OCTOBER 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC Cranberry field day eyes new varieties
Gathering good for networking, learning
by RONDA PAYNE LANGLEY – Every two years, cranberry
growers get together to discuss what’s new and happening in the industry. The 2017 cranberry field day, held in late August at Coast Cranberries in Langley, drew a considerable crowd to share information and learn. Event organizers gave visitors an open program to explore both the site and several informational booths before and after the lunch held in the mechanic’s shop. Ron and Mary Martini bought Coast Cranberries four years ago and their team farms a total of 300 acres. The bogs have been a privately owned farm for more than 35 years and as the latest owners, the Martinis sell part of their crop to Ocean Spray and part privately. While Coast Cranberries may appear to be fully-planted, there’s always room for more plants, whether it’s creating new bogs or removing old plants and putting in new varieties. Other cranberry farmers are often in similar situations. Thus, one of the information booths at the event displayed new varieties being trialed at the Delta research farm. Renee Prasad of E.S. Cropconsult noted there were 16 varieties of cranberries to examine at the field day, but there are many more varieties at the research farm. “I chose [these varieties for display] because it’s a combination of the release varieties or the new varieties we want to highlight for growers,” Prasad told growers. “Six come from the Wisconsin breeding program. From the Rutgers breeding program, there are five release varieties and five numbered varieties. These are the ones that are pending release.”
Grant Keefer of Yellow Point
Cranberries and chair of the BC Cranberry Growers Association brought his son Jack to the field day and noted that varieties like Mullica Queen, Crimson Queen, Haines and Welkers all look good in the samples Prasad brought. “We want a hard, large red berry, but not too
dark,” Keefer says of what the industry is currently after. “If you’re going to grow different varieties, you need to be able to stagger your harvests.” He adds that the research farm in Delta gives growers the ability to observe a number of varieties
from various breeding programs and compare characteristics. “It also allows us to compare them to the current
industry standard variety, Stevens,” he notes. “Growers all have different growing conditions. This demonstration allows the growers to make decisions best for their farm and what characteristics they feel the industry wants and needs moving forward.” “It’s an opportunity for growers to evaluate varieties in BC conditions,” adds Prasad. “But soil is unique at the farm. And every farm is different.”
When it comes to technology that may appeal to cranberry growers, ASAP Helicopters/ASAP Geomatics was on hand to illustrate how their imagery systems can benefit field management. Pilot Karen Coulter said the camera pod attached to the chopper can take two- to three- thousand images an hour. Chris Harrott, sales associate with the firm, explained how the system can show the health of a farm. “We use ENDVI. This is using near infra-
red. This is not new. NASA did it for years,” Harrott says. “It detects the amount of chlorophyll [in the photos].” From the volume of chlorophyll, farmers can see the healthiest areas of the fields along with those needing more attention. Water channels, soil studies and other inputs can also be overlaid on the photos to provide serious detail. “We can also do plant height,” he notes.
“It’s taking a regular, standard photo and drawing way more information out of it than before.” Harrott adds that unlike people flying
drones and taking images, there are no privacy issues because, first and foremost, ASAP is an aviation company. They are now making use of tools and techniques in new ways to provide more information. Another piece of impressive equipment at the field day was the custom-built fruit pump created by Coast Cranberries’ mechanic Josh Santerre. He created the massive machine to be almost entirely adjustable from the positioning of the boom to how the berries are collected. “I built everything except the bottom,”
Santerre says.
The boom that holds the suction hose also has water jets to help move the cranberries towards the bucket at the end. Santerre thinks when the machine is operating, it will harvest about 2,000 pounds a minute.
“But the field can be more dirty, so we Jack and Joanne De Wit consider cranberry variety options. RONDA PAYNE PHOTO
would slow down,” he explains. Once the berries are pulled from the field, the centrifugal pump pulls them up
to the top of the machine for cleaning. Grass and other debris are eliminated through a series of screens and fans before the cranberries go up a conveyor to the bin. Diesel powers the device when it moves to the
fields, but once it is set up beside a bog, it requires only electric power. “We just keep improving,” he says. He’s been on the farm for about seven years and has always been taking the next step in creating new tools for the operation.
31
~ Winterhardy annual clover ~ Bio-massive cover crop ~ Widely adapted ~ High yielding ~ Highly palatable ~ Adds nitrogen ~ ECONOMICAL
www.fixationclover.com
Order Now 1.800.282.7856
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 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
