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FIVE GENERATIONS OF FAMILY EXPERIENCE IN THE OKANAGAN
Professional
Representation of Buyers and Sellers for Horticultural, Farm, Acreage and Estate properties throughout
the Valley
Scott Marshall was born and raised in the Central Okanagan and is part of the 5th generation of his family to live in the beautiful Okanagan Valley. The Marshall Family has a proud history in fruit farming in the Central and North Okanagan since 1911, while the Thorlakson side of the family started farming in the North Okanagan in the late 1800s. Scott's parents operated large orchards and nursery plantings, and he grew up with them working in the Okanagan Real Estate market.
After completing four years of formal education at the University of British Columbia, Scott received a BCOM in Finance and Real Estate before becoming a licensed REALTOR® and Associate Broker at RE/MAX Kelowna. Since becoming licensed, Scott has quickly become a natural expert in the Horticultural, Viticultural, Farm, Acreage, Estate and Unique Property market. Scott has been able to professionally assist his valued clients so that when they are successful in their real estate buying or selling, he has also been able to be successful and is ranked as the #1 Individual Realtor at his brokerage.*
Scott is uniquely quali ed to e ectively assist with the purchase and sale of Horticultural, Farm, Acreage, Estate and Unique Properties throughout the Okanagan. To take advantage of ve generations of valued agricultural experience in the Okanagan, call Scott Marshall for your farm property needs!
a sales history that speaks for itself has never been more important. I'm not afraid to get my boots dirty. “ “
In today's
market, marketing
reach,
industry connections, and
Scott training young cherry trees in the Black Mountain area of Kelowna.
Great Great Grandfather Thorlakur Thorlakson harvesting grain near Predator Ridge in Vernon.
Great Grandfather Lewis Marshall living in a tent on his rst orchard in the Glenmore area of Kelowna.
Grandfather Rexford Marshall next to newly planted orchard in the Carrs Landing area of Lake Country.
Father Lance next to nursery stock in the Carrs Landing area of Lake Country.
Established in 1959
ISSN 1713-5362 ISSN 2817-500X
Vol. 65, No 4
Innovation Issue | July 2024
Publisher/Editor Yvonne Turgeon
Associate Editor Ronda Payne
Design Mishell Raedeke
Contributing writers
Kelly Josephson, Ronda Payne, Myrna Stark Leader, Monique Tamminga, Melissa Tesche, Matt Treble, Yvonne Turgeon
Contributing photographers
Jon Adrian, Jake Chapman, Ronda Payne, Monique Tamminga, Yvonne Turgeon, Trevor Walker
Innovation over time
Embracing new ideas and new approaches is the vital force of innovation that drives progress and improves lives. Today, we see the surge of technological innovation merge with agriculture and witness the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence.
As we were preparing this annual Innovation Issue, I recalled my university classes when we learned of the ‘clock of communication’ that charts the one million years we’ve been on this planet together.
The clock sets out that time as if humans have lived one day, timed on a 24hour clock: one hour of that day would equal 41,667 years; one minute of that day would be about 694 years; and one second would be about 12 years. As the theory book reads, “When we start this clock at midnight, it will be 1 million years ago. Twelve o’clock noon will be 500,000 years ago. When the instrument reaches midnight a second time, we are in the now, looking into the future.”1
Orchard & Vine Magazine is published six times a year and distributed by addressed mail to growers, suppliers and wineries in the Okanagan, Kootenays, Fraser Valley, Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, Washington State and across Canada.
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Much of the first half perhaps the first three quarters of humankind’s day on earth must have been taken up largely with learning to live in the rough and challenging ice ages (yes, those glacial sheets that left all that lovely sediment of sand, gravel and soils that have transformed into medal-winning vineyard and orchard blocks.)
As early humanity huddled to keep warm, made fire and hunted, communication was mainly nonverbal, with a few grunts and cries. Then came the first great step in human communication: language. The innovation of language emerged at nearly 9:33 p.m. on our clock, 100,000 years ago. And yes, shortly after that, agriculture was born.
We moved out of the caves and found ways to grow food where we made our homes. Our ancestors discovered a hybrid of wheat they could carry with them and plant, and as those ice sheets melted, we headed north. Over new pathways we wandered around an unknown world, finding new places to settle.
Innovation always comes with challenges. It often requires substantial investment, and as these early ancestors knew, there is always a risk of failure.
Many more minutes (or tens of thousands of years) pass before the greatest intellectual achievement of humans: the invention of writing nearly 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. On our history clock, the hands have moved to almost seven minutes before now. And pow: an explosion of communications, from the printing press all the way to the microchip, and we move rapidly onward to today’s emergence of AI. No one living on the planet knows a time when communications technology and innovation do not abound.
Here in this issue, we’re sharing more stories of innovation. For without communication there is no innovation.
— Yvonne Turgeon, publisher yvonne@orchardandvine.net
1 Wilbur Schramm, The Story of Human Communication: Cave Painting to Microchip, 1988
Agriculture Equipment & Supplies
• Agricultural
• Residential & Commercial Irrigation
• Accessories
• Fencing
• Gates
• Posts
• Biologicals
• Fungicides
• Granular Fertilizers
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• Organic Fertilizers & Nutrients
• Organic Pesticides
• Simples & Soil Amendments
• Water-Soluble Fertilizers
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• Feed Submission
• Plant Disease Diagnostics Submission
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• Animal Feed
• Bags
• Boxes
• Carraro™ Equipment
• Farm Tools
• Ladders
• Livestock Supplies
• Mesh Bags
• MOM Machine
• Mulch Films & Crop Covers
• Picking Equipment
• Plastic Rolls
• Pruning Supplies
• Pulp Fibre Containers
• Rain-Flo Equipment
• Revo Piuma 4WD
• Salt Blocks
• Salt Misc
• Seed
• Tying & Training Supplies
Horticulture Services & Support
Crop Protection & Nutrients
Irrigation Design & Supplies
Post, Wire & Fencing
Ontario research farm receives $3.5 million
The Ontario government has awarded Brock University $3.5 million for a national sustainable agricultural project that will see the University’s innovative grape and wine research expand into other areas of the agricultural sector.
Funding from the Ontario Research Fund — Large Infrastructure Fund program supports the threepart Clean Agriculture for Sustainable Production (CASP) Field Infrastructure project. Central to the project is the Brock-led research farm where scientists from Brock, other institutions and industry will develop and test out agricultural innovations.
Co-leading the multi-institutional initiative are principal scientist Sudarsana Poojari and assistant professor of Biological Sciences Jim Willwerth, who are both with Brock’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI).
“The Ontario government has recognized the time is now to be proactive in building resiliency and sustainability into Ontario’s $5.5-billion grape and wine industry by supporting this university-industry partnership,” says CCOVI director and core scientist Debbie Inglis.
Brock held a ceremony at the site of the future research farm — south of the University’s main campus — to celebrate the Ontario funding, which was announced last month by Minister of Colleges and Universities, Jill Dunlop. The Ontario grant matches a $3.5-million commitment from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).
“Ontario’s grape and wine sector supports critical rural economic development, both in Niagara and across the province,” says Sam Oosterhoff, member of Provincial Parliament for Niagara West. “This provincial funding for Brock University through the Ontario Research Fund will help support sustainable local farm practices and establish a home for Canada’s first Clean Plant Program for grapevines at the University’s new research farm.”
The Clean Plant Program, which is the initial phase of the CASP project, builds on initiatives — including the national grapevine germplasm repository, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency partnership CLEANSED, and the Canadian Grapevine Certification Network partnership — where CCOVI and a wide variety of partners work together to produce certified virusfree grapevines for the grape and wine industry.
Poojari says Canada needs close to 6.2 million clean grapevines each year, and at present is reliant on imports, which is not ideal given high transport costs, time constraints and supply chain issues.
“Growers are the ones who suffer because of the delays in getting the plant material. They need varieties more suitable to our soil and climate conditions,” says Poojari. “We need to be depending on ourselves rather than on other countries.”
“Growers are the ones who suffer because of the delays in getting the plant material. They need varieties more suitable to our soil and climate conditions.”
—Sudarsana Poojari, principal scientist, Grapevine Virology, Brock University
He notes most of Canada’s nurseries are concentrated in Ontario.
The second phase of the CASP project, Precision Agriculture and Ecological Interactions, examines how these clean grapevines interact with other plants and organisms. Understanding plant interactions in field and greenhouse ecosystems aims to enable the selection of more resilient crops and increase agricultural diversification.
Willwerth says a large part of Ontario’s horticulture sector includes grape and tender fruit.
“We are focusing on clean grapevines, but our research outputs pertaining to sustainable agriculture will be applicable to many other crops grown in Ontario,” he says. “This will help build Ontario’s food security, resiliency to threats like climate change, pests and diseases while increasing biodiversity in our agroecosystems.”
In the third phase of the project, the research farm will become a test bed for integrating innovative approaches into an urban setting.
The team also includes national collaborators Simone Castellarin from the University of British Columbia and Caroline Provost from Centre de recherche agroalimentaire de Mirabel in Quebec. —Courtesy of Brock University
Academic, industry, scientific and political leaders pose at the site of the future Brock Research Farm.
BUILT FOR THOSE WHO DO IN B.C.
Narrow enough to work between the vines, the Kubota Narrow M Series tractors have the adaptability and strength to get more done in less space. Their electro-hydraulic shuttle lets you make quick directional changes, while the bevel gear front axle gives you an ultra-tight turning radius. Kubota offers a wide range of implements, with an RPM management system that makes using them easier and more efficient.
AVENUE
Abbotsford 604-864-2665
Kelowna 250-769-8700
Vernon 250-545-3355
