MAY 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


31 Big crop, bigger levy, boost raspberry council’s fortunes


by PETER MITHAM ABBOTSFORD – Good yields meant more money


for raspberry growers in 2016 and a half-cent increase in the per-pound levy the BC Raspberry Council collects will underpin research that promises to help the industry prepare for future challenges. The financial report accountant John Pankratz


delivered to the council’s annual general meeting in Abbotsford on March 28 noted that the council collected $161,300 in levies in 2016, up from $56,300 in 2015. This pushed the council’s finances into the black for the year, overturning the loss of more than $20,500 logged in 2015. A crop that Statistics Canada estimates at nearly 19.4 million pounds, up from 17.5 million pounds in 2015, was on par with the industry’s five-year average and kept the cash flowing. The industry has been through some tough times


in recent years as generational and economic shifts took their toll. Production is approximately half of where it was 20 years ago, and two years ago Abbotsford Growers Co-op underwent a significant restructuring. Rejigging plantings to accommodate market demand and mechanical harvesting has also been challenging, with growers at the Pacific Agriculture Show last year urged to reinvest in plantings if they wanted the industry to have a future.


This is where the increased levy will play a role, funding increased research into new variety development through BC Berry Cultivar Development Inc. Raspberries account for half the time of berry


breeder Michael Dossett, based at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada’s Agassiz Research and Development Centre. Key priorities for the raspberry breeding program include selecting strains that are resistant to root rot and machine harvest well. Dossett told growers attending the AGM that 2016 saw the largest trial ever of machine-


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harvestable fruit, with more than 350 selections currently in the ground. But even more


important, Dossett said the latest selections all had root rot-resistant parents. A dozen of these had yields higher than those of Chemainus and Meeker, the dominant variety in BC, and showed suitability for machine harvesting. While it’s not certain all the selections will exhibit root rot resistance, Dossett suspects a couple should. The plants will have to be in the field a little longer before he knows for sure, however.


Some of the new selections on trial in BC incorporate the genetics of native salmonberries, and there has also been progress towards sequencing the genome of black raspberries, which will provide further information of use to those seeking to breed a better berry. BC has also been fortunate to secure 800


selections from the University of Guelph breeding program, which saw its funding end in 2014. The plants arrived in 2015 as plugs and while most appear to be primocane varieties, which tend to be of less interest to BC growers than summer-fruiting floricane varieties, the material gives researchers a broader range of selections to work with. An exchange with New Zealand researchers has also bolstered the range of selections at breeders’ disposal.


While significant research is taking place into new


varieties, a presentation by James Bergen of Bergen Farms in Abbotsford highlighted the importance of being able to access pest control products that will protect plants and fruit. The council’s representative on the federal Pest Management Centre’s minor use committee, Bergen


reported that this was the first year in five that raspberries didn’t get an A-level option during its annual priority-setting meeting. That’s bad news for raspberry


growers who are dealing, like many others, with a diminishing number of products to fight new pests. Many are under review while some, like Gramoxone, have had their chemistries banned. These won’t be available again


until their ingredient mix is fixed. The big priorities for growers are materials that will help them combat raspberry fruit worm as well as spotted wing drosophila (SWD). Raspberry fruit worm is currently only addressed


by Malathion, while Lanate, which is registered for use against SWD in the US, has an old chemistry that’s being phased out in Canada. It’s a similar story for Vyprenthrin, which is available for use on weevils in raspberries until next year, when it will be phased out.


The industry has flagged a replacement for


Vyprenthrin as a “critical need product.” “The berry groups will be working together to consider next steps,” Bergen said of the challenges facing growers seeking alternative and replacements to older chemistries. Research this year will look at whether the cold winter had any impact on SWD populations, one pest that’s of significant concern not just to growers but also processors. “If you’re not spraying every five to seven days …


there’s a big consequence from what we’re seeing with SWD numbers,” said Steve Phillips, field manager with Berryhill Foods Inc. in Abbotsford. However, given recent trends in production and steady demand, Phillips feels the coming season should be good if SWD numbers stay in check and producers have proper harvest and handling protocols in place to maintain fruit quality.


First and Still Foremost.


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