SEPTEMBER 2018 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC
17
Automation good investment for nursery Production, packing line and water management benefit from expansion plans
by PETER MITHAM CHILLIWACK – Qualitree
Propagators Inc. has worked hard to carve a niche for itself over the past 24 years, producing plants that fit into pots no larger than a gallon for wholesalers and other growers. Qualitree’s goal, says co-founder Tony Van Oort, is to be top of mind when buyers think of a particular crop, be it one of the many juniper, lavender or thuja species it grows. “We do our specialties and we try to do them better than anyone else,” he says. “The crops that we do, when [you] mention the name of that crop, we want to be the first that comes to mind.” To support the growth of the 100-
acre farm it operates in Rosedale, Qualitree is now applying a focused approach to its operations. With the help of co-owner Henk Rozendaal, who spent 20 years as a production engineer with Silverton Engineering (Pty) Ltd. in South Africa before joining Qualitree in 1999, the nursery is expanding with an emphasis on automation. “We want to become one of the most automated nurseries in North America within 10 years,” Van Oort says as he shows off the first phase of an expansion project that will ultimately add approximately 20 acres to Qualitree’s production and packing capacity within five years.
The first four acres completed this
spring, and an additional 5.5 acres will be built this fall. An automated packing line will be installed in a two- acre area of the plant in time for shipments next spring. “This is the foundation, and we
have a master plan with other buildings that will follow that will allow us to do more of the automation,” he says. The reason is simple: automation
will reduce labour costs in the long run, and labour is the top cost Qualitree and other nurseries across the country face. The need for labour is acute enough that BC’s nursery sector recently completed a study to identify gaps in the labour supply and assess impacts on growers. Qualitree’s response to the labour
market is to automate. “We are trying to reduce our dependence on labour,” says Van Oort, who currently employs 150 workers, both domestic and foreign. “You can hire Canadians for higher-skilled jobs; you can’t hire for the menial, repetitive jobs.”
Production efficiencies Plant production is the cornerstone,
however, and a sophisticated water management system is a glimpse of the innovation to come. Rainwater is collected from the roof
Tony Van Oort hopes automation will boost productivity.. PETER MITHAM PHOTO See WATER on next page o
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