prunings


ProductsCouncil ofCanada. In announcing her appointment to a three- year term, federal agricultureminister GerryRitz said he is confident that Etsell's "hands-on farming experience and passion for seeing the sector grow will be an asset to the council’swork.” Created in 1972, the council supervises operations of the four national marketing agencies thatmanage the supply of Canadian chicken, turkey, eggs and broiler hatching eggs. In addition, it supervises the operation of the Canadian Beef CattleResearch, MarketDevelopment and Promotion Agency.Until 2009, the FPCCwas known as theNational Farm ProductsCouncil. Etsell is the director ofColignyHill Farms Ltd. in Abbotsford,where alongwith her husband and two sons, she produces turkeys, hay andwine grapes.Her passion for agriculture has also led to workingwith various farm organizations. She has beenwith the blueberry council since 2007 and has alsoworked for theB.C.Agriculture Council and theB.C.Raspberry IndustryDevelopmentCouncil... TheB.C.Association of Farmers’


B


Markets picked fivewinners for its first Ode to a FarmerPoetryContest. The selectionsweremade by a panel of professionalwriters and poets towrap up the fourth annual Farmers AppreciationWeek fromSept. 8-15. The best overall awardwas given to Jillian Merrick for her poem365 Farmers. Merrick lives in PrinceGeorge,where she coordinates the Beyond theMarket programat Community Futures Fraser FortGeorge, designed to build, strengthen, and diversify the agricultural industry in B.C.'s north. The winning selections also include Farmer Dave, byAndreasDolberg, former executive director of the B.C. Agriculture Council. It's a tribute to DavidPendray (1949 – 2007), a third generation dairy farmer andmainstay of the Vancouver Island farming community.Otherwinnerswere DuncanHolmes, acclaimed food writer and recipient of the 2009 BC RestaurantHall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award,CarsonHoltz, a poet andmusician at the Vernon Farmers’Market, and LindaPurjue, a fibre artist and award-winning poet fromWilliams Lake. The judgeswere B.C. BerryGrower Contributing Editor Tamara Leigh,who currently serves


.C.BlueberryCouncil executive directorDebraEtsell has been appointed to the Farm


as president of the B.C. FarmWriters Association and the Canadian Farm Writers Federation. Also on the panel wereRondaPayne, a regular contributor to a range of publications, and India-born poetRenée Sarojini Saklikar,whowrites thecanadaproject, a life-long poem chronicle,work fromwhich appears in literary journals and newspapers. To read thewinning entries, visit www.bcfarmersmarket.org/homepage/ subpage/ On the heels of one ofmost bountiful


PrinceEdward Island blueberry harvests in recentmemory, Jasper Wyman&Son’s operation inMorell will be doubling its capacity and workforce,with help fromthe province, which is giving the business $18.5 million ($16million as a repayable loan). The expansionwill seeWyman's growfrom25 full-time and 70 seasonal jobs to 50 full-time and 140 seasonal jobs.Wyman'swants to expand its plant production to 20million pounds a year fromeightmillion,whichwould allowit to increase production in fields that aren't operating at full capacity. Jasper Wyman&Son is based inMaine,where it has been operating since 1874. It has


Do you have your Environmental


Farm Plan completed? 


This , ,     


  


Not knowing the legislation does not exempt you from it. 


  


 


 


1-866-522-3447  


had a blueberry processing plant in Morell since 1998. “They’ve had trouble the last number of yearswhere they’ve had to export some of their blueberries to be processed inMaine. This is going to allowthemto process all of the blueberries that they buy in Atlantic Canada right here in Prince Edward Island,” saidPremierRobertGhiz... By now, fewfruit farmers in this part


of theworld have not heard of Spotted WingDrosophila, an invader from Southeast Asia that contaminates fruit with larvae and causes it to become soft and unmarketable. It has also become a big concern inAustralia, and is the prime target of a 'biosecurity' plan launched inOctober to protect that country's small but growing raspberry and blackberry industries. Although the plan identified 200 exotic pests that could pose a risk to the Australian industry if theywere to enter the country, SWDis the biggest concern, according to PlantHealth Australia manager Brad Siebert. There are currently 140 berry farms across Queensland,NewSouthWales, Victoria and Tasmania. The value of the industry grewfromUS$11.6million in 2005-06, toUS$38.7million in 2011-12...


British Columbia Berry Grower • Winter 2013-14 15


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