• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Country Life In BC Logo

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915

  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Search

Primary Sidebar

Originally published:

AUGUST 2019
Vol. 105 Issue 8

Subscribe Now!

Sign up for free weekly FARM NEWS UPDATES

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Country Life in BC, 36 Dale Road, Enderby, BC, V0E1V4. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
Your information will not be
shared or sold ever

Stories In This Edition

Province allows family on farms

Teamwork!

Rain hammers cherry crop

Sidebar: A brief history

Chilcotin ranchers’ hope for hay crop washed away

Editorial: Dog days

Back Forty: Keeping the kids safe down on the farm

Viewpoint: Top-down governance no way to help caribou

Egg board set to get cracking on quota distribution

Get ’em while you can

Feds address labour shortages

Bee healthy!

Marketing board names new entrant winners

BC berry research gets big funding boost

BC hosts International Blueberry Organization

Tour showcases innovation, marketing savvy

Governments agree to national park reserve

BC’s oldest farm seeks new management

Apple dieback investigation underway

Bumper crop for raspberries fails to materialize

Balance key to restoring fire-affected range

Global demand set to buoy cattle prices

A good start helps calves finish in top shape

Ranchers collaborate to preserve grasslands

Rotational grazing pays off year-round

Sidebar: Track costs, see profits

Stock show kicks off summer for 4-H members

Finding new potential for a lost native berry

Sidebar: Others see same benefits

Shuswap tour showcases local producers

Research: Do honeybees spread viruses to wild bees?

Volken Academy breaks ground on new farm

Woodshed: Romance is in the air, for all but the Hendersons

Fourth-generation farmers chart ambitious course

Jude’s Kitchen: In-season produce is king

More Headlines

Follow us on Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

10 hours ago

Farmland Advantage is receiving a $445,000 grant from the federal government. The program, the “brainchild” of Invermere cattle rancher Dave Zehnder, provides compensation to farmers for their conservation efforts to protect BC’s grasslands, riparian areas and wildlife habitat. The funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada under the Species at Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands (SARPAL) and Priority Places programs, will be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas appeared in our March 2022 edition and you can view it at ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

buff.ly

INVERMERE – Farmers and ranchers in the Columbia Valley will continue to see rewards for taking action to conserve and enhance important riparian areas on their farms. The Windermere District Farmer...
View Comments
  • Likes: 0
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

5 days ago

A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural Land Commission hosted in Langley Monday night regarding a proposal to include 305 acres controlled by the federal government in the Agricultural Land Reserve. More than 76,000 people have signed an online petition asking municipal and provincial governments to protect the land from development, and for the federal government to grant a long-term lease to the Heppells. Read more in this morning's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. conta.cc/3XYXw6k ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Your weekly farm news update

web-extract.constantcontact.com

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 January 25 2023 Surrey ALR inclusion cheered A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural L
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

Mike Manion Pitt Meadows City Councillor

2 months ago

Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand this season and prices remain comparable to last year. But the number of tree farms has decreased dramatically over the past five years and the province will increasingly need to look elsewhere if it wants to meet local demand. More in this week's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Christmas trees in demand

buff.ly

Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand, with high quality trees making it to market. “The market is good. We’ll probably outdo last year and last year was one of our best years…
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

2 months ago

Another four poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley have tested positive for avian influenza over the weekend -- 15 in the last week alone. There are 60 farms currently under quarantine in BC, more than any other province in Canada and three times that of Alberta, which ranks second. Officials maintain the virus is being spread by dust and groundwater and not farm-to-farm transmission. No farms in the Interior have tested positive this fall. ... See MoreSee Less

Another four poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley have tested positive for avian influenza over the weekend -- 15 in the last week alone. There are 60 farms currently under quarantine in BC, more than any other province in Canada and three times that of Alberta, which ranks second. Officials maintain the virus is being spread by dust and groundwater and not farm-to-farm transmission. No farms in the Interior have tested positive this fall.
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 3
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

Avian influenza virus can be killed by chlorine at no higher a concentration than is present in drinking water, so unless farms are using untreated groundwater in their barns I don't see how it could be a source of transmission. www.researchgate.net/publication/5594208_Chlorine_Inactivation_of_Highly_Pathogenic_Avian_Influen...

2 months ago

In a surprise move, Lana Popham -- hailed at the recent BC Dairy Industry Conference as a key ally of the agriculture sector -- has been replaced by Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis as part of a cabinet overhaul today by new BC premier David Eby. Popham will now oversee Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. The two ministers worked closely together following the atmospheric river events last fall. ... See MoreSee Less

In a surprise move, Lana Popham -- hailed at the recent BC Dairy Industry Conference as a key ally of the agriculture sector -- has been replaced by Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis as part of a cabinet overhaul today by new BC premier David Eby. Popham will now oversee Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. The two ministers worked closely together following the atmospheric river events last fall.Image attachment
View Comments
  • Likes: 10
  • Shares: 8
  • Comments: 8

Comment on Facebook

Goes to show how far-removed our current government is from the agricultural sector. To put someone in this position who has no farming background is a slap in the face to all of our hard-working producers.

Going to be a heck of a learning curve. Helping the agricultural community recover from the biggest natural disasters in history, handling the avian influenza outbreak that is threatening our poultry industry, dealing with a crisis in meat processing, managing ongoing threats from climate change, supporting producers who are facing unprecedented inflation in an industry with very slim margins to begin with..... to name a few of the challenges our new Minister will have to face all with one of the lowest budgets of any ministry. I wish her the best of luck but I hope she's got a lot of support around her.

Best of wishes in your new position

Congrats to Pam, cool to see a Fraser Valley based ag minister but also so sad to see Lana reassigned . I have no doubt she will do an amazing job in her new role.

Will be missed by #meiernation

Bryce Rashleigh

Nooooooo!

Lana did a shit job and now we have a minister with no farming background at all. Aren’t we lucky..

View more comments

Subscribe | Advertise

Finding new potential for a lost native berry

Rich in nutrients, aronia is “the berry of the future”

August 1, 2019 byMyrna Stark Leader

KELOWNA—Two years ago, Jane and Michael Johnston traded life in White Rock for a farm in southeast Kelowna.

She’s a registered nurse who’d risen to be executive director of a chain of high-end seniors residences. He’s the former CEO of an engineering firm. Both were looking for a new business opportunity. What they found was an orchard established in 1953, and the foundation for a venture they call Avoca Farms & Vineyards.

“This is a sector we didn’t know anything about, but that’s good because you’re not locked into traditions and status quo. Everything we look at, we tear it down and figure out how we can do it better,” says Michael.

Together, they’re converting their 18-acre property into an aronia and garlic operation. They’re retaining five acres of table grapes – Coronation, Bath, Skookum and Einset – for good measure.

Jane, whose Indigenous roots trace back to the Tahltan in Telegraph Creek, first heard of aronia from a friend. It sounded unfamiliar but she soon realized she recognized the plant by another name: chokeberry. Although native to North America and used as an ornamental in landscaping, the edible variety had been lost here but is grown in Russia and Ukraine on a commercial scale for its high antioxidant content and nutritional value.

“The First Nations people here told early settlers from those places to eat it to combat colds with its high vitamin C content and high anti-viral benefit, and it worked. So, they took it home to their foreign countries and planted it where it’s used for eating, chutneys and wine, but it’s just been reintroduced back into North America,” says Jane.

Containing zinc, magnesium, iron and vitamins C, B and K, studies have linked aronia to improving immune function and insulin production, reducing symptoms related to stomach disorders, combating the growth of certain cancer cells, reducing blood pressure and also promoting weight loss. It has the highest antioxidant capacity of all fruits.

“In Europe, they’re using aronia after chemotherapy to help rebuild a person’s immune system,” says Jane, adding that in Korea it’s used for anti-aging properties and health benefits.

The berries, which resemble a tiny, deep-purple apple, can be eaten fresh but with their mouth-drying effect are better blended with other foods. Freezing them reduces the effect, leading the Johnstons to envision a market for a freeze-dried, more easily transportable powder.

“We’ve already bought a freeze-drier,” Michael says.

Starting from scratch

To bring aronia back to Western Canada as a viable and marketable crop, Avoca Farms and Vineyards is producing aronia from cuttings and seeds.

“The issue is that it’s new, so you need the right cultivars and we’ve done a ton of research, including visiting the World Agricultural Expo in California. We got our original plants from Oregon, touched base with Kansas City growers, been in touch with a company in Poland and bought seed from Ukraine,” says Michael. “Our four varieties are bred to make bigger, juicier, tastier berries.”

They have 4,200 plants plus 20,000 seedlings. In 2016, they purchased about 1,200 plants of the variety Viking and 800 of Autumn Magic. The plants came in one-gallon pots, and were planted in the farm’s sandy, irrigated soil last July. This year, they added 400 to 500 plants of McKenzie, Elliott and Galicjanka. They think McKenzie is the most suitable for the Okanagan climate.

Aronia is also insect, disease and drought-resistant, an important consideration given climate change predictions. It’s astringent, so birds avoid it, a huge challenge Okanagan haskap growers face. They net their crops at considerable expense.

“This isn’t about lifestyle. Everything has to be profitable. So, although the property came with the grapes, and we want aronia, we’ve also introduced garlic,” says Michael.

They’ve grown 5,000 bulbs into 50,000 plants of different varieties. In October, they’ll plant 150,000 cloves of garlic, with varieties including Red Russian, Majestic, Persian Star and super-sized elephant garlic. While not yet certified organic, they’re moving the farm towards certification.

Speaking of numbers, Michael is all about running highly successful businesses where cash is king. He says newer farm businesses or farms looking for a new crop must have a business plan with quick, near-term cash flow.

Aronia and garlic were chosen for Avoca after extensive research determined they would be complementary, having similar nutrient needs, soil and irrigation requirements. Garlic sales will provide revenue until the aronia comes onstream.

They feel fortunate to have funds from prior businesses support their agricultural venture when they know getting through the first years can be a real challenge for farmers.

“Jane comes up with the ideas and I’m the one who figures out a way to implement [them],” says Michael.

She loves reading, research and learning. He’s more into spreadsheets and building.

To reduce overhead of labour costs, Michael combined two machines to create a plastic plant pot-filling machine. This year, they’ll try growing garlic in pots to avoid the three-year crop rotation cycle. With 36,000 pots in the yard and more on order, they plan to make garlic-growing portable.

“We can actually take the plants and sell them. Michael is originally from Ireland where everyone grows things on their patios,” explains Jane. “No one has land but everyone has gardens so that’s when we realized that maybe this is what we should look at.”

Their business plan also envisions contracting others within the Agricultural Land Reserve who want to grow something to gain tax exemption but want less work. Garlic in pots is a portable option that could fill a niche.

For now, their garlic will be sold at the farm gate and the BC Tree Fruits store in Kelowna. BC Tree Fruits has also approached them to sell the aronia, which will be sold fresh in two-pound clamshells as well as in powdered form.

Seedlings will be sold to others within BC. A potential market also exists in Ontario and Quebec, where they claim there’s a waiting list for the plants. A one-year-old plant sells for about $10 to $12.

“Part of our success in growing seedlings will be helping to ensure that those that buy our plants are successful because if they’re not successful, we’re not,” says Michael.

To that end, they are spearheading a new non-profit Western Canadian Aronia Association with a new website to share information about the plants and crop viability.

Now in their 50s, and having had a fair share of health concerns, they’re enjoying their new life and say farming is making them healthier than ever.

 

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

Previous Post: « Slow drip on groundwater licences
Next Post: BC’s oldest farm seeks new management »

Reader Interactions

Copyright © 2023 Country Life in BC · All Rights Reserved