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Wednesday, June 24, 2015 The Chilliwack Progress
N CHILLIW I E AC D A
Agriculture Innovation 2015 All hands on tech...
by: Eric Welsh
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CELEBRATION 5TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Kevin and Adria Janzen use a number of robotics on their Yarrow dairy farm to lessen their workload. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
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“There was a time when I was scraping (rhymes with spit) off the floor for three hours every day, wondering what exactly it is that I’m farming,” he laughs. Some mornings Kevin was up at 4 a.m. and didn’t finish till 7 at night, coming in for dinner and going straight to bed. Kevin first milked a cow when he was 12 years old, led into the milking parlor by his dad, Ben. For 24 years he did it old school and didn’t mind. When it’s all you know it’s all you know. “We always had to work around milking times, which was a pain for anything we wanted to do,” Adria said. “If something came up, we would have to plan weeks in advance.” “When we first had kids (they now have four) I didn’t see them very much,” Kevin added.
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It was an astronaut that saved the day when, just over a year ago, Kevin and Adria went all techie on farming. Kevin’s brother had been in his ear about the Lely Astronaut. A cow nutritionist, he’d seen this cuttingedge robotic setup with lazers and stuff that could milk a herd round the clock. It didn’t get tired, didn’t need food or sleep, didn’t take sick days and you didn’t have to pay it. The Lely Astronaut sounded wonderful. “We went to several farms to look at these things and talk to guys, and everyone who had them was just grinning and happy,” Kevin said. Because they’d already committed to getting an automated scraping system to remove the cow... ahem... poop from the floor, their barn was going to require a complete re-model and expansion. On paper, comparing the Astronaut to any keep-the-milk-parlour plans, it emerged as the wise buy. “We figured we were going to be in debt for the rest of our lives anyway, because that’s farming,” Adria chuckled. “If you’re not buying new equipment or upgrading your technology, you’re investing in cow comfort (Kevin and Adria Continued: p19
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The Chilliwack Progress Wednesday, June 24, 2015
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Agriculture Innovation 2015 Ups and Downs of Automation
by: Eric Welsh
from page 18
near par.
provide all their cows with memory foam mats and an automated back brusher called Luna).
The robots were installed, and the training fun began.
“You’re never done spending money on a dairy farm,” Kevin added. “There’s always something.” But, where day-to-day operational expenses were concerned, installing the Astronaut would eliminate the need to employ a full-time milker. They’d also save dollars not maintaining six milking units in the obsolete milk parlor. But, before making the final leap, Kevin had performance-related questions. “The main question I asked other guys was, ‘How many phone calls are you getting from the robot every month, because I know how many trouble calls I get from my employees,” he explained. “Their answer was one or two per robot, which, to me was not a big deal. And the second big question was how would the training process for the cows go?” The farmers he talked to were honest. The training process would be difficult and probably make him regret his decision, but short-term pain would be worth long-term gain. So Kevin and Adria did it. With perfect timing, they bought two Astronauts when the Canadian dollar was
“It was pretty brutal and I think about nine hours in I thought it was the biggest mistake I’d ever made in my life,” Kevin said. “Each cow had to be physically put into that box where the robot is, and some of them didn’t want to go.” What do you do when a cow doesn’t want to move? “You push and push and push and hope you don’t get kicked,” Kevin said. “Some of the cows kicked the (rhymes with scrap) out of those machines and I was thinking, ‘Oh please don’t break it!’” Adria added.
We’re proud to support agriculture excellence in our community. Thank you, Chilliwack farmers!
Kevin took each of his 110 cows through the process the first time, with all of them showing their displeasure.
Mayor Sharon Gaetz
“But the second time through one cow went in there on her own,” Kevin noted. “The Astronaut hooked up, did its thing and milked her perfectly. It was one out of 110 right? So a small ray of hope I clung to.” Each time through, a few more cows caught on, lured by the big tray of grain the Astronaut provides.
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It took about three weeks for Kevin to think it could work. Continued: p22
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Kevin Janzen uses a number of robotics on his Yarrow dairy farm to lessen the workload, like this automatic milking machine. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
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Wednesday, June 24 , 2015 The Chilliwack Progress
Field work 2015 The Case for Cranberries
Your Vision
For the bulk of the year, a 30-acre crop of cranberries in East Chilliwack looks like little more than a low-lying ground cover.
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The bushes only grow to ankle height, producing unassuming white flowers in the spring and summer. Even as those blossoms turn to white berries, it’s not much to look at, admits farmer Case Guliker.
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“This is really the wrong time of year to look at the field,” he says, standing in the field that lines Hwy. 1 and Gibson Road.
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It’s late summer, early fall when cranberries are in their full glory, and the fields explode in a sea of crimson red — just in time for the Thanksgiving dinner table. Once they’re fully ripened and ready to harvest, the field is flooded. A harvesting machine moves through and
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shakes them loose. And because they’re filled with air, the berries float to the top, where they are easily corralled by large booms for collection. Like many crops across the province, Chilliwack’s berries goes to Ocean Spray. The company processes and packages the berries for juices, dried and canned products, and fresh bags ready for the home chef. And the B.C. Cranberry Growers Association and the B.C. Cranberry Marketing Commission work to promote the crop and its many benefits. Guliker says their crop is small by B.C. standards, about half the size of other cranberry fields. There are about 80 growers in the Fraser Valley and on Vancouver Island, producing about 84 million pounds of cranberries every year, which is about 12 per cent of the cranberry production in North America. The Guliker farm, owned by Case, his brother John and their father Harry Guliker, is the only one in Chilliwack. They planted in 2009, on the land that used to house an equestrian centre. And they are learning as they go, Guliker says.
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Case Guliker says his cranberries will be ready for harvesting in late summer.
They’ve stuck to the most common variety, Stevens, for the past six years. But after a crop was ruined last year from winter weather, they decided to replant with a new emerging variety,
JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Continued: p21
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Field Work 2015 Turning the Corner on Cranberries
by: Jessica Peters off and the berries are growing, those bees will be taken back to Honeyview.
from page 20 called Haines. The berries were developed in New Jersey, and are expected to produce twice as many berries as Stevens. It will take about three years for that 4.5 acre plot to produce a profit, Guliker says.
It’s not too surprising more farmers haven’t branched off into cranberry production. It’s not the biggest money maker, and even though they are native to B.C., they grow even better in Quebec, at about twice the yield per acre. But cranberries are a staple of the North American diet, with a long history of being placed on the table.
“They’re not that easy to grow here,” he says, and prefer sandy soil to the Guliker’s wood waste mulch. But the remaining Stevens are doing well, and he sees a bumper crop this year. Overall, it’s been a learning experience for the family, who have a long history in the agricultural community. They have winter crops, and blueberry fields. The senior Guliker also had pigs until 2004. The opportunity to grow cranberries came about when they heard that Ocean Spray was looking for new producers, and the Gulikers were looking at diversifying their crops.
Some First Nation peoples used cranberries, fat and ground venison to make a cake known as pemmican. The fruit was also used to in poultices, and to dye fabrics. Today, the crop is more commonly used for juice and cranberry sauce. It takes about 4,400 berries to produce one gallon of cranberry juice. Cranberries are also known for their health benefits, and have been used for centuries to help treat urinary tract infections. But they are also being used in research related to ulcers, cholesterol and even antiaging.
Cranberries are a perennial crop, meaning they don’t normally need to be replanted. But there is still plenty of work to be done. Irrigation is the main concern, along with weeding and pesticide application. And every spring, the Gulikers have Honeyview Farms bring in bees that work the field and pollinate the plants. Now that the flowers have died
Case Guliker stands in acres of unripe cranberries. The berries will be ready for harvesting in late summer.
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“We have fun,” Guliker said. “It’s a neat crop and I think this year it will start paying off.”
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Wednesday, June 24, 2015 The Chilliwack Progress
Agriculture Innovation 2015 Ups and Downs of Automation
The robot will also filter out milk that’s unacceptable for any reason, for example the cow having an infection.
from page 19
Local food is key to a healthy community. Support our local farmers!
“But it was still tenuous until about three months in, when things got quite a bit better,” he said. “About nine months in things really started to click, where I didn’t have to catch cows anymore and it worked the way people said it could.”
This is something that had to be eyeballed by the milker in days past. “And if something got missed then the whole tank was contaminated, and if it made it to the plant before being caught then the whole truck got dumped,” Kevin said. “I had to dump a full tank once, which wrecked a whole day’s production.”
There are two or three other companies who make robotic milkers, but Kevin chose Lely because of its tech support.
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“There’s a phone number I can call 24/7 365 days a year if I can’t figure out a problem,” he said. “They’ll try to talk you through it if they think it’s something you can fix. If not, the local rep, who’s based out of Chilliwack/Agassiz, will start driving and continue talking to you until he gets here. The promise is he’ll be here in an hour.”
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The new system hopefully puts such concerns to rest. With Astronaut milking the cows and Kevin’s father living right next door, Kevin and Adria find themselves with a whole new life. They still work hard, but they had time last week to celebrate their wedding anniversary with dinner at the Cactus Club in Abbotsford.
The technology behind the Astronaut is amazing.
Thank You for Your Continued Support!
As the machine milks a cow, Kevin can peer at a computer screen and get a wealth of data.
They’re planning a vacation trip to Calgary/Drumheller.
How long did it take for the cow to hook up? The average is down to 45ish seconds from 55ish when this started. He knows how much milk is coming from each of the four teats and how long will it take the cow to be done?
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“We’re up at 6:30 a.m. most days, and today there’s only a couple things that need to be done now, after supper or before I go to bed,” Kevin said. “We can leave, as long as there’s someone here, and my dad lives right next door. So we’ll go visit some cousins in Alberta, visit the Dinosaur Museum in Drumheller and stop in Cranbrook to visit some friends on the way home. We’re overdue for some lazy days.”
The robot will gently ‘reject’ cows who try to get milked too often, taking away the grain and opening the exit door if they try to sneak in before their five-hour window.
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by: Eric Welsh
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The Chilliwack Progress Wednesday, June 24, 2015
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Blueberry Bulletin Beyond the Blue Horizon The first thing you notice are the metallic ribbons glinting in the sun as you approach the blueberry fields. The multi-coloured ribbons waving in the breeze are actually “bird scare tape,” explains farm manager Bill Van Oosterom of Klaassen Farms. “We find it works very well in scaring off the birds,” he says. The tape is geared to keeping varieties of birds, like the hungry starlings, at bay. The second thing you notice is just how big, beautiful and vividly blue the berries are right now. They have ripened especially nicely in the ideal spring weather. Three types of blueberries are grown at the Rosedale farm location, owned by Jake and Linda KIaassen. Duke, Reka and Elliott, are the names of the early, mid-season and late varieties respectively. They offer u-pick and we-pick options at both Chilliwack locations. The blueberry plants were in distress when they first took over the property on McElwee as a recovery field, but they’re doing exceedingly well now. “We’ve been working hard ever since to make it a good-looking, heavy producing berry operation,” said Van Oosterom. It took a solid nutrient program, diligent farm maintenance and extreme pruning over the past four years, but the yield has
by: Jennifer Feinberg
been increasing 30 to 40 cent every year, he noted.
? w o n K u o Y Did
Some of the berries are machine harvested while others are hand-picked for fresh sales. The first batch of berries are ready for harvest this week, three weeks earlier than usual. A warmer than average winter and spring, and slow warming trend, meant that the white blossoms emerged two to four weeks ahead of schedule. “Normally they come out in mid April but this year they were already blossoming by late March. So because of the warmer weather, we had very good pollination. It’s perfect for berries.” They don’t like the wet, rainy weather, which poses a challenge for honey bees. It means they’ll have a faster and shorter season because of the early pollination.
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Dozens of fruit pickers were set to arrive on-site at the Klaassen farm Monday to get the harvest underway. “The biggest panic was getting pickers,” Van Oosterom says. “Some were still in school.” Harvesting began on McElwee Road on June 22, whereas typically it starts in mid July. The estimated date of June 20 is the
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Wednesday, June 24, 2015 The Chilliwack Progress
Where the Bees are Busy... Literally!
Market Report 2015 Trends in Ag Real Estate “You can take the farm boy off the farm but you can’t take the farm out of the farm boy,� Henry Klop laughs. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who’s more plugged into the local farming scene than this lifelong Fraser Valley resident, a farm boy at heart who’s become an expert in the purchase and sale of agricultural property.
Come taste and purchase a large variety of honey flavours all produced by our own bees!
The REMAX Nyda realtor has seen trends come and go, and come again.
Search out the Queen Bee in our indoor glass observation hive and watch as the bees enter, exit and do what they do best make honey!
“We’re still seeing existing farmers getting bigger, especially over the last 10 years where small family farms are disappearing while farms that are already well established continue to grow,� Klop analyzed. “It’s kind of a shame, but as with everything it’s an economy of scale, right? Bigger farmers need larger parcels to milk more cows or grow more chickens.�
He sees interesting things happening right now.
Our bees pollinate blueberries, raspberries, cranberries and black berries right here in the Fraser Valley.
But as Chilliwack becomes the home of more and more super-farms, Klop said the small guy isn’t being lost entirely.
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Another trend he sees is the move towards micro farms — one, two, five acre deals with a cow or two and maybe some chickens. “I think it’s a really interesting and exciting development, and we’re seeing a lot of innovation with those,� Klop offered. “They’ve got this small plot of land and they’re saying, ‘What can we do with this?’ They have an idea to grow pumpkins or cut flowers or vegetables to sell at a road-side stand, and it’s neat to see people enjoying the lifestyle of the country while they also create a little extra income for their family.�
Our new local farm store offers a wide range of products to serve all your needs. Visit, call or email us if you have any questions or requests!
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Klop just sold a nine acre property in the Columbia Valley, with an acre or so of cultured blackberries and three acres of vineyard vines. “The people who bought it were from Yaletown, so right in downtown Vancouver,� he said. “They didn’t want to raise their one year old child in the city, so they’re making a huge lifestyle change and they absolutely love it. They’ve got the chickens running around and dad’s
by: Eric Welsh
bought a John Deere tractor and he’s saying, ‘Henry, I think I’m in heaven.’� Housing and land costs in Vancouver are increasingly driving families out of the city, to Chilliwack’s benefit. “A third trend is the number of Asian buyers I’ve seen this year, and a lot of that is driven by value,� Klop elaborated. “They view an old little house in Vancouver that costs $1,000,000 and then drive the hour and a half to Chilliwack and look what they’re getting. I just sold another one in the Columbia Valley — 10 acres. Big house. Almost $900,000 but the people are ecstatic because they can’t believe what they’re getting for their money.� “People move from a townhouse or apartment in Richmond or Burnaby and come here where they have a big backyard with a trampoline and a garden,� he continued. “It’s roots, I think. There’s something about living around here that gives them a connection to the Earth.� For the serious farmer, Chilliwack’s agricultural land isn’t cheap. In fact, Klop said it may be the most expensive in Canada. Many farmers opt for Alberta, Saskatchewan or Ontario, where they can still buy land for three, four or five thousand dollars an acre. Within B.C., Klop has sold property recently in Armstrong, Salmon Arm and Vernon, where the price tag doesn’t have as many digits. But there’s a tradeoff for farmers who go that route. “There’s lifestyle and location to consider, but also productivity,� Klop noted. “Our prices are probably the highest in Canada, but look at the fertility, water availability and crops you can get. For example, hay land. Here, you can get three or four crops a year, whereas if you go further up north, you get maybe one or two. So while your land costs are higher your production is too.� Right now, Klop sees more sellers on the market than buyers. But it ebbs and flows, and he always looks forward to seeing what happens next.
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The Chilliwack Progress Wednesday, June 24, 2015
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Blueberry Bulletin Beyond the Blue Horizon
by: Jennifer Feinberg
Farm manager Bill Van Oosterom examines this year’s crop of blueberries at the Klaassen farm in Rosedale. JENNIFER FEINBERG/ PROGRESS
earliest start of the blueberry season in recent memory, according to the British Columbia Blueberry Council. B.C.’s 800 blueberry growers are anticipating especially good quality blueberries for the 2015 season. “Thanks to warm days and good pollination weather, we are confident we will enjoy a solid volume of high-quality blueberries though the season,” said Debbie Etsell, executive director of the B.C. Blueberry Council. “We are not anticipating any compression this season, which translates into a steady supply of blueberries for everyone to enjoy berries throughout the season.” Fruit pickers will be camping at the farm and harvesting the crop for the next several weeks. Van Oosterom has been working for Klaassen Farms for four years, after working in horticulture and bridge construction. They made sure they were offering ‘no spray’ berries for fresh sales, and they try to do as much biological control for pests as possible. “That’s the first question every visitor to the farm tends to ask, is if we spray,” says Van Oosterom. They do on a small-scale, and strictly follow the food safety protocols of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) certification. But some of the berries headed for processing
have to be sprayed to prevent infestation of spotted wing drosophila (SWD). It is a type of fruit fly that has become widespread in the coastal as well as Interior fruit growing regions of B.C. “It’s a requirement by the fruit processors, and every farmer has to do it.” The SWD is known to deposit their larvae under the skins of ripening fruit. But because they rely on honey bees for pollination, they have to be exceedingly careful how they apply pesticides at the farm. The overriding aim is to turn the Klaassen blueberry operation into a household name in Chilliwack. There are plans to add raspberries and strawberries into production as well, which will add to their appeal.
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“They all get buckets and they’ll pick berries for 20 minutes. It’s such a beautiful location with mountain views, offering a few moments of peace and serenity. It’s like an oasis here.”
Minter Country Garden (10015 Young Rd., North) M
Look for their signature blue and white fruit stands with the Klaassen name at several locations around Chilliwack. They are outside Fraser Valley Meats in Sardis, Minter Country Garden on Young Road, as well as two locations on Prest Road.
South Prest Road (7825 Prest Rd.) S
The berry booths are open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m to 6 p.m., and the farm stand opens at 8 a.m.
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Wednesday, June 24, 2015 The Chilliwack Progress
Garden Party 2015 Bounty by the Boxfull
by: Jennifer Feinberg
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Abundant Acre owners Cara and Andy Abrahams are running a small farm on the western edge of Chilliwack.
of various produce and greens from Abundant Acre. It’s something that allows the veggie box customer to make an investment in the farmers as well as the produce.
They describe their farm as a “growing adventure” for both their customers, and themselves, situated on an acre and a half.
The boxes are filled with whatever is fresh and ready for harvest on any given week.
“We think the CSA Vegetable Box is the next best thing to a backyard garden,” said Cara Abrahams.
Their farm website uses the tag line “Sustainable farming, authentic food.”
Abundant Acre is one of several farms in the Chilliwack area to launch a community supported agriculture (CSA) program, offering boxes of veggies and herbs, as well as supplying high-end restaurants. So far they have about 20 customers registered for the CSA program, who agree to pay up front for two months at a time, for a box containing either seven or 20 pounds of vegetables. “We had a pretty good spring. We’re still introducing ourselves to the local community.” Sometimes they get to introduce the customer to something new, like anisescented fennel, or broccoli raab as a new taste for the dinner table. The way the CSA works is customers fill out a form on the website, and “commit” every week to pick up their mystery box
PNE 4-H FESTIVAL
FARM COUNTRY
AUGUST 21–25 Offering over 30 types of project competitions as well as provincial programs for judging, speak and show and educational displays. Travel assistance offered to clubs outside of the Fraser Valley through the BC Youth in Agriculture Foundation.
PACIFIC SPIRIT HORSE SHOW
AUGUST 22–SEPTEMBER 7 Come out and experience BC’s remarkably diverse agriculture industry. Featuring the crowd-favourite Discovery Farm exhibit plus a whole barn full of exciting animal displays.
AUGUST 26–SEPTEMBER 7 Competitions in: Junior Amateur Jumping, Draft Team, Indoor Eventing and HCBC Heritage Qualifier classes in English, Western and Dressage. Also featuring HCBC Horse Day on August 29
ENTRY DEADLINE: JULY 3, 2014
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604-251-7788 • agriculture@pne.ca • 06/15W_PNE3
JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
6/15W_WF24
Although the farm is not certified organic, they purposely grow without the use of chemicals sprays and fertilizers. “We’re trying to care for the earth,” Abrahams said. “We think it’s important to grow without chemicals.” It’s their second summer season of CSA boxes in Chilliwack since launching the farm three years ago. The ran an experimental veggie box program in Abbotsford a few years ago. For their own farm in Greendale, they went out of their way to find the tastiest varieties of vegetables. “It was important to us that we found varieties that taste really good,” she said. One of their “shining stars” is the Socrates cucumber, Abrahams said. “They are sweet and have a thin skin,” Abrahams said. “We also like the Sweet Slice variety.” Continued: p27
The Chilliwack Progress Wednesday, June 24, 2015
www.theprogress.com
Garden Party 2015 Every Boxfull an Adventure from page 26 Other varieties noted for good taste include the Fortex pole beans and the Sungold cherry tomatoes. The produce and herbs are harvested, sorted and cleaned on Monday mornings in time for their customers to pick up by late afternoon. They make a point of harvesting at the right time of day to maximize the freshness, so greens are harvested in the morning before they wilt. “We also make good use of our root cellar to store harvested crops before it’s time to put together the boxes.”
by: Jennifer Feinberg
harvested vegetables selected and ready for you each week it’s a great arrangement.” Those who want to select their own veggies can stop by and see them at the Abbotsford Farm & Country Market. “At this point we’ve started a waiting list for the future,” she said. Part of the idea of CSAs is they help share the risk of farming using natural and sustainable methods. Sometimes the farmers suffer crop failures or pest infestations.
So is the CSA box a good fit for everyone?
After conducting a survey of their customers, they confirmed that what people really want is really fresh, local produce, grown with organic methods.
“For many people, it is. If you’re wanting to eat local and appreciate the convenience of having your freshly
“We found it’s important to people that their food not being shipped over long distances only to sit on a store shelf.”
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Cara Abrahams, along with son Jacob, harvest potatoes for their customers’ vegetable boxes on Monday. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
SATURDAY: 7-12
To order call William or Elaine at 604-858-0169
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