Agreement ends royalty ‘turf war’


By Judie Steeves T


he B.C. Cherry Association has achieved a breakthrough in an agreement for additional royalties


fromgrowers’ use of gibberellic acid, a plant growth regulator, fromsales of ProGibb fromEvergro Canada Ltd. as well as FruitSize fromTerraLink Horticulture. When it looked like the royalties the


association receives fromFruitSize sales were jeopardized by a drop in the price of ProGibb, a competitor to the TerraLink product, the BCCA talked to the folks at Evergro Canada Ltd., so theywould realize howtheir cut-rate priceswere hurting growers aswell as the competition. Royalties in the past fewyears from


FruitSize sales have permitted the association to fund research that helps themremain competitive and improve fruit quality, explains ChristineDendy, president of the BCCA. The ‘turfwar’ was jeopardizing those funds. As a result of her talk, Evergro not


only agreed to go back to a competitive price, but also offered growers a royalty fromsales of the product similar to what TerraLink pays. Itwas growerswho spearheaded


efforts to do research soGA could be registered as a fertilizer rather than a pesticide, since its benefit to cherry growers is to permit fruit to stay on the tree for up to aweek longer, increasing in size and firmness. The registration of FruitSize as a


fertilizer resulted in a reduction in price for the product and savings ofmore than 60 per cent for growers. After six years of research, TerraLink


waswilling to commercializeGA for growers, under the name FruitSize, submitting royalties fromsales back to growers for their newproduct. Since the association relies entirely on


growers to voluntarily pay dueswhich go towards research and other efforts on behalf of growers, including expandedmarkets, promotions and pest and fruit quality research, the royalties are important in providing stable funding,Dendy explains.


18 British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Summer 2013


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36