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It’s all about making good connections Up Front


By Bryden Winsby T


o market, to market, to buy a fat pig;


Home again, home again,


dancing a jig. From all the stories and rhymes left by Mother Goose—whoever she was—to generations of children, it’s very evident she knew a thing or two about farming and the delights to be found by those who purchased what they had to sell.


Okay, so pigs aren’t a big item at the burgeoning number of farmers’ markets around British Columbia these days. Substitute fruit, veggies and the myriad other items offered, and you get the drift.


Take a gander (sorry about that) at this issue and you’ll soon see a strong emphasis on matters of marketing, and how the fruit and wine industries are pursuing better connections with consumers. From bypassing the


middlepersons and doing more business closer to home through such means as farmers’ markets, to emphasizing high environmental and health standards, to collaborative efforts by producers who also compete against each other—there is lots to be gained and learned.


Some of the lessons aren’t new, as BCFGA director Fred Steele points out in an interview with Associate Editor Judie Steeves. They can be reworked to fit contemporary needs. And not everyone has the same approach when taking a successful route from tree to plate, as Contributing Writer Susan McIver explains.


Meanwhile, the wine industry is continuing to capitalize on the strength of sales in its own front yard, so to speak, with 15 operations in the Central Okanagan area forming a “collective” in concert with Tourism Kelowna to come up with a promotional strategy. It’s a good idea, and follows on such area brandings as Naramata Bench, Corkscrew Drive (Okanagan Falls) and Bottleneck Drive (Summerland).


Getting a better return for the fruit of one’s labours doesn’t begin with money changing hands between seller and buyer; what


4 British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Fall 2010


happens on the production side is key. And that’s where Peter Waterman and Gary Strachan can be found, with the former discussing how apple growers can do a better job of managing grades and the latter going into


detail on extracting the desired flavour from grapes.


Pursuing maximum quality is a challenge for both individuals and the industry as a whole, hence the seemingly endless dance with politicians for financial aid in the face of fierce competition. Money has been forthcoming from both the provincial and federal governments, and while it might be a huge amount, or even as much as hoped for, it’s a help.


The pursuit of quality also involves research, whether that means developing new and better varieties or coping with pests. This issue features a look at who now calls the main shots at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre (PARC). Barry Grace and Kenna MacKenzie are the science director and research manager at PARC’s Summerland operation, while Antonet Svircev is acting research


manager at Agassiz until a permanent manager is appointed. One of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s national network of 19 research centres, the three-site PARC has a lab Kamloops. Pest management research, in particular, has taken on particular importance recently with the spread of Spotted Wing Drosophila. It’s proving to be a formidable and potentially devastating problem, requiring not just a chemical or biological weapon, but more involvement by growers doing what they can to help curtail the spread of SWD.


Oh, and back to political dancing, we also profile Richard Bullock, well-known East Kelowna apple- knocker Richard Bullock, who now heads the Agricultural Land Commission, bringing a wealth of direct experience and a passion for preserving farmland — the purpose of legislation that has been loved and reviled but never repealed since it was passed nearly four decades ago. That it will go away during Bullock’s watch is highly unlikely.


The Place


GERARD’S EQUIPMENT LTD.


33684 Highway 97 South, Oliver, BC


(250) 498-2524 or (250) 498-6231 Fax (250) 498-3288


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