindmarsh says one other popular deer deterrent available to farmers is recreational hunting, which is free and generally available from October to December.
Deer removal is another firearms option and involves shooting out of season. For this, there are many application criteria accompanied by site assessments and visits. There are also seasonal restrictions, he says. Similar paperwork is required for harassing deer with rubber bullets.
Dogs can also be used to harass deer and keep them out of orchards. Hindmarsh says some producers use a buried or “invisible” fence to keep the dogs on site and to intimidate and chase away deer.
The fencing option is up to 100 per cent effective but with it comes some operational considerations, construction and maintenance costs. Poly fence, for example, is the cheapest option and is easy to work with. Posts can be set at 20 feet apart and the fence pinned to guide wires at two and seven feet. At
the high end of the cost spectrum is the eight-foot wire fence with cedar posts at 16 feet, says Hindmarsh.
He adds to warrant the cost of any fencing, one has to conduct a damage estimation in the orchard in the spring.
“Sample three to five per cent of the orchard at random. Pick three representative one-inch branches off each tree. Count the damaged buds and divide by the total number of buds, then multiply by 100 to estimate the damage.”
Hindmarsh says this estimate will help you decide whether you should lay out the money for fencing and tell you how many years it will take to recoup your investment.
To do this, he uses the example of a 50-acre field surrounded by 1,650 by 1,320 feet of fence. If this fence were 7.5-foot poly with cedar posts every 20-feet, he estimates it would cost $1.87 per foot for materials. If the fence were eight-foot woven wire with posts every 16-feet, he estimates $2.43 per foot for materials. If eight-foot tensile steel fence with pressure-treated posts at 16-feet, he figures the cost at $6 per foot, including installation by a contractor. All include one gate at $600.
If this crop were grapes, and worth about $6,375 per acre, one per cent damage would equal an annual loss of $3,188 per 50 acres. At this rate, it would take 3.7 years to pay off the poly, 4.7 for the woven wire, and 11.4 years to pay off the tensile steel.
If the crop were carrots, valued at $4,090 per acre, the one per cent loss would equal $2,045. At this rate, it would take 5.7 years to pay for the poly, 7.6 years for the woven wire, and 17.7 years for the tensile steel fence.
“Compare the capital investment of fencing with your losses, then you’ll have your answer,” he concludes.
Feeding the world is not just a big responsibility, it’s big business – with a world population over 7.3 billion, it has to be. However, many consumers don’t associate large-scale business with family business, even though 98% of
Canadian farms are family-owned and operated. As a result, many consumers don’t trust their food supply. We need to make sure the story of the family farm is being told, and that “big” doesn’t mean “bad.”
We all have stories we can share, whether you grew up on a family farm, or you work in an industry that serves farm families. Look for opportunities to tell the real story of Canadian agriculture, whether it be online, in the grocery store or at the dinner table.
98% of Canadian farms are family farms
Almost all of the farms in Canada are family-owned and operated, and producing healthy, sustainable food is their first priority. Remember, farmers feed their own families the food they produce.
Family farms have evolved They look different today than they did 50 years ago. But that doesn’t mean our food supply isn’t safe and healthy anymore. New technology has allowed farmers to do more with less, making agriculture more sustainable today. Farmers protect the environment because they want to pass their business on to the next generation.
Farming is a complex business
Families must manage food safety and traceability, detailed budgets and accounting, marketing, employees, everchanging technology, and more. Modern farms must be run as a business, and it makes good business sense for many family farms to incorporate. As a company, farms can minimize taxes. Plus, family members can own shares in the company, making it easier to pass the farm from generation to generation. But their business structure doesn’t change the fact that family members work side by side every day, bringing to life their shared passion and dedication for producing safe, healthy food.
Everyone in the industry needs to work together to help improve perceptions. By being open and proactively communicating with the public about how we grow food and why we operate in the ways we do, we can maintain consumer trust and continue to produce high-quality, nutritious food in ways that are efficient and sustainable.
The importance of family is something everyone can understand and relate to, whether you’re in ag or not. It’s common ground that can start a conversation.
Visit AgMoreThanEver.ca/resources to find a collection of photos that you can easily share on social media to start or support conversations about family farming.
The land is my lifestyle and my livelihood, but it’s also my legacy.
Providing safe, healthy food for my family is important to me too.
That’s why I farm.
I love ag for the life it gives my kids now…and the opportunities it gives in the future
Or, even better, share your own pictures and make your story personal.
“My farm is a family farm. It is 100% owned by myself, my husband and his two parents. We love everything about agriculture with a fierce passion. We have never, ever, sold a product that we wouldn’t happily serve to our children. Every decision on the farm takes more than just finances into consideration. Our number one goal is to leave a farm to our children that is both environmentally and economically viable.”
“Agriculture is a fast-growing business, and it has to be run as a business. It involves family, of course, but we’re always looking at the latest research, we’re looking at what practices are evolving in other countries, and we’re adapting those practices so we can become more efficient to get our product into the marketplace.”
– John Thwaites, Ontario fruit and vegetable grower
– Adrienne Ivey, Saskatchewan rancher
Watch The power of shared values webinar featuring Charlie Arnot, CEO of the Center for Food Integrity, who shares three simple steps to gain consumers’ trust by tapping into the power of shared values. Charlie helps bridge the divide between science and consumer perception and offers great insight into creating messages that are proven to resonate with consumers.
Visit AgMoreThanEver.ca/tag/webinar
There are 2.1 million Canadians working in agriculture and agri-food. Imagine the impact we could make if we all made a commitment to improve perceptions of agriculture. There are simple ways you can start being an agvocate today. Just choose to do one of the following:
1. Search the hashtags #FutureFarmer, #AgMoreThanEver, or #Farm365 and find a positive post to retweet.
2. When you overhear a misleading or inaccurate conversation about farming, find an appropriate time to share your story.
3. Dedicate one day to volunteer at an event that promotes agriculture such as Open Farm Days or Ag Literacy Week
4. Tell a friend or co-worker about the need to speak up, and ask them to take the agvocate challenge.
“ The natural environment is critical to farmers – we depend on soil and water for the production of food. But we also live on our farms, so it’s essential that we act as responsible stewards.”
– Doug Chorney, Manitoba
“ We take pride in knowing we would feel safe consuming any of the crops we sell. If we would not use it ourselves , it does not go to market.”
– Katelyn Duncan, Saskatchewan
“ The welfare of my animals is one of my highest priorities. If I don’t give my cows a high quality of life, they won’t grow up to be great cows.”
– Andrew Campbell, Ontario
Safe food; animal welfare; sustainability; people care deeply about these things when they make food choices. And all of us in the agriculture industry care deeply about them too. But sometimes the general public doesn’t see it that way. Why? Because, for the most part, we’re not telling them our story and, too often, someone outside the industry is.
The journey from farm to table is a conversation we need to make sure we’re a part of. So let’s talk about it, together.
Visit AgMoreThanEver.ca to discover how you can help improve and create realistic perceptions of Canadian ag.
black vine weevil and cranberry
post-renovation: suppression of black vine weevil and strawberry root weevil
aphids, reduces number of larvae of European chafers
Registered on brown marmorated stink bug. This product is toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment or residues on bloom
ing crops. Do not apply during bloom or when bees are present.
Cabbage
Controls all life stages of target mites, including eggs. Safe on beneficial insects and bees
*REI 21 days for can turning, shoot positioning, girdling activities; 13 days for training, bunch thinning, hand pruning, tying and leaf pulling activities; 12 hours for scouting and hand weeding activities
Registered on brown marmorated stink bug. This product is toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment or residues on blooming crops. Do not apply during bloom or when bees are present.
Note formulation change: Entrust 80W is now Entrust
*Two days for
Controls all life stages of target mites, including eggs. Safe on beneficial insects and bees. Also controls McDaniel spider mite.
PHOSTROL® FUNGICIDE is an extremely systemic and highly unique phosphite fungicide that has both a direct and indirect effect on harmful oomycete diseases on a broad range of crops. In vegetables, Phostrol provides effective, convenient and flexible preventative protection against downy mildew in head & stem brassica, cucurbits and leafy greens, and late blight in tomatoes.
SLUGGO® is an effective, specially formulated slug & snail bait that contains iron phosphate, a compound commonly found in soil. SLUGGO® causes snails and slugs to immediately cease feeding on plant tissue after ingesting even small amounts of this bait.
Any uneaten SLUGGO® will degrade and become part of the soil. It will not harm pets and wildlife.
The 2013 bankruptcy of a 240-acre Annapolis Valley orchard corporation sired Crisp Growers Inc.
More than a dozen Nova Scotia apple growing families and Scotian Gold members recently banded together to sell shares in a newly-formed company, Crisp Growers Inc. The move helped keep 240 acres of apples in production within the Annapolis Valley. The venture now has 26 shareholders.
BY DAN WOOLLEY
David Cudmore, CEO of the Scotian Gold Cooperative, explains that some 14 Nova Scotia apple growing families and Scotian Gold members, not wanting to see those acres go out of production, banded together to sell shares in the newlyformed company, Crisp Growers Inc.
It now has 26 shareholders, including Scotian Gold, as a minority 13 per cent shareholder, says Cudmore, adding it is governed by a seven-member board of directors.
Crisp Growers also recently hired
ABOVE
a new manager, Andrew Stirling.
“He grew up in an apple growing family,” says Cudmore. “The whole idea is we are trying to make good economic decisions in what we are doing.”
Right now, that means getting high-value cultivars into the ground.
“It is Honeycrisp right now.”
Most of the planting is at 1,000 trees to the acre, says Cudmore, adding that Crisp Growers’ modernization plan removed 140 acres of McIntosh, Cortland, Ida Red and Golden Delicious in 2014 while retaining 100 acres of McIntosh, Honeycrisp and Ambrosia on 12 by 20 foot spacing.
Crisp Growers Inc. is currently trying to make good economic decisions, which means getting high-value cultivars, such as Honeycrisp, into the ground.