even fiercer between nurseries in B.C. and Alberta in recent years as dwindling market-share has created a sense of desperation. Or as Lafleur puts it:
“They keep undercutting each other until they cut each other’s throats.”
He says nurseries in B.C. have a competitive advantage thanks to a milder climate and lower energy costs, and so set the price for the entire industry. However, despite the nursery industry being a tough, market-driven business, Lafleur enjoys his work.
“Amongst other things, it’s certainly a feel-good business. I have been in it long enough that I can go out into the field and I can see new forests that I had a hand in creating. And the downturn hasn’t been devastating for Coast to Coast. I mean, We’re making a living, right? It could be better, but it’s like every other business.”
Back at Red Rock, Bob agrees the nursery business has been a lot more stable over the past few years. Since joining Coast to Coast, he doesn’t have to worry so much about the marketing end of things and can focus more time on his own operations. And those operations are complex enough as is without the added burden of doing his own sales.
Bob describes how the forestry companies send cones from harvested trees to Coast to Coast’s Smoky Lake Forest extracting facility and the seeds come to Red Rock with a client name and land location attached. It is then Red Rock’s job to help the seeds germinate to their full potential by staged manipulation of light, moisture and temperature variables which trick the seedlings into thinking several years have passed in just a few months; so when the seedlings eventually return to the site where their parents were harvested they will be several years advanced in their natural growing cycle.
Bob points out he does not own the trees he grows and cannot re-sell any without the permission of his clients. That’s why he can’t understand the Government of Alberta’s continued ambivalence to recognize his greenhouse nursery as a farming operation like any other.
on the prairies
“At one point there were 21 tree nurseries in Alberta. Now we’re down to nine. We were fortunate at Coast to Coast because we worked as a group. Other greenhouses were not so lucky.”
Coast to Coast Reforestation is a nursery cooperative founded in 2002. Between the cooperative’s six well-established nurseries it provides 65 per cent of the trees re-planted by the Alberta forestry industry, and grows 450 million seedlings annually.
Coast to Coast Reforestation president Larry Lafleur has been involved with the nursery industry in some form since 1978 when he worked at the Pine Ridge government nursery. He started his own nursery consultant company in 1994 after retiring from his government position before taking over as president at Coast to Coast. He speaks to his forestry company clients every day and knows their concerns intimately. With forestry companies in survival mode in recent years there is industry-wide pressure to get the lowest price possible from nursery seedling providers. This means competition has become
Bob says he is bound by the farm labour code which dictates his costs and standards, but he does not enjoy any of the benefits such as access to agricultural bail-out programs for a poor crop. Bob says different government departments are sending people in his industry mixed messages because nurseries fall into a gray area in terms of government policy.
“We’ve been under review every year, so we have no idea where we’re going to be as far as labour goes,” says Nemeth. “Every August I’m going to make the same application for an operating permit, and the other nurseries will too. It has been tough with Alberta Agriculture, Labour and Immigration, Workers’ Comp... When they go through their literature, their documentation and their policies, we don’t fit in there.”
Even surrounded by this uncertainty, Bob says he believes in his industry. With forestry companies starting up operations again, Bob feels now is the perfect time for him and Jordi to step away from the nursery business and leave it to the next generation. He recently sold his majority stake in Red Rock to his partner Steve Jans and son Travis.
“Let’s put it this way, I helped to in-debt my son. I believe our (Coast to Coast) cooperative will sustain itself and survive because of how it works together.”
Lafleur, on the other hand, isn’t planning on going anywhere. With the forestry industry on the upswing, he says Coast to Coast has a profitable future ahead.
“Forestry is definitely on a comeback here, and I don’t see it going away. Unlike oil and gas, wood’s renewable; and it’s a farming business. I think the future of our forest reclamation business is bright.” ■
OUR COMMUNITIES ■ OUR REGION ■ OUR PEOPLE | 27
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