DECEMBER 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


15


Japanese beetle control an industry priority Landscape and nursery industry anticipate a bright and stable future


by PETER MITHAM LANGLEY – BC’s landscape and nursery sector is


moving ahead at full steam despite challenges from the Japanese beetle and a persistent labour shortage.


The past year was a good one that saw the sector “firing on all cylinders,” says BC Landscape and Nursery Association chair Michael Mills, who addressed the association’s annual general meeting in Langley on November 7. “We didn’t have any major disasters,” he said. One potential disaster has been an outbreak of Japanese beetle, originally identified at parks around False Creek in downtown Vancouver in 2017. Trapping and pesticide applications in 2018 helped control the pest, which could cause more than $25 million worth of damage to the BC agriculture sector if it spreads to growing areas. This hasn’t happened, however. In fact, monitoring by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency this past summer caught significantly fewer insects than in 2018. “There was an 85% reduction in the collection of the beetles over the previous year as a result of the spraying program,” Mills told the 27 association members present at the meeting. “We were pleased,” he says. “This was a very difficult thing to face. Had this beetle been allowed to run free, we would have all been in trouble.” The success of the fight against the beetle hinged on an unprecedented effort by all levels of government together with industry to not only agree to what had to be done but actually doing it. “This is unprecedented. It never happens,” says


Mills. “The uniqueness of this was the ability of all these various levels of government and industry to actually come together, sit down at a table, agree to something and act upon it. … I think the people that have been working on this on behalf of our industry really need to be congratulated.” And, indeed, they were, with the Japanese beetle eradication program receiving an award from BC Premier John Horgan at the end of October for excellence and innovation in public service.


Good finances


With a total of 373 members, BCLNA continued to establish a firm financial footing five years after its financial sheet came back to the black. This year it began administering the International Plant Propagators’ Society, which will deliver extra revenue that supports its operations while strengthening ties with an affiliated organization. “It’s in excellent shape,” treasurer Garfield


Marshall told members of the association’s financial position. “It’s stable.” While civic zoning regulations forced the association to vacate its former offices in Surrey, it successfully leased new space in Langley, which gives it secure premises for 10 years with an option to renew for another five. While the rent is twice that of its former


premises, it’s a function of the Lower Mainland’s costly real estate market rather than any administrative extravagance. “We wanted to make sure … everything we did was sustainable,” chief operating officer Hedy Dyck says of overall operations. “What we’re trying to do is be as resilient as we can.” The association’s strategic plan will be revisited in 2020, part of the regular review of the document. The most dogged problem facing the landscape


An unprecedented effort by all levels of government and the landscape and nursery industry has been able to control the spread of Japanese beetles this year. FILE PHOTO


But there’s no resting on their laurels for the


beetle-fighters, says Mills. “This thing is not over; we’ve got to keep working


at this,” he says, noting that the partnership with government will be in place for three more years, and longer, if necessary. Nursery and landscape personnel need to remain


vigilant and respect the protocols put in place, including not removing material from the regulated area of Vancouver established by the CFIA.


sector remains labour. A recent report on the BC agricultural labour market by the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council identified the landscape and nursery sector together with greenhouses as the sector set for the biggest shift in hiring requirements over the next decade, requiring an additional 1,100 people over the next decade. The shortfall in domestic workers will total 5,100 by 2029, according to the report, up from 4,000 in 2017. “We need to get to the bottom of our inability to


hire top-quality people,” says Mills. A final report, the culmination of a three-year


research project on labour issues, was due towards the end of November. It will set the stage for implementation in 2020 of practical solutions as part of a sustainable long-term labour market development strategy.


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