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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • OCTOBER 2017


Precision technology builds a northern blueberry patch Dairy farm diversifies with the help of hightech tools


by TOM WALKER


MARA – When the Stobbe family was looking to diversify its dairy operation in the North Okanagan, it used precision technology to develop a blueberry plantation. “I had talked to my sons about building a second barn, buying more quota and expanding the herd,” says Abe Stobbe. “But the boys had gone to California on a tour and learned that, during that year, one third-generation dairy farm in California was going under every week. The only farms that were surviving were the ones that had diversified. They came home and asked, what should we do?”


The family bought a 60-


acre property that borders their farm in Mara on the banks of the Shuswap River. “The land is wet, but it’s


actually higher than the rest of our land. It’s the springs off the mountain that flood it every year,” says Stobbe. “I wondered about growing haskaps but our banker told us to look at blueberries.” Doug MacFarlane of Emerald Bay Ag Services referred the Stobbes to Tara Kye from the coast, and together with technology the team developed the Madalea blueberry farm.


On the level The first summer was spent


leveling the field. “We bought our own land leveler that was laser-


controlled and my son drove that for three months,” says Stobbe. They removed the topsoil,


leveled the clay beneath and replaced the topsoil. Technology came into play


with a Trimble global positioning system (GPS) from Emerald Bay that helped locate the rows. They were the able to install the infrastructure for the 1,600 overhead sprinklers that provide frost protection and lay to out the main lines for the drip irrigation system. Emerald Bay then mapped the field using Veris soil mapping technology that takes a pH and soil texture sample 15 times per acre. Blueberries thrive in acidic soils – less than 5 pH – and the readings helped the Stobbes understand local conditions. “You might sample a few


areas at random or even on a planned grid,” says Stobbe. “But that wouldn’t have worked as there was a wide variation of pH across the 60 acres. In most places, we were at six and above. The peatiest part was highest, which is not normal, and we wouldn’t have known that.” Veris’ soil map allowed a


spreader to apply sulfur at specific points to boost soil acidity. “We had the GPS on the


tractor and we had the Veris map with us,” says Stobbe. “I went through the first pass with the sulfur and applied the minimum rate for the whole field. Then I went back


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At the urging of his sons to diversify, Mara dairy farmer Abe Stobbe turned to blueberries. He started from the ground up using hightech tools to get the job done right the first time. TOM WALKER PHOTO


over and applied more layers depending on what the soil needed in each area, following the map.” The map not only allowed Stobbe to only apply sulfur where it was needed, saving him money, but it allowed improved establishment. “It was about the longevity and the production ability of the plant,” he says. “The technology was so important in us getting a good start.”


In the ground Since labour is tight in the


North Okanagan, the Stobbes developed a planting system that needed just six workers and a tractor driver. Planting the 90,000 bushes still ended up taking three weeks but a lot less


manpower. “I made a plow that would


make a small furrow for each row laid out with the help of the GPS,” explains Stobbe. “I wanted the inputs to be right at the base of the plants.” GPS steered the tractor to


follow the nutrient line with the hilling machine and measured the exact spacing for each plant. They dug the holes, planted and covered each blueberry bush, gave it a shot of fertilizer and laid out the drip line. “We had all our infrastructure in place and just before dark we could hook up our taps and they had water on the first day,” recalls Stobbe. Finally, Stobbe rigged a solenoid to his sprayer and


the GPS told him where to make a shot of paint for the spacing of the trellis poles which he then pushed in with an excavator, straddling the new rows. Three years later, Madalea


has Duke, Draper and Liberty varieties, which spreads production from mid-July to early September. “We have one row of the


later-fruiting Aurora variety and they weren’t really ready on our last pick,” says Stobbe. He says he has a bit more


land left where he could add plants. “They would be very


special. Taking advantage of our most northern location, we would have the latest fresh blueberries available in the world!”


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