Fruit specialists take extension in new direction

SUMMERLAND – Tree Fruit and grape growers will benefit from the support of two extension specialists recently hired by the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

“This is a collaborative support position,” explains Lindsay Hainstock, a former BC Tree Fruits Co-op field staff. “It is currently a one-year pilot with the overall objective to increase capacity.”

Based in Summerland, Hainstock says she and fellow extension worker Katelyn Hengel, based in Vernon, will work with industry consultants, associations, researchers as well as producers.

“Our approach is to work with the industry folks who are actually doing the work on ground,” she says. “They know what actually needs to be done. They are in the field and see the problems.”

Hengel says an initial goal is to understand what is currently happening – “what events are being held, what resources are being developed and seeing how we can support that and, if there are any gaps, seeing where we can fill in.”

The positions are not intended to provide direct advice to growers.

“We do not have the capacity to be giving one-on-one support in the field,” Hainstock says.

Indeed, it’s almost impossible. The positions are intended to support more than 1,500 growers across the province, Hengel points out.

“We will need to change the conversation around what extension services means,” she says.

Not that they couldn’t provide direct support.

Hainstock is well known in the valley for her 16 years at BC Tree Fruits. Hengel spent the past three years managing six conifer species at 20 sites for reforestation projects as part of the BC Ministry of Forests’ seed orchard team in Vernon.

“A seed orchard is much like a tree fruit orchard. It’s organized in rows, the trees are all grafted onto rootstock, there is an irrigation system and slew of pests to contend with, and we manage the orchard to produce the best crops of seeds,” Hengel says.

Hainstock says she has always enjoyed supporting producers.

“Food production is one of the most important jobs out there,” she says. “I come from a research background and being able to translate that to producers is something I have always enjoyed.”

The province’s tree fruit industry stabilization Initiative makes now a good time to add extension capacity.

“The relationships that are there between industry, producer associations and the ministry have laid a strong foundation for us to take this collaborative approach,” Hengel says.

A key resource will be the BC Decision Aid System.

“There is a calendar function on their web site and we are really encouraging producers to use it,” says Hainstock. “They can know that we will all be feeding into DAS and they can get the latest information on what is happening.”

Grower engagement sessions from the stabilization initiative are a starting point.

“What we have heard back from the industry is that there are a lot of new and innovative ideas out there, but it takes time and money to research them and organize events to showcase them,” says Hainstock. “We can help with that organization. They don’t have to travel the world to know what is going on; we can bring those ideas to BC.”

Hengel points out that you can actually travel the world through the use of technologies such as Zoom.

“There are opportunities to connect with extension specialists in other regions,” she says.

Hengel and Hainstock have been invited to be part of a North American group of extension specialists in neighbouring Washington, Pennsylvania, New York Ontario and Nova Scotia.

“We are working together to put together a series of four webinars dealing with orchard adaptation and innovation,” says Hainstock. “Another interest we have heard from growers is crop load management.”

For the grape sector, responding to damage from last December’s extreme cold event is a top priority.

Bringing in technology to do physical demonstrations in orchards and vineyards is important, adds Hainstock.

“Growers can get more of a hands-on feel and see if that is something that can improve the efficiencies in their operations,” she says. “Every year there is always something to learn and that is why extension is here.”

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