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Originally published:

JUNE 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 6

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Stories In This Edition

Growers hopeful as BC opens

Tender touch

Japanese bettle control pays off

Nursery sales rise as consumers stick close to home

Editorial: Prospering together

Back 40: A mammoth solution to climate change

Viewpoint: Teamwork essential to grow in the new normal

Wind machines in Surrey face blowback

Sidebar: Dispute resolution

BC Veg unveils strategic priorities as it looks ahead

Quick turnaround

Ag Brief: South Asia flight ban strands BC farm workers

Ag Brief: Oliver vintner dies

Ag Brief: Province delivers AITC funding

Letter: Well “registration” misleading

Province’s chicken growers see rebound

Pricing formula on horizon for poultry sector

Snooze and lose

Grain costs put pressure on livestock producers

PST applicable to horse hay sales

BC raspberry growers face global issues

Little cherry disease a big threat to fruit growers

Core knowledge lands Kelowna grower top award

Strategy needed for Crown forage resources

BC abattoir volume up 30% in 2020

Ranchers urged to plan ahead for a changing climate

Cidery ups game with orchard purchase

The milkman makes a comeback on Island

Short season doesn’t stall northern berries

Cariboo-Chilcotin sheep group formed

Viewpoint: Farm insurance crisis threatens landowners

Mushroom harvester enters final testing

Sidebar: BC mushrooms at a glance

Mushrooms add value to cut blocks

Farm Story: Diversity and inclusion extends to tractors

Equipment intentions fall

Hops and CBC-centric hemp come together

Research: Processed foods are convenient but at what cost?

Soil science key for Kootenay farm project

Research sheds light on late blight strains

Woodshed: Deborah keeps divorce news between friends

OK apples at core of social entrepreneurship

Jude’s Kitchen: To the sea in summer

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12 hours ago

From orchard manager to government specialist and now executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association, Adrian Arts brings a rare blend of hands-on farming experience and organizational leadership to an industry poised for renewal. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment for BC fruit growers, with Arts expressing enthusiasm about continuing the momentum built by his predecessor and working alongside a board that signals a generational shift in agricultural advocacy.

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Arts leads BCFGA forward

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A combination of organizational management and practical farming experience has primed the new executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association to lead the industry forward.
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1 week ago

A public consultation is now underway on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board. Key issues for dairy producers include transportation costs, rules governing shipments and limitations on supporting processing initiatives. Stakeholders have until May 31 to comment.

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Milk board undertakes review

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A public consultation on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board is underway as part of a triennial review required by the British Columbia Milk Marketing Board Regulation.
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1 week ago

BC wool shipments drop sharply in 2023, according to StatsCan data released in mid-April. Local producers shipped just 5,200kg at 37¢/kg, down from 18,600kg at $1.08/kg in 2022. While many farmers now use wool on-farm or dispose of it due to low market value, innovative producers like Emily McIvor point to untapped opportunities. Read more in our Farm News Update from Country Life in BC.

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BC wool value, volume drop

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BC sheep producers shipped less wool for less in 2023, reversing strong growth a year earlier. BC producers shipped 5,200 kilograms of raw wool in 2023, according to Statistics Canada data released on...
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1 week ago

Eric Feehely and Miho Shinbo are growing 30+ crops on 2.5 acres in Vernon. Writer Myrna Stark Leader takes a look at how Silverstar Veggies is balancing CSA programs, farmers markets and restaurant sales while planning smart expansions in challenging economic times in Market farm works smarter, not harder.

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Market farm works smarter, not harder

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VERNON – Silverstar Veggies, a five-year-old mixed vegetable and herb farm in Vernon, thrives on passion and innovative ideas. A former watersport and adventure sport instructor…
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3 weeks ago

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Core knowledge lands Kelowna grower top award

Shane Witzke learned from the best to be the best

Shane Witzke knows a thing or two about pruning to maximize production and that made him a logical choice for this year’s Golden Apple award from the BC Fruit Growers Association. TOM WALKER

June 1, 2021 byTom Walker

KELOWNA – Learning from some of the best can help you be one of the best is a philosophy that’s served Kelowna orchardist Shane Witzke well.

The BC Fruit Growers Association named Witzke as recipient of this year’s Golden Apple award at its annual general meeting in February.

“I rely on what my field service advisors tell me,” says Witzke. “They have the expertise and the experience to help me with the technical issues in my orchard and then it’s up to me carry out those recommendations.”

Top-quality advice came early for Shane, who remembers learning how to prune from long-time BC Tree Fruits Co-op field person Hank Markgraf, now an independent horticultural consultant.

“Hank taught me how to prune in the early 90s and then my dad let me take over a two-acre block of Galas,” recalls Witzke. “I was able to prune more of the orchard when I got the hang of it.”

Witzke’s dad certainly knew when Shane was doing a good job. Brian Witzke was a Golden Apple winner himself in 1992.

“Our orchard is known for consistent quality,” says Shane Witzke. “I believe we are considered to be in the top 10% of growers.”

Indeed, Northview Orchards, on the Belgo bench in southeast Kelowna, is often a venue for industry events. Former BC premier Christy Clark visited in 2014 to announce renewal of the industry replant program, and the orchard was a stop on the International Fruit Tree Association tour in the summer of 2018. It hosted a pruning demonstration by Washington State University professor Stefano Musacchi last year just before the pandemic shut down events.

“It’s a really good-looking orchard,” says Markgraf, who nominated Witzke for the Golden Apple award.

“When I worked with them last spring you could see what a good job they had done with their pruning,” Markgraf explains. “Everything was so uniform and it set them up for a fantastic bloom. They also did an excellent job with their chemical thinning. They took a chance to do it early and it worked.”

That work, starting in late winter, is key to setting up a successful growing season, says Markgraf.

“Most of the work needs to be done through bloom time so that all that is left is hand thinning. You don’t want to be playing catch up through the growing season,” he explains. “But it’s not just the current year. It is all the careful work the Witzkes have done over the last 20 years to get them there.”

Learning from others is a family trait. Brian Witzke was fortunate to join a tour the BC Ministry of Agriculture organized in 1986 that introduced growers to orchard practices in Europe. He saw apples being grown on a post-and-wire (vertical axis) system, an early version of the high-density super-spindle plantings common today.

“Dad was one of the first to put in post-and-wire in the valley,” notes Shane. “And we have some of the oldest plantings of Royal Galas in BC.”

Those trees are now more than 20 years old. As Galas have slipped in popularity, Northview has grafted many of the trees over to Ambrosia or Honeycrisp, or pulled out for a full replant into high-density systems.

“The replant program has been very important for us,” says Witzke.  “It only covers a fraction of the some-$30,000 an acre cost, but it’s a help.”

Growing varieties that are popular in the market, while being diversified and timing the work load, are an important part of the Witzkes’ strategy. The 30-acre property purchased by Shane’s grandfather in 1946 now has blocks of Royal Gala, Pacific Gala, Spartans, Ambrosia and Honeycrisp. There is a new, two-acre block going in that Witzke will only describe as “a new variety” with a twinkle in his eye.

They make their choices carefully.

“I’d love to grow Pink Lady for the high returns, but we are too far north for it to ripen consistently before the fall frosts,” he says, speaking from experience.

The Witzkes lost a few bins of apples to the late October frost last fall when they could not find the workers to pick them in time. And the January freeze this year damaged a four-year-old Honeycrisp block.

“The young trees had a hard time with the -22°C,  and it’s a real shame because they gave their first light crop last year,” he says.

 

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