AUGUST 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Weather delivers a lighter berry crop North, central Interior still feeling ravages of winter


by PETER MITHAM ABBOTSFORD – A late-breaking spring


promises a steady season for Fraser Valley berry producers, with early indications suggesting a lighter crop that could fetch higher prices. “Harvest has gone well. The weather has been fairly co-operative,” said David Mutz of Berry Haven Farm Ltd. in Abbotsford in mid- July. With the strawberries and raspberries


largely finished and blueberries building towards their peak, Mutz said berries have been looking good. Volumes have been light but the fruit is in good shape and seeing healthy pricing on the fresh market. “On strawberries and raspberries, it was a


good crop but not a bumper crop,” he said. “It’s definitely lighter than everybody was expecting. Pickers are going through the blueberry fields a lot quicker than in previous years.”


While consultant Tom Baumann told


Country Life in BC in May that growers faced “very, very difficult” circumstances following one of the wettest winters in recent memory and a cool, damp spring, weather patterns gave plants the time needed to rebuild their root systems and recover from the harsh winter.


When warm weather finally arrived in early


June, the plants were ready. The previous two years had seen blueberries already starting to yield by early June, colliding with the last of the June-bearing strawberries and leaving harvesters to jam raspberries in between. This year, the berries came on at a more


typical pace, which made for better handling and promises a longer season for growers who will also face less competition from other regions. “We’re more on time with when we should


be producing,” said Jack Bates of Tecarte Farms in Ladner and president of the BC Blueberry Council.


This is a shift from last year, when BC’s crop was up against fruit from Oregon on the West Coast and New Jersey in the east. This year, New Jersey has almost finished its harvest, while Oregon is picking up the middle and BC has its eyes set on rounding out the season. “We’re not all trying to sell to the same guy on the same day,” Bates said. “It’s nice. We’ll be the last ones in North America to have fruit, probably.”


While warm temperatures have delivered a lighter crop with some of the biggest berries Bates has seen, he said the majority of the crop has yet to come. Conditions in August will determine how the season ends. “There was some talk it was going to be


down significantly but I don’t think we can make that prediction yet,” he said. Conditions elsewhere in the province have also been promising, despite a heat wave in late June that led to wildfires in the South Okanagan and across the Cariboo. The first of the season’s cherries began


making their way to roadside stands and markets in mid-June, while the hay harvest – which was delayed in the Lower Mainland by about three weeks – looks good. “The first cut of hay came off really good, with good volumes,” says Kevin Boon, general manager of the BC Cattlemen’s Association. “Seeing areas like the Peace with plenty of moisture, that produces plenty of hay and lots of forage.”


The abundance of forage in the Peace comes at the expense of grains, which a harsh spring prevented many farmers from planting. By some estimates, no more than 40% of the region’s usual acreage was seeded. A lack of snow cover in the Vanderhoof area


also killed large swathes of forage, bad news for producers like TopHay Agri-Industries Inc. who see a bright future in the area for alfalfa production. “There was probably close to 20,000 acres


of haylands that saw some extent of alfalfa winterkill,” Boon told Country Life in BC. One blessing the long winter delivered


growers is a reduction in spotted-wing drosophila (SWD) pressure. The pest is a significant challenge for berry and cherry growers, but Mutz said growers in the Fraser Valley didn’t detect the bug in traps until early July. “A lot of people haven’t even had to do


sprays for it yet,” he said. With many areas still reporting healthy


snowpacks in mid-June and summer now in full swing, growers across the province are well-positioned – barring wildfires and hail – for a year closer to historical norms. Combined with firm prices for many crops and stable economic conditions that give consumers the cash to spend on local produce, many growers like Mutz are optimistic. “Demand for blueberries is very high,” he said. “Demand is outstripping supply.”


A long winter (or late spring) has resulted in lighter berry crops this year. PETER MITHAM PHOTO


9


TRACTORS


JD 5225 2006, 5100 HRS, CAB, LDR, ON TURF TIRES, COMING IN 24,500 NH 54D 4WD, CAB, LDR, 40 HRS, LIKE NEW, SOME WARRANTY (U31396) ................................................. 49,500 NH BOOMER 20 W/LDR, 60” MID MT MOWER, 200 HRS (U31247) 19,400 NH WORKMASTER 55 4WD, NO LDR, 155 HRS, LIKE NEW .......... SOLD! QUALITY USED EQUIPMENT


Intelligent Water Solutions PTO PUMPS & CARTS


Cart converts from trailer to 3-point hitch.


SPRINKLERS & CARTS A size for any pasture, arena or garden.


LOEWEN HORIZONTAL MIXER (CNS631) .................................... 5,690 72” HYD ROTARY PICK UP BROOM (U31487) ................................ 2,950 18’X8’ WAGON & RACK, GOOD CONDITION (CNS628) .................. 2,900 FP 240 2005, METALERT, GRASSHEAD, TANDEM AXLE, COMING ....... 29,000 L220 SKIDSTEER ..................................................................... 23,900 NH 1432 DISCBINE MOWER CONDITION, C/W FLAIL TINES, VERY GOOD CONDITION (U31463) ......................................... 15,900 NH FP 230 HARVESTER W/27P GRASSHEAD; VERY GOOD CONDITION (U31471)............................................ SOLD! NH 1412 DISC MOWER, FLAIL CONDITIONER (U31336) ........... 16,900 NEW LEADER L5000 FERT SPREADER (CNS638) ......................... 4,500 FP 230 2001 METALERT NO HEADS - U31374........................... 6,900 LOEWEN MIXER (HORIZONTAL) ................................................. 8,500 HESSTON 4570 SQ BALER, 1/4 TURN CHUTE, GOOD CONDITION; U31291 ................................................................................ SOLD! NH 278 BALER, 1975, FIELD READY ......................................... 6,500 KUHN/KNIGHT 5127 MIXER WAGON;


SINGLE VERTICAL SCREW – U31246 .................................... 17,900 JD 3970 FORAGE HARVESTER – U31194................................... SOLD! JD 3950 FORAGE HARVESTER – U31195................................... 4,000 QUICKE ALO 980 LDR – CNS602 – 3 FUNCTION-SOFT RIDE ......... 5,900 FELLA TS 456T ROTARY RAKE (U31222) .................................... 8,600


3-Point Hitch Mode 3/4” Trailer Mode


CHILLIWACK 44160 Yale Road West LETHBRIDGE 511 - 41 Street North


1.800.663.2615 1.877.663.2615


www.southernirrigation.com 1-1/4” 2”


CHILLIWACK • 1.800.242.9737 | 44725 Yale Road West • 604.792.1301 LANGLEY • 1.800.665.9060 | 21869 - 56th Avenue • 604.533.0048


COMMITTED TO AGRICULTURE in the FRASER VALLEY rollinsmachinery.com


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  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44