14 REPLANT success
replant program can’t be under estimated, he says. While the program has at times seemed tenuous with terms of as little as two to three years requiring constant fighting for its survival, that changed with the current seven-year iteration.
“BCFGA was able to
negotiate a longer-term program and that has allowed growers to plan out several years,” he explains. Steele continues to
GLEN LUCAS Disappearing middle
Steele expects mid-sized farms to disappear eventually. The old model where a grower would work off- farm and operate the farm part- time is
disappearing. “They are
either selling it to the big guys who are getting
bigger or they are leasing it out to a newcomer,” he says. “[But] the smaller farms are staying as they
advocate for a program that would cover plantings on bare land, but growers aren’t waiting. Many are planting apples and cherries in empty fields across the region on their own.
are the only way for a young person to get into the industry.” Continuing to develop new varieties is key for the industry, Steele says.
BCFGA, along with the BC
Cherry Association, has lobbied hard to maintain the federal breeding program at
nfrom page 13
Summerland. “We have to be able to find
a way to get new varieties on to the market faster – right now, it’s 20 years,” he says. “We have to be thinking about the next generation of consumers.” Pests such as apple maggot and Brown Marmorated Stink Bug are key worries for Steele. “We have to keep apple maggot out of the Okanagan. It is widespread across North America but it’s not here yet,” he says. “I am afraid that some of these high-powered bugs have no predators. We used to get them every five to 10 years and now it’s every three to five.”
While growers are famously – or infamously – independently minded, Steele says it’s important to continue working as one.
“Sometimes it seems like
we are herding cats,” Steele says. “It’s important for us to make sure we are taking on the rest of the world in competition and not each other.”
The same holds true for other sectors of agriculture. “We need to make sure we
See you at the PACIFIC AGRICULTURE SHOW! TRACTORS
NH TC30 2004, 3070 HRS, 4WD, NEW AG TIRES, NH 7308 LDR & BUCKET W/MANURE TINES [U31582] ................................... 13,500 MF 1660 2011, 2000 HRS, 4WD, 45 PTO HP, CAB, 12X12 TRANS W/POWER SHUTTLE, LDR C/W SKID STEER QUICK ATTACH, 72” BKT W/BOLT ON EDGE, VERY GOOD CONDITION [U31572] ............ 33,900 JD 1840 1981, 2WD C/W ROPS & SUNSHADE, 60 HP, 8 SP TRANS, GOOD CONDITION [CNS669]............................... SOLD! JD 240 SKID STEER 2004, 4700 HRS, HAND & FOOT CONTROLS (U30663) ......................................11,900 JD 318D SKID STEER 2010, 2700 HRS, HAND & FOOT CONTROLS (U31664) ..................................... 16,900 NH 54D 4WD, CAB, LDR, 40 HRS, LIKE NEW, SOME WARRANTY (U31396) ............................................... 49,500 NH TZ25DA 2006, 780 HRS, 4WD, 54” LAWN MOWER (U31683) 9,500 NH BOOMER 2035 2008, 370 HRS, 4WD, LOADER (U31684) . 20,575 NH T6.165 2014, 7600 HRS, 20.8X38 REAR TIRES (U31662) 64,900 NH BOOMER 20 W/LDR, 60” MID MT MOWER, 200 HRS (U31247) . 18,200 QUALITY USED EQUIPMENT
KVERNELAND 7515 ROUND BALE WRAPPER, SELF LDG, 30” ROLLS [CNS670] .............................................................. 6,500 JD 7600 CORN PLANTER, 4 ROW CORN PLANTER [CNS673] .... 4,500 NH 1432 DISC MOWER, GOOD CONDITION [U31463] ............. 15,900 JD700 TWIN RAKE [CNS661] ................................................. 4,900 BR 740A ROUND BALER W/ROTARY CUTTER [CNS663] .......... 14,900 NH 1412 DISC MOWER [U31336].......................................... 16,900 NH FP240; GOOD CONDITION, 2005, TANDEM AXLE; HI DUMP HOSES; SPOUT EXTENSION; 29P GRASSHEAD (U31570) .................... 29,000 NH FP240 EXC. COND. 2011; KERNEL PROC; 29P GRASSHEAD; 3 ROW CORN HEAD; TANDEM AXLE; HYD. HITCH, USED ONE SEASON [CNS650]............................................... 69,000 BRILLION SS-10 SEEDER VERY GOOD COND; AS NEW; STORED INSIDE (U31507) .................................................... 11,500 LOEWEN HORIZONTAL MIXER (CNS631) .................................. 5,690 FP 230 2001 METALERT NO HEADS - U31374.......................... 6,900 SUPREME 500T MIXER 2 YRS OLD, VERY GOOD CONDITION .... 44,000 JD 3950 FORAGE HARVESTER – U31195 ................................. 4,000
work with other agriculture groups and make sure we keep a vision of agriculture as a whole. How do we collaborate to make ourselves more efficient so we can feed more of a population?” he asks. “My greatest hope for the industry is that we take all of the tools that we have been blessed with in the last 10 or 15 years and continue to use them.”
Are you READY
forWINTER
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • JANUARY 2018 BCFGA adopts new bylaws
KELOWNA –BC’s new Societies Act has given the BC Fruit Growers Association (BCFGA) the impetus it needed to revamp its bylaws. “We called a special general meeting in November to rewrite some of our bylaws to conform to the new Societies Act,” explains BCFGA president Fred Steele. “And we brought forward a couple of other motions.”
BCFGA had long wanted to limit the terms for its executive to two years, something that will take place over the course of 2018.
The president and half
the executive – now styled the board of directors – will be elected for two years while the vice-president and remainder of the board will be elected for one year and then they will alternate on two-year terms. “The president was going to be a two-year commitment in 2018 and I wasn’t going there,” says Steele, who opted instead to retire. The two declared candidates for president at press time were Pinder Dhaliwal, the current vice- president, and long-time Steele rival Jeet Dukhia. A second change affects
the representation of a member farm, and who can cast a vote on their behalf. The move aims to draw
younger people into the association, something Steele says has been a challenge. “How do we get younger people to be involved when dad or uncle are still the owner of the farm?” he says. “We passed a motion saying that an owner can inform the association in writing by the first of April to say a close family member is going to represent the farm and vote for a year. Grandpa can come to the meetings; he just can’t vote.” Steele expects this will
allow the next generation of growers to become more engaged with the association. “What I think that does is
it allows younger people to not only be involved with the farm more but to actually be involved in the decision-making process,” Steele says.
BCFGA also upped the minimum sales requirement for full membership from $2,000 a year to $15,000 a year. “Forty years ago, $2,000 was a lot of money but now it doesn’t represent the business character of the industry,” Steele says. Just one grower would
have been caught out by the change and BCFGA unanimously voted to grandfather the farm to avoid excluding the long- time producer.
—Tom Walker
for WINTER feeding?
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
R ROLLINS “Serving British Columbia proudly since 1946”
Machinery Limited
AG CENTRE: Chilliwack 44724 Yale Road West Chilliwack, BC V2R 4H3 604-792-1301
HEAD OFFICE: Langley 21869 - 56th Avenue Langley, BC V2Y 2M9 Toll Free 1-800-665-9060
Toll Free 1-800-242-9737
www.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 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
