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Originally published:

July 2018
Vol. 104 Issue 7

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Stories In This Edition

Sweet basil

Committee cancels meetings

Sidebar: Greater co-ordination; less conflict

Prince George packing plant gets further study

Sidebar: Co-op model lets producers pocket profits

Editorial: Buy the billions

Back Forty: Canada isn’t the cure for what ails US dairy

OpEd: Dairy industry will endure current trade issues

ALC allegations nix Delta farmer’s vision

Letters: Elk know no boundaries

Precautions taken against Japanese beetle

Great spring for nurseries

Chicken pricing formula isn’t right

Pitt crew

Criteria for Crown tenure still unclear

McClary’s leased to Aquilinis

Strawberries kick berry season off to good start

Food advocates grapple with rural-urban interface

Research updates presented to cherry growers

New farmers need to research livestock needs

Time for tea

Ag Brief: Farmers still waiting on new ag waste regs

Ag Brief: Drought watch

AgBrief: Good to meet ewe

Ag Brief: Staff change at FF/CF

Ag Brief: Market trail

Riparian restorations benefit from farm funding

Young Farmers network at Okanagan tour

Salmon Arm fleece brings top dollar

Perseverance, ingenuity aid haskap harvest

BC ranchers praised for wildfire response

Committee work pinpoints rancher priorities

Mentorship program helps expand horizons

Tour gives public insight to dairy farming

Island welcomes Angus breeders

Experts weigh in on future of raspberry cultivars

Preparation, customer service key to market success

Top 10 list for market success

UVF ag curriculum continues to diversify

Research: Going green

Buy BC relaunched

Farm camps for kids

Henderson continues on crash course

Jude’s Kitchen: It’s easy to make July veggie month

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BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

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BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

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Congratulations Duncan and Jane Trott Barnett Well deserved recognition

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Congratulations to Duncan, Jane, and all the rest of the Barnett family!

Congratulations Duncan and Jane!!

Congratulations Jane and Ducan! Sandra Andresen Hawkins

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Congratulation Duncan & Jane!!

Congratulations Jane Trott Barnett and Duncan!!!

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1 month ago

Grapegrower Colleen Ingram, who was recognized earlier this year as the 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association. “Given the devastation we have had over the last three years, I feel like this award should be given to the entire industry,” she says. Her story appears in the June edition of Country Life in BC, and we've also posted to our website.

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Industry champion named BC’s best grape grower

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KELOWNA – Colleen Ingram’s enthusiasm for collaboration within the BC wine industry is so great that when she was named 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association, she wanted to sh...
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2 months 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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2 months 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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Perseverance, ingenuity aid haskap harvest

Okanagan grower envisions being a hub for BC haskap production

July 1, 2018 byMyrna Stark Leader

KELOWNA – Growing a new crop is not for the faint of heart. In June, after five years in the making, Reg Tomiye harvested his first full crop of haskap berries. They grow in front of his home on a nine-acre plot in South East Kelowna which was converted from an apple and sour cherry orchard.

Tomiye, whose grandfather came to the area in the early 1900s to farm, started AgriForest Bio-Technologies, a tree nursery business in the 1970s. When he sold it and some land, he wasn’t ready to quit having his hands in the business of agriculture with his horticulture, financial and business background.

“We started planting in the fall of 2013 but the plants we get are quite small so what’s normally three to four years to harvest has become five,” says Tomiye who was told about the crop by Kamlesh Patel at AgriForest.

Tomiye says haskaps are well-known in Japan for their health benefits. Hokkaido Island has a history of using the thin-skinned berry dating back hundreds of years. They’re soft and have a unique flavour like a blend of several berries with a zing at the finish, depending on variety and ripeness.

New crop, new challenges

Growing the self-financed berry crop didn’t come without perseverance and innovation.

“The first year that we had any berries, a couple years ago, I saw the berries on the plants and I went back the next day and they were all gone. There were starlings all over so the whole field was wiped out,” he explains, saying he looked at cannons and drones as bird control. However, smart birds arrive at 5 am when noise bylaws and neighbours are more restrictive.

Needing to monitor the crop, weed and control pests, and with the berry’s delicate nature, he’s spent about $80,000 to encase the entire field rather than placing net on top as is done with grapes. Visiting the crop feels a bit like walking into a more sophisticated net version of a childhood blanket fort.

“We engineered the canopy over a two-year period. We got some good old Alberta oil drill pipe and a 12-foot auger attached to the end of an excavator to drill the post holes 10 feet deep and then concreted them in. Then, we cabled everything. But last year we didn’t have everything secured. A wind storm blew all the netting and we lost quite a bit,” says Tomiye.

As a result, he designed cross-sectional cabling to strengthen the structure. He’s also engineered a telescoping post for the middle of the crop to provide support for the net and enable the harvesting equipment which straddles each row from the top.

“This year the netting is staying in place. Last year, it would move 15 feet one way or the other in the wind, which broke wires.”

Hope for ROI

With five varieties and some numbered research plants from the University of Saskatchewan in his plantings, Tomiye continues to experiment with new varieties.

Tomiye uses a blueberry harvester and has two reefer trailers to do the processing. The berries will be frozen. His 2018 crop looks good in terms of size, sugar content and volume. He’s keeping detailed records on varietal results and hoping to see a return on his investment this year.

He plans to market some locally to consumers or chefs. One of the benefits is that haskaps are an early season berry. They may fetch $15 per pound. But his eyes are focused on future opportunities. He’s been talking with overseas buyers who visit the Okanagan looking at cherries.

He sees potential for his farm to become a central haskap collection, processing and distribution facility for frozen berries or berry powder which opens up further use in the food, cosmetic and medicine industries. He says new firmer berry varieties with more upright growth would also help move a commercial industry forward.

“It’s starting to get planted here in BC but people are afraid because there’s no established market. We need to prove we have a market and we can process haskap,” he says.

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