APRIL 2014
CELEBRATING 134 YEARS AS CANADA’S PREMIER HORTICULTURAL PUBLICATION
VOLUME 64 NUMBER 04
SENSE AND SUSTAINABILITY
Water? Priceless! There are some things money can’t buy
Brothers Paul (left) and Ian Smith have taken a long-term view to water management on their Smith Gardens family-operated farm near Keswick, Ontario. At their processing plant for carrots, they are recycling 70 per cent of the 50,000 gallons of washwater required each day. Here, an irrigation rig stands ready to nurse recently transplanted onions with barley as a cover crop to preserve soil moisture. Photo by Glenn Lowson.
INSIDE Hard cider sourced from Ontario apples Page 4
Canadian Horticultural Council highlights Page 10 Focus: Irrigation
Section B
www.thegrower.org P.M. 40012319 $3.00 CDN
KAREN DAVIDSON Within a stone’s throw of Lake Simcoe and a seemingly plentiful water supply, Paul and Ian Smith are under no illusions: “With population increases, we have realized that going forward, water will become a bigger issue.” Along with other family members, they operate Smith Gardens, a large carrot and onion farm that sells domestically and to the U.S. The company has installed a system to recycle about 70 per cent of the 50,000 gallons of washwater used to clean carrots every day. “We wanted a system with many benefits,” explains Paul Smith, who started construction last summer. “It’s a closed-loop system that lessens our dependence on aquifers.” Without an engineering degree, Smith says it’s no small task to quantify water treatment
needs and to hire the right consultant. A lengthy process of interviewing six companies led to Noel Moya of Fluidyne Corporation. He’s an electromechanical engineer specializing in physio-chemical and microbiological process of wastewater treatment. Moya recommended an aerobic digester that kills bacteria, treats water and removes solids. A combination of filters, ultraviolet, ultrasound and ozone technology is deployed. The Smith’s considerable investment on this project is the cost of doing business in a context increasingly pressured by more Ministry of Environment regulations. Their motivation is to avoid any potential and unforeseen government shutdowns and, at the same time, build stronger sustainability recognition for their brand. They are not alone. This story resonates throughout a supply
chain that is increasingly alarmed by what’s happening south of the border. California – growing a $45 billion basket of produce annually -- is in dire drought straits. Accounts of the scope of problems there have been provided by the Smiths’ Holland Marsh neighbours John and Cristina Hambly who recently returned from a trip to the San Joaquin Valley. “Ninety per cent of their problem is environmental,” says Hambly. “There is almost no snow pack in the mountains which means little snow melt to feed the ponds.” In the San Joaquin Valley alone, 200,000 acres of tomatoes, melons, onions, broccoli and lettuce have been idled for lack of water. The California Farm Water Coalition estimates that 800,000 acres of land could be fallowed this year, or roughly 10 percent of the state’s total arable land. Those facts plus first-hand observations
are leading Hambly to look harder at water conservation on his own farm. By 2015, he may move to more drip irrigation. It’s a cautionary tale not only for Ontario but all of Canada, so richly blessed with fresh water. In the Los Angeles Times, editorial columnist George Skelton put the drought into context by quoting a public affairs official from a water district: “We didn’t get here through nature alone. We also got here through environmental regulations that limited the amount of water sent to the nearby San Luis reservoir.” The state’s current debate is fractious as Governor Jerry Brown has proposed a 35-mile, twin water tunnel to divert northern California water under or around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to central and southern parts of the state. The price tag? $15 billion. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3