Going big with direct sales
An Ontario farm finds innovative solutions to boost direct sales. | 16
Bringing a new variety to market
What does it take to gain traction in the marketplace? | 22
Sweet corn goes cutting-edge
Advances in sweet corn processing open new market options. | 26
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Warm temperatures in early spring can cause premature blossoming, and despite the beauty of an apple blossom, this can put crops at risk of frost damage. See page 12 for the latest on frost protection tactics in Canada. Photo courtesy of Matthew Whiting, WSU.
BY TREENA HEIN
BY MADELEINE BAERG
BY TREENA HEIN
Innovations on the farm can come in many forms. From developing a new piece of equipment or production method, to improving the methods you already have in place. Canadian farmers are always searching for ways to work better and smarter.
This past month I found myself walking the isles of the Guelph Organics Conference, an annual event held on the University of Guelph campus that aims to promote organic production. As I perused the different vendors, it was clear the organic sector was no stranger to innovating either. From steam treatment for weed control to a newly developed fabric that allows for control and manipulation of soil moisture in organic greenhouse production, the Guelph Organics Conference had plenty to offer in the way of new and exciting.
In an afternoon workshop, I quickly discovered another form of innovation happening on farms across Canada – on-farm plant breeding and variety trials.
“We are trying to work with farmers who are growing diverse crops to grow regionally-adapted seed for farm-scale production,”
program called the Canadian Organic Variety Improvement program where new populations of breeding genetics of peppers, squash and carrots will be sent to farmers all over Canada to conduct on-farm evaluations and selections.
“This is the only program of its kind in Canada. We are trying to build a community or network of farmers who are constantly evaluating, adapting and developing these varieties on their farms,” Dey says.
Rebecca Ivanoff, who farms at Whole Circle Farm near Acton, Ont., is one of the growers participating in the on-farm evaluations. Speaking at the conference, Ivanoff provided an overview of her process of conducting variety trials, on-farm selections and plant breeding techniques.
“Fourteen different pepper seeds that were sent to me and we grew them out in replication across the field. Then we evaluate them for all of the things that growers would be looking at, how well they establish, shape, size, and resistance to pests, and then we dig them up and also evaluate for flavour and appearance,” Ivanoff says. “I am really excited to be a part of a group of people who are learning to
Farmers are always looking for ways to work better and smarter.
says Aabir Dey of The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security. “Farmers are excellent plant breeders. They can make the best observations on their farm and with a little bit of support they can develop varieties that are going to perform better or equal to any of the varieties that are on the market.”
This growing season, the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, in partnership with the University of B.C., will be running a
save seeds. I think the capacity and skills of seed growers in Canada has been boosted greatly in the past few years and a lot of that has been because of conferences and workshops like these that we have been having.”
On-farm plant breeding is just another way Canadian growers are innovating and moving the industry forward. Keep your eyes on upcoming pages of F&V for more details on on-farm plant breeding projects in Canada.•
amccracken@annexbusinessmedia.com 226-931-5095 • 888-599-2228 ext. 266 Account Coordinator MARY BURNIE mburnie@annexbusinessmedia.com 519-429-5175 • 888-599-2228
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A new food guide was recently released in Canada.
The online suite of resources created by Health Canada provides new dietary guidelines and concrete advice on healthy food choices and healthy eating habits. The guide recommends eating plenty of vegetables and fruits, and encourages more Canadians to cook at home and to be mindful of their eating habits.
The Canadian Horticultural Council (CHC) welcomed the new recommendations, “this is a tremendous
achievement. As we celebrate, let’s not forget to recognize the hard work of Canadian fruit and vegetable growers. We will continue to look to the government to increase accessibility to quality fruits and vegetables for all communities, to encourage consumption of Canadian produce, and to support the growth our sector, so that farmers can continue to provide highly nutritious and safe produce for generations to come,” said Rebecca Lee, executive director of CHC.
The Canadian Agricultural HR Council (CAHRC) will be leading a new, nine-month project entitled, the Quality AgriWorkforce Management Program: International Phase (QAMP).
The QAMP will support employers who hire international workers to supplement their Canadian workforce. The program will intend to provide employers with information,
training and tools needed to efficiently and successfully hire and manage international workers. Research has shown that each international worker that is hired results in two to four full-time Canadian agriculture-related jobs up and down the AgriFood supply chain.
“CAHRC is proud to provide this new program supporting the hiring and management of international
workers, improving the understanding that agriculture is a trustworthy industry that safeguards its workers,” says Portia MacDonald-Dewhirst, executive director of CAHRC.
The project will be implemented through a variety of workshops and webinars across Canada while developing employer guides and handbooks. Looking ahead, CAHRC envisions a
skills hub that would house a variety of HR management tools focused on best practices that would be available to employers across the Agri-Food spectrum. Agri-Food businesses with a view toward growing the AgriWorkforce require workers from all skill levels to meet the range of skills and experience necessary to capitalize on the growing demand for Canada’s highly sought after products.
BY
Source: Canadian Centre for Food Integrity
of Canadians think the food system is headed in the right direction compared to times more powerful than facts when it comes to earning trust with consumers.
of consumers have a positive view of Canadian agriculture, this is down significantly compared to 2016 (61%) dropping for the first time since 2006. last year.
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Filaction, a Quebec development fund, and Natural Products Canada (NPC), the national not-for-profit that provides insights, introductions and investment to natural products companies, recently announced an investment in BioTEPP Inc.
BioTEPP Inc. is a Canadian biotechnology company that develops, manufactures and markets environmentally-friendly, natural biopesticides. Its initial product, Virosoft CP4, is registered and marketed in Canada and the United States.
The deal reflects the growing global demand for innovation and natural approaches to agritech and other sectors. BioTEPP’s Virosoft CP4 biopesticide leverages a naturally occurring microorganism for the reduction of codling moth damage on apple, pear, plum, prune, and walnut trees.
“Companies like BioTEPP that have capitalized on this advanced technology to create a natural solution show great potential for investors,” says Christophe Roubinet, investment director of Filaction. “We are pleased to invest in their future growth.”
The investment represents the first partnership between Filaction and NPC and fully utilized each organization’s capacity to assess, develop, and de-risk the opportunity.
“Investments such as those of NPC and Filaction, will help BioTEPP grow further and develop new insecticides in the highly efficient sector of entomopathogenic viruses,” says Claude Gagnon, president of BioTEPP. “We’re privileged to have such experienced partners to accompany us.”
BioTEPP will use the capital to accelerate its expansion and increase commercialization of its flagship product Virosoft CP4 into promising new markets.
The BioTEPP investment is the fifth addition to the NPC investment portfolio, which was started in 2017 to help innovative Canadian natural product companies attain the capital necessary to achieve growth milestones.
CABI scientists have made the first discovery of the Asian samurai wasp – a natural enemy that kills the eggs of the invasive fruit and nut pest brown marmorated stink bug – in Europe.
Judith Stahl, MSc, and Tim Haye led an international team of researchers, including those from the University of Torino and the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, who used DNA analysis to confirm the wasp was found in Switzerland in 2017.
In the paper ‘First discovery of adventive populations of Trissolcus japonicus’ , published in the Journal of Pest Science , the CABI scientists outline how – after a survey of native egg parasitoids of the brown marmorated stink bug – they discovered the Trissolcus japonicus was already present in apple orchards in the Canton Ticino, southeastern Switzerland.
Stahl and Haye confirm that the wasp is now established in Switzerland, that it was found in two consecutive years at three different sites, and that it is the first time it was recovered from exposed marmorated stink bug egg masses in Europe.
The brown marmorated stink bug is a global pest which in 2016 caused $60 million worth of damage to Georgia’s hazelnut (a third of its crop) and in 2010, $37 million worth of apples were destroyed in parts of the U.S. CABI is leading the fight to see if Trissolcus japonicus can be used as a natural enemy to control the pest.
Accidentally introduced Trissolcus japonicus populations were also found in the northeastern U.S. in 2014, and the wasps are now spreading throughout the country. It is known to search for hosts on trees and CABI is also conducting experiments in China to see if it attacks brown marmorated stink bug eggs in field crops.
In 2017, Stahl and Haye conducted the first set of laboratory tests, exposing egg masses of native European stink bugs to
Trissolcus japonicus under quarantine conditions. The aim is to see if the wasp can be an effective biological control method to fight the brown marmorated stink bug if released in Europe.
“It is difficult to say for certain how it arrived in Switzerland – the two millimetre wasp was probably accidentally transported from its native range along with the pest,” Haye says. “But whether Switzerland was the actual country of introduction or whether the wasp was introduced into the climatically highly-suitable northern Italy before spreading northwards remains unclear.”
Haye added that while it is too early to evaluate the impact of Trissolcus japonicus on invasive brown marmorated stink bugs in Switzerland, based on the very high parasitism levels of eggs observed in Asia, its establishment could have the potential to reduce invasive stink bug densities below economic thresholds.
“Further research is needed to determine the current distribution and spread of Trissolcus japonicus and to evaluate how egg mortality may affect the brown marmorated stink bugs populations and native nontarget stink bugs in the near future,” Haye says.
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Bull’s Blood and Chioggia beets, Bright Lights Swiss chard, Kentucky Wonder pole beans, these vegetables, along with thousands of other open-pollinated varieties, were common place in Canada long before my mother planted her first garden. Who knew they would be coveted as precious heirlooms by her grandchildren’s generation?
Also referred to as heritage vegetables, heirlooms are open-pollinated varieties that have reproduced generation-after-generation with the same characteristics as their parent plant for at least 50 years, though many have stories that stretch back into the nineteenth century and beyond.
My mother’s garden was just one of thousands, when much of the nation’s vegetable supply sprang from the backyards in small towns and villages. Each time we moved she would start again, turning sod, adjusting to new soil and a new growing zone. One thing remained constant, though. The seeds she saved from her garden and purchased from the seed catalogues were the same each year; tried and true vegetables on which she came to rely, such as Cylindra beets for easy-to-cut pickles, Danvers Half Long carrots for shallow soil, and Amish Paste tomatoes for canning.
pledged to save seeds, planting them each year to keep the strains alive, sharing them with each other, and donating to seed banks. From these beginnings, new Canadian seed companies sprouted up, offering organically-produced or untreated heirloom vegetable seeds for both large- and small-scale growers. With increasing access to a variety of seed once more, a new generation of farmers has brought old favorites like Broccoli ‘Romanesca’, Rosa Bianca eggplant and tomatoes of all shapes, colours and sizes back into the limelight.
Why are organic producers so interested in heirlooms? It’s the older vegetable varieties, developed before commercial fertilizers and pesticides, that are often better suited to organic cultivation. In addition, organic growing relies on diversity – in the crops that are planted, the compost that nourishes the fields, and in the soil life that feeds and is fed by them. The more varieties planted, the more diverse life they support, and the more chance that at least one variety can adapt well to changing climate, pests and disease.
Their preservation plays a major role in increasing biodiversity...
As my siblings left rural life behind, the rest of Canada’s population also shifted from village to urban life. Backyard gardens declined as Canadians began heading to the supermarket for their canned tomatoes, fresh produce and pickled preserves. Plant breeders turned their attention to the needs of commercial growers, hybridizing, developing and holding patent rights on varieties suited to large-scale cultivation, mechanical harvesting, packing and shipping. With seed catalogues offering fewer and fewer openpollinated seeds, thousands of vegetable varieties disappeared, or survived in only a handful of backyard gardens.
Alarmed by the dwindling diversity, Canadian Organic Growers developed the Heritage Seed Program in 1983 (now Seeds of Diversity Canada) to preserve the older varieties. Members
On the marketing side, chefs love the plethora of flavors, along with the visual novelty of things like blue potatoes, purple cauliflower and pinkfleshed radish. When a restaurant introduces heirloom vegetables, shifting the menu as availability changes, there is an opportunity to educate diners on the food they eat.
For growers, heirlooms are a link to our ancestors who carried seed with them across oceans, across the country, or across the rural/ urban divide. Their preservation plays a major role in increasing biodiversity so vital to healthy soil, food security, and the future of farming in Canada.
To learn more, Seeds of Diversity Canada (seeds.ca) has a listing of Canadian seed companies offering open-pollinated and heirloom seeds.
Katrina Simmons has worked in journalism, farming, community gardens and food service, and volunteered with local and international non-profits promoting organic and sustainable food systems. She is currently based in Dundas, Ontario.
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Wind machines are often used to mix air when the cold layer is trapped under a warmer layer of air.
Fruit tree growers are often dealt major setbacks when warm temperatures arrive early in the spring and crops blossom early, leaving them susceptible to frost events.
Kathryn Carter, tender fruit and grape fruit crop specialist at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), notes there have been a few severe frost events in the past few years that have impacted growers. For example, in 2015, 40 per cent of the total Ontario apple crop was lost due to a frost in late-May, with some areas severely hit. In 2012, approximately 80 per cent of Ontario’s apple crop was lost due to frost.
“A lot of the peach and apple crop were affected, but grapes were affected less as many of the vines had not broken dormancy,” she notes. “It seems that frost is certainly becoming an increasing issue for growers. Climate change is resulting in more erratic weather patterns and is causing significant temperature swings.”
Production insurance is obviously an option for growers but many want to do their best to prevent crop injury when they can. As the impending frost moved in during spring 2012, some Ontario grape and tree fruit producers used wind machines, and Carter notes that many other growers bought these machines afterwards to have them on hand.
One wind machine will cover about 15 acres, according to Karter,
but she explains that they only work if it’s a radiation frost that creates an inversion layer (with warmer air above and colder air temperatures at ground level).
Those radiation frosts tend to occur on calm, clear nights, adds Amanda Green, tree fruit specialist with OMAFRA, based in Simcoe, Ont.
Carter says a few growers could still be using ‘cold air drain’ machines, which blow cold air upwards to keep air moving around blooms and prevent crystal formation. They are now available in tractor PTO- or engine-driven models and can be moved between orchards. However, these machines require the same air temperature layering, and a barrier to direct cold air towards them, which may in itself create a frost pocket. According to Green, she usually sees cold air drains used in low points in orchards (valleys, bowls) where cold air will pool and frost, therefore, tends to pool.
Green adds that in the event of a radiative frost, growers who don’t have wind machines or cold air drains could hire a helicopter to mix the inversion layers to warm the air down by the crop, but that is a very costly option.
Carter notes that some strawberry growers and a few apple growers in the province are employing microsprinklers on irrigation equipment to deal with frost. However, to do this growers need to already have that type of irrigation equipment, as well as a large water supply as water must be
Insights into the latest techniques and technologies available to aid frost protection of fruit trees and berry crops across Canada.
BY TREENA HEIN
used continuously throughout a cold event.
Green adds that, “in other apple growing areas in North America, I have seen growers with both wind machines and micro-sprinklers, as micro-sprinklers don’t require an inversion layer to be effective. Overhead irrigation works to protect the crop by latent heat releasing when water changes state from liquid to solid. This works similarly to how steam can burn your hand as it condenses into a liquid. Another method to protecting your crop with irrigation is under the row irrigation. This would work similarly to overhead irrigation in that as the water changes state from liquid to solid, latent heat is released. It may not be as effective as overhead but there is less risk of freezing your crop if you run out of water as the water is not contacting the blossoms.”
Other mitigating options available to growers include: Selecting sites less susceptible to frost; thinning hedgerows or clearing forested areas and selecting cultivars that bloom later.
Glen Lucas, B.C. Fruit Growers
production insurance, which includes partial coverage for frost damage.
Currently, there are a number of research projects looking at solutions to mitigating the risk of frost. Dormant oils are being investigated at Ohio State University for frost protection in grapes and the ‘ABA’ hormone is being used to build freeze tolerance (winter injury as opposed to frost impact on buds) in vines.
“It seems that frost is certainly becoming an increasing issue for growers. Climate change is resulting in more erratic weather patterns and is causing significant temperature swings.”
Association general manager, also notes that orchards in the Okanagan tend to be planted on hillsides and not the valley floor, so frost is avoided as it flows downhill and pools in the valley bottom.
“Where needed, wind machines are used to mix air when the cold layer is trapped under a warmer layer of air,” he says, adding that almost all growers carry the basic level of
Carter notes that scientists have tested other substances to protect against frost, including foliar zinc sprays, Pristine fungicide, and Promalin plant growth regulator. If ice-nucleating bacteria is present in the blossom (which makes ice form at higher temperatures), and if some products replace these bacteria or prevent it from growing, there may be some frost protection. But Carter notes this is not always the case. Promalin may also promote the formation of parthenocarpic fruit (without seeds), but a full crop is not likely to be set, and fruit would have limited shelf life with no seeds. Overall, the cost-potential benefit of these products needs to be closely analyzed.
Researchers at Washington State University (WSU) have developed a promising frost protection coating made with a cellulose by-product of paper processing. The team has received grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission to help fund further trials.
The unique solution was formulated by Xiao Zhang, associate professor at WSU Tri-Cities’ Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory. Collaborator Matthew Whiting, professor of horticulture at WSU’s Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, heard of Zhang’s work because they are both members of WSU’s multidisciplinary Center for Precision and Automated Agricultural Systems.
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“I had studied tree fruit frost damage for many years and when I heard about his work, I approached Xiao about making some formulations suitable for fruit crops,” he says. “We set up trials in early 2017, applying the coating in research vineyards and to sweet cherry trees. We treated vines and branches with the solution and 48 hours later, brought those into the lab to evaluate hardiness in programmable freeze chambers. We had good results – the treated tissue could withstand lower temperatures than untreated.”
The solution acts as an insulating layer on plant tissue that both keeps the cold air out, says Whiting, but also keeps tissue heat inside. In 2018, they did more studies on grapes and cherries, and added apples as well. Studies continue on key factors that affect efficacy (for example, cellulose concentration) and commercialization of an associated product is coming.
“We are also looking at optimal application strategies,” Whiting reports. “This means timing but also application technology such as what sort of spray head is best. We do believe its efficacy is tied to having a good coating, so it may be that electrostatic application technology would be advantageous as it causes substances to wrap well around tissues. That will be researched in 2019.” He says electrostatic sprayers are not terribly expensive and that some growers have already switched to them for applying other crop protection products.•
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Jordan and Alex McKay of Willowtree Farm have developed a number of innovative ideas to boost their direct sales.
BY TREENA HEIN
Selling directly to consumers is a strong trend in farming these days, and it’s no wonder why. More profit is kept by the farmer and demand for local food is higher than ever. Consumers also want to get to know, if they can, who produces their food.
While Cathy Bartolic, executive director of Ontario Farm Fresh, an association for farmers who focus on direct sales, says there is no official record of how many farmers in Ontario sell directly, membership at her organization has just about doubled over the last few years and now totals approximately 300 farm businesses.
“There seem to be a lot more people interested in trying direct sales and also trying their hand at farming as a second or first career. About 15 years ago, you didn’t see a lot of the next generation coming back to the farm to take over, and now they’re doing this. Direct farm marketing is a factor,” Bartolic says. She adds that there are also more farmers who are diversifying their direct sale offerings to include honey, maple syrup,
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meat, wool products and much more.
Among the most diverse direct-sales operations across Canada is Willowtree Farm in Port Perry, Ont. In addition to wholesaling some berries and garlic, Williowtree Farm owners Jordan and Alex McKay, with their wives Alyson and Kelty, sell directly to customers through CSA (community sourced agriculture) memberships, farmers markets, pick-your-own, on-farm events and online orders. They also sell products made with farm ingredients at their bustling on-farm store. In 2016, the young farmers expanded the operation with a café, butcher shop and commercial kitchen.
For all this, and for also employing a variety of innovative and sustainable cropping practices, the McKays were named Ontario’s Outstanding Young Farmers (OYF) for 2018. They also went on to become one of two sets of farmers nationally recognized as Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers. These achievements follow not
Jordan and Alex McKay, with their wives Alyson and Kelty, operate Willowtree Farm, one of the most diverse direct-sales operations in Canada.
