up front By Bryden Winsby


And so away we go with Year Two... W


ith this issue, British Columbia Berry Grower Magazine enters its second year of publication. As is the case with many new ventures, not everything went according to plan — but most of our expectations have been met, and the response has been gratifying, to say the least. I’d like to think everyone who has anything to do with the province’s berry industry, or is interested in it, is getting a copy regularly. Such thinking is wishful. There are growers, I’m sure, who aren’t aware of our existence, but efforts will be made to reach as many as possible. So if you know of someone who ought to be on the mailing list, let them and us know. There’s no charge!


One pleasant surprise has been the number of requests for subscriptions from outside the province, particularly Ontario and the United States. They don’t number in the thousands (unfortunately) but dozens, which is nice, considering we haven’t embarked on any sort of circulation drive. Many have found out about us on the web


(bcberrygrower.ca), where the latest issue can be read online. A lot of folks, though, still prefer the ink-on- paper version.


If there is something you’ve read and don’t like (or do), or if you have a story suggestion, please let us know.


The past 12 months haven’t exactly been the best on record for the industry, which like many others has been battling economic uncertainty, market pressures, production problems ... oh, and then there are bugs, birds and the weather, which a lot of businesses don’t have to worry about much, if at all.


Wherever possible, we try to look on the bright side — without trying to sugarcoat. The aim is to keep growers abreast of what’s going on from marketing, technical, research and political perspectives. If they take away a few insights or an idea on how they can improve their operation, we’ve done our job. With that in mind, our cover story examines how one well-known family approaches the opportunities


4 British Columbia Berry Grower • Spring 2011


available in agri- tourism, a subject that gets a lot of play but isn’t as simple as it might seem. There’s more to making a success of it than simply inviting visitors to traipse around the family farm. Krause Berry


Farms, like so many, isn’t on a major thoroughfare, so it takes no small degree of thought and ingenuity to come with features that will give visitors a memorable experience, and reasons to come back.


Speaking of ingenuity, Arvin Neger came back from an international conference in Chile very impressed with a harvester developed in that country (whose fruit industry has grown dramatically during the past decade or so). You’ll read about Arvin’s observation that while the machine was designed for raspberries, it has possibilities for blueberries as well.


On the crop protection side of things, we tell you about work being done to find ways of controlling two serious ailments affecting cranberries and blueberries.


Ailments of a very different sort


have been occupying provincial politics these days, as both major parties have found themselves in need of new leaders, and an election is likely this year. The most recent round of ministerial musical chairs put Ben Stewart in charge of agriculture. For how long is anyone’s guess, but he certainly knows many of the issues, and our interview with him focuses on one of them — the Agricultural Land Reserve, which has been the subject of a major review. At this writing, its contents are still being kept under wraps.


Elsewhere, you’ll find a piece on Oregon State University’s


involvement in the decoding of a wild strawberry genome, a project the researchers say could lead to improvements for a variety of different fruits.


There’s also some advice on how to approach risk management for your farming business, and how to take a team approach to ensuring that safety is an integral part of the operation.


Enjoy, and we’ll be back again in May.


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