Labour solutions
Exploring equipment innovations and employee communication tactics. | 13
Sprouting a successful business
How a Saskatchewan family farm has found success with sprouts. | 18
Irrigation methods
Berry researchers seek cool solution to prevent losses. | 21
May 2019
Through its farmer-led research program the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario is turning farmers into citizen scientists. 18 21 26 Sprouting success
During the EFAO’s new farmer-led research program, growers trial the use of a silage tarp in lettuce to minimize tillage. Results showed tarping reduced tillage by 82 per cent. Photo credit: Brent Preston. See page 10 for more.
What started as a healthy way to eat has grown into an operation of nearly 100 sprouting seed varieties.
BY RONDA PAYNE
BY PETER MITHAM
BY CATHY BARTOLIC
As the spring arrives and the fields begin to come alive I often find myself distracted by what I spot in the fields parallel to my travels. One of the things that has always fascinated me about farming is how different growing conditions and crops can be from region-to-region and field-to-field.
Three years ago, as a new Ontario resident, I found myself driving along one of the province’s roadways heading away from the city and into a more familiar landscape of wide-open fields and scattered farm buildings. I remember noticing a few plots of scarred land that look distinctly different than those around them. Little did I know at the time that I had just stumbled upon one of Canada’s crown jewels of agriculture production – the Holland Marsh.
Commonly referred to as the ‘salad bowl of Canada’, the Holland Marsh is located in Bradford, Ont., and plays home to 125 family farms, spread across 7,000 acres. What makes this area unique is its highly fertile soil. Up until 1925
area is estimated to have an annual economic impact of over one billion dollars. Onions and carrots are the most commonly grown crops with two-thirds of total production numbers. Every year the Marsh produces $130 million worth of carrots and $160 million worth of onions. And the estimated average net revenue per acre is $318 – more than double the provincial average.
To further satisfy my driveby curiosity, last month I had the privilege of attending the 68th annual Muck Crop Conference. The conference, which was held at the Holland Marsh, brought in industry experts to discuss muck crop research on carrot cultivar trials, leaf curl in celery, weed control, soil and water protection, nematodes in carrots and garlic, flea beetles and labour challenges.
Every field you spot this summer is testament to the Canadian grower’s ability to harness the land’s properties and unique growing power to cultivate a successful crop. In this issue you will find a number
Soil in the marsh is some of the most fertile soil in the country.
the region was a regular ol’ marsh until researchers began the endeavor of rerouting the Holland River and draining the area. What was left behind is what some might call black gold. To this day, the soil in the Holland Marsh is some of the most fertile in the country, generally consisting of 20 to 80 per cent organic material in the upper layer.
With all of that organic matter, production from the Holland Marsh packs a punch. Producing more than 60 different vegetables varieties, the
of great examples of Canadian producers who are embracing their own unique growing regions. On page 18, for example, you will find a profile of a family farm in Saskatchewan that has found unexpected success with sprouts. Happy reading!
An additional note: Upon conclusion of the F&V reader survey I would like to thank everyone for your valuable feedback! For more information on the survey, visit: fruitandveggie.com.•
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Let Luna Tranquility ® fungicide help you keep your berry crop perfect for the market. Using two modes of action, Luna Tranquility will protect against botrytis grey mould and powdery mildew. Enjoy high quality and high yields with Luna Tranquility.
The Manitoba Bureau of Statistics was commissioned by Manitoba Agriculture to produce an economic impact assessment of horticulture in Manitoba. The horticulture industry assessed in the study included fruit, vegetables (excluding potatoes), sod, nursery and greenhouse production. The total annual value of production from horticulture in Manitoba was estimated at
roughly $100 million and the total impact to Manitoba GDP at market prices is estimated at $80 million per year. The report notes that current Manitoba field horticulture production exists on 9,500 acres – 5,000 acres of fruit and vegetables, 2,900 acres of sod, 1,600 acres of other nursery products. The full report can be found at: gov.mb.ca/mbs/economic_impacts.html
A new study led by the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity (CCFI) provides insights into the conversations consumers are engaging in online about food. The CCFI study, Public Opinion: a study of Canadian conversations online about food and farming measured the discussions related to food and farming of 254,900 Canadians for 24 months on social
media, from January 2017 to January 2019. The study assessed many social platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit using a proprietary artificial intelligence tool to analyze public social media, with no personalized data attached to the findings.
Key conversations covered farm practices and food production in general, and more
specifically, genetically modified organisms, hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides. Additionally, two million conversations involved discussion on organic food and farming practices.
For the most part, millennials and baby boomers were found to be similarly aligned in their views on food issues based on their online conversations. This is not the case in
CCFI’s more traditional quantitative research. As found in previous CCFI research, Canadians most commonly associated farmers with all the key topics studied; more so than any other food system stakeholders. View the more detailed report findings on this study and other CCFI studies related to Canadians’ opinions on food and farming at: foodintegrity.ca
900,000 3x Canada has approximately
Since 2006
The value of the organic market in Canada has grown hectares of organic farmland
There are nearly
5,000
certified organic farms, processors and handlers nationwide
The number of organic farms has grown
66.5%
Since 2001
MORE THAN
20 million
Canadians buy organic produce every week
Canadian organic exports are valued at
$458 million
Source: The Canada Organic Trade Association
Ontario has a new tool to help connect its organic sector. The Ontario organic directory is a searchable online database of Ontario’s organic producers, processors and value chain members hosted by the Organic Council of Ontario.
Launched in 2018, the Ontario organic directory can connect consumers who may be looking to find an organic fruit and vegetable CSA, to food processors looking to source Ontario organic ingredients. Growers can also use the tool to find organic inputs and distributors for their products.
“As a small-scale, certified organic fermentation company, sourcing locally-grown and certified produce can be a challenge for the right volumes and timing,” says Rebekka Hutton, owner of Alchemy Pickle Company. “The Ontario organic directory helps us access farmers directly to fill in the supply gaps, and farmers can contact us if they have a bumper crop that needs to move.”
The directory features an interactive map of the over 1,300 certified-organic operators in Ontario. Businesses that support the organic sector but do not hold certification can also get a listing in the directory by joining the Organic Council of Ontario as a supporting member.
The Organic Council of Ontario sought funding for this project partly in response to the results of its 2016 sector-wide assessment.
“We wanted to find out why more people aren’t transitioning to organic,” says the Organic Council’s executive director, Carolyn Young. “One common barrier to growth that we identified was access to local organic inputs and distribution channels. It’s hard to find some of these things without knowing where to look. The directory is one part of the solution.”
Better data is another essential piece of growing the organic sector, and the directory also serves as a source of data on organic operators in Ontario. While other regions have organic directories and data solutions already, including Alberta, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada, this directory is the first in Ontario.
The Organic Council is continuing to add new features to the directory based on user feedback. This year, they have teamed up with Local Line to offer members the opportunity to sell their products in an online organic marketplace. The Council is currently seeking new vendors interested in joining the organic marketplace pilot, which will launch in summer 2019. Please contact dora@organiccouncil.ca for more information.
The directory was funded through Growing Forward 2 and the Carrot Cache. You can search the Directory for organic businesses in your area at organiccouncil.ca.
Renaissance BioScience Corp. (RBSC), a leading global microorganism bioengineering company, has announced a new partnership with Mitacs, the University of British Columbia and the University of Manitoba for a three-year, $975,000 multiinvestigator research and development project.
Mitacs, a not-for-profit organization that fosters growth and innovation in Canada, will provide matching funding for the RBSC project to extend its R&D of an engineered, yeast-based RNA interference (RNAi) production and delivery platform across multiple insect and animal models.
This will test and confirm the proof-of-concept utility for the system to augment or replace industrial chemical pesticides in many different agricultural applications, as well as form the basis of an animal and human biotherapeutics production and delivery platform.
“We are pleased to work with Mitacs as a co-funding partner in this exciting project to further develop and test our yeast-based RNAi production and delivery platform, initially in biocontrol and biotherapeutic applications,” says Matthew Dahabieh, chief science officer, RBSC. “There is a significant potential global market, for these environmentally-friendly, RNAi-based technologies, especially in the crop protection and animal agricultural sectors. Up until now, the efficient and cost-effective delivery of RNAi in the field has always been a barrier to adoption. Yeast, however, as a stable, non-toxic and wellunderstood industrial organism, is an excellent platform to deliver on the promise of RNAi as a biocontrol and medical biotherapeutics agent.”
Alejandro Adem, Mitacs’ CEO and scientific director, adds, “Yeast-based RNAi therapeutics and biocontrol is an exciting emerging area of research in which Canada can become a world leader. Mitacs is excited to partner on this research and leverage Renaissance’s expertise, while helping to expand Canada’s intellectual capacity in this newly emerging field.”
The
Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario’s
Farmer-led Research Program has united many Ontario growers to cultivate their curiosity, help them test their ideas and make informed decisions.
BY DIANE METTLER
The Farmer-led Research Program kicked off in 2016 and is the only program of its kind in Canada.
As Ontario farmers Brent Preston and wife Gillian Flies lugged their heavy tarps out during each new planting season, they pondered ground cover options for their farm at Creemore. The tarps were working well but would lighter weight ground cover fabric do the same job with less expense and less hassle?
Contemplating an outlay of as much as $10,000 for new tarps, the couple turned to the Farmer-led Research Program to search for some answers. Started by the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario (EFAO) in 2016, the unique program lets farmers do the nuts-and-bolts research and then share it. EFAO is a membershipbased organization dedicated to supporting farmers to build resilient ecological farms and grow a strong knowledge-sharing community, and farmer-led research is one way it does this.
“You can actually see the results clearly in the field,” says Preston, citing the rigorous research involved on the couple’s acreage at the New Farm. “It was an incredible learning experience.”
That’s the kind of outcome Sarah Hargreaves, research director at the EAFO, wants to see.
“The farmers are the ones who choose the trials that are selected for funding,” she says of the program that connects farmers, and lends technical and financial support. “It’s farmers who are coming up with the research ideas and we have few restrictions. The only restrictions are around whether it is moving our knowledge forward in the realm of ecological agriculture.”
The conclusions about subjects like efficient ground cover and reduced soil disturbance have been valuable, Hargreaves says.
The research program lets farmers conduct nuts-and-bolts research on the farm and then share it with other interested farmers through various meetings and field days.
there was no weed pressure.”
The farmer-led no-till research documented an 82 per cent reduction in tillage, which was huge, and Hargreaves says that got members excited. The next question was, can landscape fabric do the same thing as silage tarps?
“There are some technical issues with the silage tarp. Burying the edges is the main issue [for farmers], and also the durability and the weight – lugging these huge tarps around. The landscape fabric can be pinned, it’s lighter and it’s anecdotally more durable.”
This year three farms are doing follow-up research, testing landscape fabric against the tarp and the regular tillage routine.
“What they were able to see is a huge difference in crop health.”
“Last year, Brent and Gillian’s notill vegetable trial was very exciting. They grow organic salad greens and relied on tillage for weed control so they wanted to test using a silage tarp to minimize tillage. After harvesting a succession of greens, they laid silage tarps without tilling. After two weeks, they removed the tarps, tine weeded if necessary and then direct seeded. They also had control plots, where they tilled as per usual right beside for each succession, and did this comparison multiple times throughout the season”
The results were impressive. “What they were able to see is a huge difference in crop health. The salad greens in the no-till plots were ready a week before the other salad greens, which was unexpected,” Hargreaves says. “We think it had to do with soil moisture and leaving the ground undisturbed, but we didn’t test this specifically. They also saw a reduction in labour for spinach and lettuce because the crops grew so fast
The Farmer-led Research Program kicked off in 2016 and is the only program of its kind in Canada, according to Hargreaves. She became interested in the approach after seeing a similar program when she lived in Iowa. The Canadian program is modeled after the Practical Farmers of Iowa’s Cooperators’ Program, which has promoted farmer-led research for the past 35 years.
Hargreaves saw her Canadian program begin with nine farmerresearchers doing 11 different trials. By 2017 and 2018, 37 different farmers received funding to conduct 30 varied trials. Currently, the program supports over 20 trials, some of which are being done by farmers previously in the program. She affectionately calls those farmers “repeat offenders,” and enjoys seeing their continued enthusiasm.
The initial funding came from an Ontario Trillium Foundation Seed Grant, with a follow-up Ontario Trillium Foundation Grow Grant and additional funding from George Weston Limited, Loblaw Companies Limited and an endowment to EFAO through the Robert and Moira Ideas Foundation, a fund within the
London Community Foundation.
“What we’re finding is that the interest and the enthusiasm among EFAO members is growing, as well as within the general agricultural community, around the importance of farmer-led research,” Hargreaves says.
With the emphasis on working with nature and observing soil health and the fluctuations in climate, the program turns farmers into citizen scientists. Once approved for funding, participating farmers get a $500 farmer fee stipend, which is just a small token.
“We also then reimburse for approved research expenses, which would cover crop seed or stakes that you need, or soil tests,” Hargreaves says. “That’s something that the Iowa program doesn’t do. And we like multi-year trials because it adds that second year of data under different weather conditions.”
Once a project is chosen, Hargreaves helps the farmer design a rigorous protocol. That protocol is posted online and made public so anyone can see it, and, if successful, repeat it. Then she and the farmer do check-ins and field days throughout the year. At the end of the growing season, they submit their data.
“I do all the analysis and write it up, with them helping me interpret the data to turn it into a formal research report that’s posted online so the knowledge generated from these trials is all open access,” she adds.
For produce growers, the idea is to map the experimental area, account for variation like changes in topography, take good measurements and keep accurate records. Plots must be comparable and factor in cultivation activities.
“The process must be rigorous enough to get reliable data,” Preston emphasizes, adding that there must be enough randomization of plots so the measured outcomes show no predictability or bias. True data is better than mere over-thefence anecdotal evidence, according to the farmers involved in the research.
Hargreaves says that she’s aware when working with farmers that they have real lives and very busy schedules. Her job is to pave a path between getting enough data and letting the farmers get their work done. After all, one of the program goals is financial profitability.
As Hargreaves compiles data and furnishes analysis, she is often in uncharted territory.
“Sometimes the results don’t really tell the farmers what they wanted or maybe the experiment didn’t go exactly as planned. But what we’re finding, which is exciting and very positive, is that overwhelmingly the farmers feel that just the process of being involved in farmer-led research is so helpful.”
Working four days a week as the research director, Hargreaves takes her job seriously as she also works on her own family’s farm, which produces pasture-raised livestock and chickens. Her co-researcher, Heather Coffey, is a vegetable grower from eastern Ontario. The two immerse in various projects, seeing farmer-led research as a necessary complement to academic research and experimental field stations. At any given time, both Hargreaves and Coffey are out in the province, touring with farmers, seeking new crop ideas, better soil health and entrepreneurial marketing trends.
“Right now, we’re working on a trial that will support eight growers to test different lettuce varieties for fall harvest. In a single year, they’re all working together,” Hargreaves says. “We also have a lot of trials that are set up as one year studies and then they want to continue their observations over the next few years. They may not have seen a result, but they feel like maybe it has a longer term impact, so they’re still really committed to tracking changes.”
Currently, farmers are experimenting with red pepper varieties, sweet potato breeding, winter hardy garden peas and seedless cucumbers, among others. And by adding program-related presentations and symposiums, this allows the farmers to gather together and share even further.
“Having nearly 70 people in the room for the Farmer-led Research Symposium in London in 2018 was really exciting, because it wasn’t just those involved in the program. It was a lot of new faces and there was so much excitement and buzz around the research,” Hargreaves says. “Farmer-researchers did poster presentations to present their results. I think that’s probably my proudest moment. Everyone’s in a room geeking out on research.”
Bringing a variety of backgrounds to the farm table, the Farmer-led Research Program has united many Ontario growers to cultivate their curiosity, help them test their ideas and make informed decision.
Hargreaves sums it up, “Farmer-led research is on working farms, in a real environment, where a farmer sees a need to change to benefit the soil, for example, and make a living, both of which are really important.” •
Many experts believe that robotic harvesters will be doing the work of harvest crews within a decade or 15 years. Until that technology comes online, however, maximizing human efficiency in order to improve harvest quality and decrease labour costs is vital.
BY MADELEINE BAERG
While farm machinery innovation often means bigger sizes and more complex technology, one Ontario farm is proving smaller and simpler may be the way of the future for harvesting row crops.
Sandy Shore Farms, one of Ontario’s largest growers and packers of asparagus, debuted their single-man harvest carts in their own fields four years ago. Called ‘Mantis’, the solo-user machine is an ultra-simple, gas-powered cart that increases harvest efficiency and decreases wasted time, in turn decreasing cutting crew man hours and even improving product quality.
“In our own operation we harvest between 250 and 300 acres of asparagus on an annual basis,” says Ken Wall, owner and operator of Sandy Shore
ABOVE
Farms. “That normally would have required about 200 people annually to harvest. Using the Mantis, we now need 130 people. That’s 70 people I don’t have to find. We’re saving between 35 and 45 per cent on labour costs.”
“We get 150 to 200 per cent more productivity out of the same worker on a single-man harvester compared to a five-man cart,” says East Elgin County asparagus grower Gary Van Leeuwen, who plans to add five more Mantis carts this spring to his farm’s current fleet of 22. “There are still growers out there who won’t believe you when you tell them that but that’s okay; it gives me an edge.”
Operated by foot pedals, the Mantis starts and stops at its operator’s demand, ‘leapfrogging’ its
The solo-user Mantis carts can move quickly between asparagus clumps and can come to a complete stop when necessary to allow the operator time to cut all available spears.
Today, Mantis single-man carts are leapfrogging their way across asparagus fields throughout Canada, multiple U.S. states, Mexico, and most recently, New Zealand. Strong interest has also been shown in Europe.
way across a field. Unlike the crawling, steady rate of travel of a multi-man harvest cart, the Mantis moves quickly between asparagus clumps but can comes to a complete stop when necessary to allow the operator time to cut all available spears. This lurching motion decreases down time between cuts, reduces missed spears, and results in less damage to immature spears nearly or just emerging from the soil. Meanwhile, the solo nature of the cart eliminates waiting for other crew members and allows for improved employee accountability.
“We can take two single-man carts and cut what we were cutting with one five-man cart,” Van Leeuwen says. “You have to see them operating in the field to see why.”
Five years ago, Wall was chatting with several farmers after a growers’ meeting when talk turned to the upcoming asparagus harvest. In passing, he mentioned his five-man harvest carts, widely considered the best harvest aid available. An older grower – “One of the smartest guys I know,” Wall says – turned to him and said, ‘You’re still using that old harvest technology?’ Wall was a bit taken aback, he admits, not only because he prides his farm on leading the way technologically, but also because he wasn’t aware of another option.
The other farmer quickly clarified, he’d switched to using a three-man cart; basically, a five-man cart with the two outside seats removed. Wall remembers being confused, what benefit could there possibly be from reducing the number of seats? The answer, once the farmer explained the logic, made perfect sense.
“He said, ‘Just think about it. On a harvester, you’re always going to have one person who’s a little slower than the rest. On your five-man harvester, your slow person holds back four
people. On my three-man harvester, my slow person only holds back two. And when one of your five-man crew needs a washroom break at the end of a row, you’ve got four people sitting and waiting. I’ve only got two.”
It was, Wall says, a lightbulb moment. Given the incredible cost of labour, not to mention the challenge of finding sufficient bodies for harvest, any efficiency improvement offers significant bottom line results.
Wall immediately went home and called together the Sandy Shore Farms leadership team, his son Marc, brother-in-law Robert Konrad, nephew Daniel Konrad, and lead fabricator Willy Braun. Mere minutes in, the group began to discuss that if a three-man is so much more efficient than a five, wouldn’t a one-man cart be more efficient than a three?
Wall then turned to the internet and found single-man, battery-powered carts manufactured in Italy and Holland. Trialling the Holland-built machines, Wall remembers being blown away by how much more efficient they were than a threeor five- man cart.
“I spent hours in the field with my iPhone out, timing. It was mind-boggling. We were getting anywhere from a 180 to 225 per cent improvement in efficiency. The first time I saw that, I went back to the office and thought that those measurments could not be right. But again, and again and again, the efficiency gains were there.”
Though good in concept, Wall felt that the European-built versions were unable to stand up to the rigours of Ontario’s conditions. He also found them to be unnecessarily complicated, with heavy batteries that proved inconvenient to charge on a large
farm. Undeterred, Sandy Shore Farms decided to build their own.
“The first year, we built 30. We wanted them as simple as possible so they’d just keep on running. We put in a simple Honda motor because they last forever, a couple hydraulic pumps. We did everything we could to dumb it down,” Wall says. “I wouldn’t say they’re indestructible, but virtually.”
The following year, Sandy Shore Farms built several hundred units. Most stayed for use on their own farm but, for the first time, the family sold a few Mantis units to other farmers. Since then, demand has ballooned.
Today, Mantis single-man carts are leapfrogging their way across asparagus fields throughout Canada, multiple U.S. states, Mexico, and most recently, New Zealand. Strong interest has also been shown in Europe.
“Accessing enough labour is a growing problem everywhere,” Wall says. “The U.K. especially we think will be a big market. They won’t have access to the same pool of people from eastern Europe that they have in the past because of Brexit so, they’re excited about replacing labour with technology.”
Van Leeuwen admits that having five motors running on single-man carts compared to just one on a five-man cart does burn a little more gasoline and requires somewhat more upkeep and maintenance. But, he says, those costs are outweighed by the benefits by a wide margin.
“The bottom line is there’s not much you can buy in farm machinery that pays for itself in two-and-a-half years on labour savings alone.”
Van Leeuwen also points on one other less obvious benefit to the technology, “On a five-man harvester, it’s hard to know who’s leaving spears behind or cutting short. You’d have to count rows, which is something you rarely do. With the one-man carts, we give each machine two, two-and-a-half acres. I can walk into the field, I can even drive by with the truck window open, and see by the look of the field who’s working hard that day because you know exactly who cut each field. That improves the quality of the harvest a lot.”
If there’s one thing every farmer of labour-intensive crops knows, it’s that keeping your harvest crew happy is key to success. So, what do harvest crews think of the single-operator technology?
“When we’ve taken them off the five-man and put them on the one-man, we haven’t had one employee yet who wanted to go back to the five-man,” Van Leeuwen says. “At first, we
The Mantis’s lurching motion decreases down time between cuts, reduces missed spears, and results in less damage to immature spears nearly or just emerging from the soil.
questioned whether they’d prefer the social aspect of a five-man harvester, especially those who work with their families. But no, they’re all happier on the one-man rider. They don’t want to go back to the old system. I don’t either, that’s for sure.”
Many tech experts believe that robotic harvesters will be doing the work of harvest crews within a decade or 15 years. Until that technology comes online, however, maximizing human efficiency in order to improve harvest quality and decrease labour costs is vital.
“I think we’re going to see dramatic improvements in efficiency over the coming years,” Wall says. “We’ve been forced into it with all the increasing costs, especially the 22 per cent wage increase. Growers are either going to get out of this industry or adapt to survive, which is where you’re going to see the use of technology coming in. Will there be other uses for this one-man technology? There’s no question. We’re excited to work with that.”
Sandy Shore Farms is already working on adapting the Mantis technology to suit other applications, from hand weeding, to simplifying manual labour throughout the growing season in a variety of row crops. Wall expects strawberry farmers to be next in line for Mantis harvesters given the current challenges of hand harvesting that labour-intensive crop.
But no matter how many applications the Mantis ultimately fills, there’s only one that is nearest and dearest to him, “We’re mostly excited that we’ve been able to adapt this technology to work on our own farming operation. First and foremost, we are asparagus growers,” he says. •
BY DIANE METTLER
Today, Martin Burwash laughs at the irony and wishes now he was a little more serious in his studies after seeing the role Spanish has played in his career as a life-long farmer. And even more so in his current role as farm manager of the non-profit Viva Farms, an organization that offers a business incubator that is a bilingual program based on offering support to both beginning farmers and experienced farm workers.
Burwash says communication isn’t just about getting the words right but understanding each other’s cultural differences. Without solid communication, a farmer can easily create an unsafe and/or unproductive environment. And anyone who has worked with for foreign-speaking crews knows good communication is easier said than done.
Many different cultural issues can arise on a farm. One issue that can arises within the Hispanic culture is family loyalty, which is generally a good thing, but something that can cause havoc in the field.
“The Hispanic culture is very family oriented,” Burwash says. “Families bond together and look after each other. When working alongside other families, a family group will want to make sure they were getting their fair share. In other words, we had to be careful to divide the field up evenly, to where all families were getting portions of both really good sections and also weaker parts of the field. Fields aren’t perfectly uniform. So, we had to be cognizant of that, and realize and make allowances.”
Burwash has seen a number of different cultural issues crop up in his position with Viva Farms, such as:
• Male workers reluctant to take direction from a female supervisor
• Internal pecking orders that are at odds with your supervisory choices
• Different safety regulations such as Right to Refuse Unsafe Work, and/or seeing safety regulations as optional
• Moonlighting to send money home and lack of awareness around provincial labour regulations
• The importance of why breaks are necessary in order to avoid injury
Luckily, despite the number of ways to miscommunicate, there are ways to get it right.
Another issue to be aware of are the differences between laws and regulations. Confusion can quickly cause friction. Burwash also saw this happen frequently with his crews when it came to child labour laws.
“In the Hispanic culture everyone works and pitches in. They didn’t understand child labour laws. Culturally, it made no sense. In fact, those laws put a hardship on migrant families because then they had to somehow come up with child care.”
Determine the right staff. Identify or hire a staff person who can speak the language fluently. That said, it’s advised not to allow supervisors to use migrant peers as interpreters. Take the time to define who is in charge and who will be giving directions.
Burwash says at his farm they relied heavily on a bi-lingual foreman who had worked his way up the ranks. “He could explain what we needed and could explain to us what their issues were.”
Open communication. It’s important to be aware that there can be fear among migrant workers that they could be “sent home,” and therefore, they may not admit when they are not comprehending instructions.
“Make it clear that it is okay if your workers don’t understand and require further clarification. Observe their work and provide constructive feedback in a non-threatening way until you are confident that they can perform the task appropriately,” advises the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA).
Clear questions. Sometimes the questions can be phrased in a way to help alleviate confusion. For example, consider asking, “What do you understand?” rather than, “Do you understand?” The first response will provide you information
about the task, the second response may get a “yes” to be polite.
Burwash adds, “If you don’t understand what they’re talking about, just flat out tell the person. They can handle that. They’ll come up with another way to communicate.”
Safety first. Because some workers may not understand certain safety precautions or the need for them, make sure to communicate and enforce health and safety requirements. Make it clear that health and safety practices are a condition of employment.
To ensure your safety requirements are understood, consider incorporating pictures, demonstrations, short video clips and other visual techniques in your safety instruction.
Visual communication is an extremely powerful tool, as all humans are essentially visual learners. Also, look to see if there are materials already written in other languages. This can save you time and potential confusion.
Repetition. Never assume that your crew understands what is being said the time first time around. Follow up. Have a team demonstrate that they understood what was asked of them.
Don’t assume. We often take for granted that farm workers can operator various equipment or are familiar with various tools or technology. That is not always the case. Burwash says he often runs into knowledge gaps.
“I often take it for granted that there’s knowledge there that isn’t. And that’s just a universal. For example, some people tend to gravitate more towards trying to do things by hand instead of coming up with ways to do things mechanically. We assume that people know how to do things the way we do them.”
Keep it simple and don’t be shy. CASA recommends when giving instructions to speak slowly, simply, and politely; avoiding slang and jargon; learning key phrases in their language; and using exaggerated body language to convey information. Burwash says he puts exaggerated body language to use every day.
“What you’re looking at is trying to answer questions, explain and teach,” he says. “Out in the field, between my bad Spanish and their bad English, we can communicate. They literally show me what they’re talking about. And I show them what I’m talking about. It is more of a hands-on-demonstration way communication. And often we will blend the languages that we’re speaking back and forth to each other. And it does work. But you certainly have to be patient.”
Create a common language. Communication is definitely easier when we are using the same words. Define the meaning of important technical words up front. And, if possible, provide printed material – ideally in the workers’ language – with tips about the Canadian culture.
Be polite, listen and react. Communication is often more about listening than speaking. Listen attentively to understand. Once you understand, then take action. Even if you don’t perceive something as a problem, if your employees think it’s a problem, it is.•
Berry researchers seek cool solution to prevent losses.
BY PETER MITHAM
Growers sizing up the impacts a changing climate could have on North America are well aware of two key challenges. One is greater rainfall earlier in the winter, meaning smaller snow packs and less runoff during the growing season. This will contribute to drier summers. Compounding the effects of a drier growing season is a rise in temperatures. Recent years have been some of the warmest on record, and that’s triggered record forest fire seasons all along the West Coast. And while blueberry growers haven’t seen significant impacts from forest fires, they’re well aware of the need to conserve water. Many older growers have shifted from overhead sprinkler systems; for newer growers, drip irrigation is the norm. But one consequence of the new irrigation systems is that blueberries are more prone to heat damage than in the past.
“Historically, the blueberries we grow here in Oregon were all irrigated by sprinklers,” explains Dave Bryla, a research horticulturist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) in Corvallis, Ore. “What growers will often do when they have sprinklers is run them during the day when it gets hot. They didn’t tend to see a lot of this heat damage. But now that most growers are using drip, it’s becoming more of an issue.”
The damage manifests at all stages of berry development. A sudden blast of heat early in the growing season may mean berries don’t develop properly; heat later in the season may result in shrivelling, wrinkling, necrosis and scarring. Sometimes, in cultivars such as Aurora, softness is the key result.
that a gradual onset of heat may allow the fruit to acclimatize, either through the development of certain proteins or development of a thicker wax layer.
These aren’t temperatures many growers are likely to see in the Fraser Valley, and they’ve also been rare to date in the Willamette Valley where Bryla works. However, they’re commonplace in eastern Washington, and are becoming more common in coastal areas, too. Willamette Valley growers typically see about 18 days where temperatures hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit or more.
Shading berries isn’t practical when dozens of acres are at risk, so Bryla recently led a team of researchers to see if traditional irrigation systems could be adapted to cool the berries without using excessive amounts of water. With funding from the Oregon and Washington blueberry commissions, research was conducted between 2013 and 2017 in the Willamette Valley in Oregon as well as in the vicinity of Prosser in eastern Washington with a combination of microsprinklers for cooling and drip irrigation for nourishing the plants. Compared to traditional overhead sprinklers where water use is measured in gallons per minute, the microsprinklers Bryla used delivered 15.3 gallons per hour, or about 0.1-acre inch an hour (drip irrigation systems deliver less than four gallons an hour).
“The berries that are exposed to sun get the most damage, because those get the hottest,” Bryla says. “Usually, it tends to occur when you have cool weather, then all of a sudden the weather gets hot.”
The threshold for damage seems to be about 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius), with the risk increasing the more sudden the onset of heat.
“Certainly, once you get above 95 [35 degrees Celsius], you’re going to get heat damage,” Bryla says.
While the phenomenon isn’t well understood, he suspects
Droplets from the microsprinkler are larger than from a mister, but they still work through evaporative cooling. Growers in eastern Washington typically use them to protect apples, which are susceptible to heat damage, too.
“We found it works quite well,” says Bryla, who presented his findings to growers attending the Pacific Agriculture Show in Abbotsford, B.C., this past January. “It quickly drops the temperatures of the berries, and it almost completely reduces any signs of heat damage in the field as well as increases the firmness of the berries.”
Trials overseen by doctoral student Joy Yang saw sprinklers running continuously once air temperatures passed 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Berry temperatures quickly dropped 20 to 26 degrees Fahrenheit, from upwards of 120 degrees at the worst to below 100 with cooling. However, the strategy also left