MARCH 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC
21 Hazelnut growers eye new varieties to revive industry
Province refuses to offer support for orchard renewal
by DAVID SCHMIDT ABBOTSFORD – BC
hazelnut growers packed seminars and their annual meeting at the Pacific Agriculture Show in Abbotsford on January 28. But the enthusiasm of
growers for rebuilding their industry isn’t something the province seems to share. The sector fell on hard
times after Eastern Filbert Blight invaded the province in the early 2000s. Since then, the incurable disease has destroyed almost every orchard in the Fraser Valley. The few that remain are on their last legs, and much of the infrastructure the industry needs is in disrepair. Canadian Hazelnuts, the area’s only local processor, went out of business last spring and John Vandenbrink opted against turning on his dryers last fall. But those still in the
industry are committed to its resurgence. “I think we’ve bottomed
out,” says Thom O’Dell of Nature Tech Nursery. “There’s an upswing of interest.” BC Hazelnut Growers
Association (BCHGA) president Neal Tebrinke agreed, telling the crowd, “I’m starting over.”
Results of a trial of EFB-
resistant varieties at Tebrinke’s orchard and five others in 2011 and 2013 so impressed Tebrinke that he removed all his trees and replanted with the new varieties. “Over 200 acres have now
been replanted or pledged to be replanted and yields on the new varieties are better than anticipated,” he said. O’Dell, who has been
importing the new varieties in tissue culture and is managing the trials, has high hopes for the future. Not only is BC in “the sweet spot” for growing hazelnuts but the trees are “well-suited to small lot agriculture.”
Excellent opportunity “It’s an excellent
opportunity to retain farm status,” adds Gary Fehr, director of the University of the Fraser Valley Agriculture Centre of Excellence. UFV has committed to
creating a database of potential lots where hazelnuts might be planted and to developing a website, brochures and other marketing materials for the BCHGA. Fehr and O’Dell believe
there is a vast potential market not only overseas but particularly in North America. “Europe’s per capita
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consumption of hazelnuts is 2.5 pounds a year, but in North America the consumption is only 0.5 pounds a year,” Fehr said, with O’Dell adding, “There are lots of opportunities for value- added.” Fehr brought in the varieties Jefferson, Eta, Theta, Gamma, Sacajawea and Yamhill, which are performing well, although there is evidence of “a little” EFB on Sacajawea and his 2011 Jefferson plantings. “We recommend pruning out and burning infested branches and spraying with zinc copper or another approved fungicide three to four times at bud break and every two weeks thereafter,”
See PRUNING on next page o Helmut Hooge shows what prolific producers young hazelnut trees can be. T. ODELL PHOTO
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