CELEBRATING 132 YEARS AS CANADA’S PREMIER HORTICULTURAL PUBLICATION
APRIL 2012
VOLUME 62 NUMBER 04
CANADIAN HORTICULTURAL COUNCIL
Strategic plan to bolster funding and lobbying KAREN DAVIDSON What’s your story? If you can pare down an issue to a few words and put a face to it, then you’ve got a chance to intrigue investors, stakeholders, policymakers and politicians. On Bay Street, it’s called the pitch. On Parliament Hill, it’s called the ask. Framing that “ask” is a complex task. To that end, the Canadian Horticultural Council tabled a strategic plan at the 90th Annual General Meeting that aims to secure the industry’s economic future over the next 10 years. Newly elected president, Murray Porteous, presented the “Creating a Legacy” plan that will simultaneously fund the CHC and strengthen its government relations capabilities. For the first time, a funding mechanism will reach out to the breadth of the industry’s input and service suppliers from crop protection companies to equipment manufacturers to financial institutions. The rationale is that by properly funding a stronger lobbying effort, the result will be a stronger horticultural industry with ancillary benefits for the entire value chain. The timing of the recent Perimeter Security Agreement between U.S. President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Harper is, in large part, driving
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A newly planted Spy apple orchard is just one of the long-term projects of Lingwood Farms operated by Murray Porteous, Simcoe, Ontario. Also the newly elected president of the Canadian Horticultural Council, Porteous has championed a plan that will fund the Ottawa-based organization in the decade ahead and deepen its government relations capabilities. Photo by Denis Cahill. the agenda. The thinking is that without more robust lobbying, the window of opportunity may close on achieving many of the objectives promised in the cross-border reforms. Top of the list are: • negotiating timely payment for
farmers in the event of client bankruptcy • securing harmonized rules for crop input registrations within North America • mitigating trade disruptions by reducing risk from invasive
species and diseases • developing common approaches to North American food safety • establishing a National Research and Promotion Agency for fresh fruit and vegetable research and promotion
• securing recognition of the importance of fruit and vegetables in Canadian diets by developing and implementing national food security, sustainability and health promotion policies CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Early spring shatters historical records KAREN DAVIDSON Bud break, heartbreak. That’s the worry of fruit growers across Canada as a mild winter shed its coat and slipped into spring four weeks early. A surprise snowstorm isn’t so much the concern as cold temperatures according to OMAFRA’s apple specialist Leslie Huffman. When fruit trees come out of dormancy, the cells start rehydrating. If there’s any moisture around the pistils of the flowers and temperatures drop too low, the moisture crystallizes and shatters the reproductive organ. A couple degrees below zero Celsius will effectively thin the crop. But expect a 10 per cent loss at temperatures of minus 7.8° Celsius. If temperatures reach minus 12° Celsius,
then it’s a complete crop loss and you can consider yourself a nextyear farmer. In Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, temperatures also broke records on the first official day of spring with a high of 27° Celsius, said Dela Erith, executive director, Nova Scotia Fruit Growers’ Association. “If the temperature remains high, we’ll have an exceptionally early year. If temperatures return to cool or cold, everything will slow down or damage may occur.” The astonishing weather places unexpected pressures on farm managers and the entire value chain. Some Ontario growers had already sprayed fungicides twice by March 25. They are now in the unusual predicament of pruning and spraying at the same time, all the while balancing re-entry
intervals. At the end of every day, the pruned branches must be shredded before contemplating the next fungicide spray.
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I think I see green tissue in apple buds. That means the scab season is starting.” ~ Leslie Huffman For many growers, offshore labour is just arriving or arrangements are underway to move up arrival dates. Bunkhouses must be prepared. Food safety audits must be completed. Bee hives need to be ordered earlier for pollination. Decisions on storage and cartons won’t be far behind. And buyers must be primed that early crops are on their way. In
other words, the ramifications will be felt right through to harvest. Social media is playing an important role as extension workers alerted growers to signs of disease as early as March 17. “I think I see green tissue in apple buds,” tweeted Huffman, @OntAppleLady on a Saturday. “That means the scab season is starting.” Later, she confirmed similar findings in Ontario’s Norfolk County, Niagara, Georgian Bay and as far east as Durham Region. And yet that balmy weather is prodding others for an early start. “Here we go!!!,” tweeted Trevor Herrle-Braun, @HerrlesMarket. “Working some ground for planting peas.” That was March 16. “We’re into growing season,” Huffman concluded.