up front By Bryden Winsby


Deficit-busting has serious downside I


t's been nearly a year since the federal government rolled out a deficit-busting budget that had agriculture taking one of the hardest hits. Spending cuts were to begin slowly during 2012 and then accelerate, with Agriculture and Agri- food Canada and its related agencies expected to have spent $310 million less by the end of 2014. The past 12 months have seen Ottawa's budget deficit woes worsen as sagging commodity prices eroded revenues. By November, the government was predicting it won’t get back into the black until 2016-17. The cuts have already been felt in a number of areas, not the least of which is research, at federally operated institutions such as the Pacific Agricultural Research Centre and at universities. Retiring personnel have not been replaced and in one of the more puzzling moves, the blueberry sector apparently will see all of its breeding research done in Nova Scotia. It's puzzling because Nova Scotia is the nation's leading producer of low bush (so-called 'wild') blueberries, while British Columbia is tops for high bush cultivated. Although the number of blueberry farms in each province is about equal, the marketable volume of berries produced in B.C. is more than two and a half times that of its maritime counterpart.


These are two distinct sectors — what's good or bad for one may have no relevance at all to the other. Not surprisingly, as Associate Editor Judie Steeves explains in this issue, federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is trying to put the best possible face on the funding situation as a whole. It is evident however, that the ability of this province, and the country, to create new hybrids suited to specific regions is in peril, and as a result so is our ability to compete in a wobbly, unpredictable world economy. We all know that research is expensive and time-consuming, and often is the first to get chopped when public and private budget axes are being swung. Among those having to carry on in the face of fiscal uncertainty is Michael Dossett, a doctoral student at the University of Oregon whose focus has been on


4 British Columbia Berry Grower • Spring 2013


breeding berry varieties suited to conditions in the Fraser Valley. He's the subject of a feature article in these pages, and shares his thoughts on what's needed to keep breeding programs alive.


Elsewhere, an interesting project has been under way at Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Institute for Sustainable Horticulture, where research headed by Andres Torres has been aimed at finding day-neutral strawberry strawberries that will grow well here in greenhouses. As you may be aware, day-neutral varieties are different from June-bearing types and older ever-bearers. They have the capacity to flower and fruit continuously which is attributed to their insensitivity to day length, which normally controls flower initiation. Doing much with very little has


been the challenge for Tom Baumann and the Berry Resource Centre, also featured in this issue. The center is being operated through the University of the Fraser Valley by an advisory and research committees comprised of members from each commodity group.


Our cover story is all about the Maan family, who have been farming in the Abbotsford area for nearly three decades and are continuing to expand and diversify.


You will also find some suggestions on how to deal with weevils, a prairie farmer’s very optimistic spin on what the future could hold for blue honeysuckle and what the Canadian Federation of Independent Business thinks of the ever-tightening grip of red tape on farmers. Enjoy!


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