KELOWNA – As the apples turn red across the Okanagan, Similkameen and Creston valleys and trucks start to move them to packinghouses, BC apple growers face their busiest time of year. But the management team at BC Tree Fruits Cooperative, which sells more than $100 million worth of apples annually, is also busy. This year …
CROPS
A new generation keeps the family greenhouse growing
SURREY – With locations in Surrey and Delta, Sunnyside Produce Ltd. has steadily grown its greenhouse pepper operation to more than 70 acres in the past 25 years. With annual production of more than 10,000 tonnes, it’s among the largest pepper producers in BC. It’s a notable achievement for what began as a five-acre operation …
Agrilyze Builds Software for Precision Agriculture
Abbotsford-based i-Open Group of Companies has launched Agrilyze, BC’s first data analytics portal for precision agriculture. Agrilyze is an innovative platform that functions as a singular hub, accessible from any mobile device, that helps farmers with land use management, compliance, traceability, and sustainability, while providing high-quality data to local farmers, researchers and governments across Canada …
Cranberry outlook brightens
BC cranberry growers are expecting a crop closer to usual volumes this year after cold weather in 2019 cut the harvest in half. The province typically produces about a million barrels a year, but in 2019 marketed production as reported by Statistics Canada was just 672,100 barrels. Per-acre yields also fell, dropping from 211 barrels …
Merlot, Pinot Gris tops in BC
With the grape harvest getting underway in the Okanagan, an analysis of last year’s crop for the BC Wine Grape Council sets the stage for what growers will be picking this fall. Plantings have been expanding in BC in recent years, with some growers pushing into new, higher-elevation locations for cool-climate vines. Those acres yielded …
Apples smoked by fires, labour
The smoke blanketing the southern half of BC over the past week from fires in Washington and Oregon is another blow to apple growers hoping for a good crop in the face of low prices and a labour shortage. “The sunny days and cool nights we had earlier in the month are what helps the …