prunings
he dollar amounts are far from huge in comparison to a great many other marketing efforts, but every little bit helps. BC agriculture minister Norm Letnick’s summer schedule has included announcing several grants under the province’s Buy Local program. The revitalized Blueberry Festival component of the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Country Fest was an appropriate venue for Letnick to announce that the BC Blueberry Council is receiving $50,000 to introduce an advertising campaign featuring signs and displays as well as in-store sampling. The arrival of B.C. blueberries will be advertised on grocery store websites and e-newsletters. Social media and radio ads, including a marketing campaign on
BCLiving.ca, will encourage British Columbians to buy their blueberries locally. Meanwhile, Bremner Foods, a family-owned business that has been operating in the Lower Mainland for more than 30 years, is also receiving $50,000 in Buy Local funding. The Bremner operation began with a blueberry field in East Delta. Today, that one farm has grown to 80 acres and produces bottled fruit juice with one ingredient — fruit. There is no water, no sugar, no concentrate and no additives. Bremner products can be found in more than 400 grocery, health and drug stores throughout BC and also at Wellbrook Winery, which is located at the farm. The Buy Local program is administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of British Columbia. Applications are available at:
http://iafbc.ca/funding- opportunities/buy-local... In early July, while visiting a new 4- H club in Merritt, Letnick presented the provincial organization with a cheque for $87,000, the government’s financial commitment to the program each fiscal year. Operating in BC for more than a century, 4-H stands for head, heart, hand and health. Members range from six to 25 years old. There are clubs in 50-plus B.C. communities. They focus on transferring agriculture knowledge and skills from one generation to another through 4-H leaders and volunteers. In addition, urban youth are able to connect to agriculture through a variety of projects, such as poultry, rabbit, dog, gardening, crafts, sewing and many more.Ministry of Agriculture Youth Development staff deliver conferences to 4-H clubs and work closely with registered volunteers... Many summer visitors heading to
T
Bremner Foods president Terry Bremner, left, and Delta North MLA Scott Hamilton with some of the product the company will promote with $50,000 in matching funds from the province’s Buy Local program.
Cultus Lake via Yarrow were no doubt surprised to discover that Wisbey Veggies market on No.3 Road just off the freeway had been destroyed by fire. An electrical malfunction is believed responsible. The popular stop was established about 35 years ago by Bruce Wisbey, a former Ministry of Agriculture vegetable specialist. Wisbey says he was fully insured to cover his loss. While he has no immediate plans to re-build, Wisbey has put up a small shed at his No. 3 Road site to sell some selected products. The main farm is located on Tolmie Road near No.5 Road...¶
The US strawberry industry is facing a major obstacle with the phasing
out of its most commonly used pesticide, and researchers have put in millions of dollars in the race to come up with an
alternative.Methyl bromide is a broad- spectrum fumigant that has been used for decades to control insects, pathogens and weeds. It also has been identified as a contributor to ozone depletion. The chemical is not manufactured in Canada, but is imported mostly from the US, where the Environmental Protection Agency initially required that it be phased out in 2005. Every year since, US growers have asked for and
received extensions on the phase-out, but the EPA has suggested that exemptions will end completely after 2016. Both countries are parties to the to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, which calls for eliminating the production and consumption of methyl bromide. Since Jan. 1, 2005, the manufacture, import and export of methyl bromide has been prohibited in Canada, except for use in quarantine and pre-shipment applications, as feedstock, as analytical standards, or for critical or emergency use. Exemption applications for 2017 and 2018 had to be submitted before July 29 this year and there is no final phase-out date set yet...
18 British Columbia Berry Grower • Fall 2015
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