up front By Bryden Winsby


Will climate revert to same-old,same-old? A


h, yes, “Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.” Or, if you prefer the Dutch version (which is all Greek to me): “Hoe meer alles verandert, hoe meer het hetzelfde blijft.” Often referred to as a proverb, the phrase originated with 19th century French critic, journalist and novelist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr — “The more it changes, the more it's the same thing”, usually translated as “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”


Its meaning is a mite enigmatic and certainly satirical, for it can be taken several ways. In one sense, for example, people are people, and they keep on making the same dumb mistakes. In another sense, the only constant in life is change.


So what about climate change? It’s the stuff of seemingly endless scientific and political debate. The causes and effects range from mildly interesting to downright scary. Is it primarily human-initiated and predictable, as some would attest, or the result of natural occurrences? A mix of both, certainly, but I’m in no position to voice a serious opinion. The big question for farmers right now, though, is whether the balmy winter, warm spring and hot summer of this year is a harbinger of conditions to come for British Columbia. How much will conditions change, when and for how long? Will they be dramatic or revert to being much “the same?”


The impact of unusual weather on this year’s berry crops is the topic of our cover story by Prof. Tom Baumann, from the University of the Fraser Valley.


Elsewhere, we’ve got


some details of what the BC Agriculture and Food Climate Action Initiative (CAI) is doing to identify solutions and priority actions to adapt to the challenges facing farmers in the Fraser Valley. With


temperatures and precipitation projected to increase, along with the number of growing days, there will be both opportunities and serious challenges.


Speaking of challenges, the Maan family of Abbotsford has responded nicely to the devastating fire that destroyed their well-known retail outlet, which has been rebuilt and opened with a wider variety of offerings. Contributing editor Grant Ullyot explains. And still with familiar faces, Grant provides you with profiles of two very popular people who are ending their careers with the industry.


It’s been 37 years since berry specialist Mark Sweeney joined the provincial agriculture ministry and he has since helped countless people , individually and collectively, deal with a myriad issues. He even provided valuable advice to yours truly when this magazine was in its infancy.


Lindsay Babineau, on the other hand, has devoted much of her life to explaining things agricultural to a segment of the population that, in the main, knows little or nothing about it — our youth. She played an instrumental role in organizing and operating Agriculture in the Classroom, which helps the province’s educators build


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4 British Columbia Berry Grower • Fall 2015


their knowledge and pass it on. Elsewhere, we’ve got a wrap-up of this summer’s field days, details of a product that helps prevent splitting of cherries and blueberries, and advice on how to stay safe with farm machinery. Enjoy!


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