FEBRUARY 2020 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC
Novel cherry trellising system
saves money Labour shortage sparks innovative growing techniques
by TOM WALKER
CRESTON – When you drive into Don and Susan Low’s Creston cherry orchard, you notice a block of trees that are smaller than others with the branches reaching up from a stump-like base. “KGB-style,” explains Don using the acronym for the former Soviet secret police. Later, during a visit to a neighbour’s cherry blocks, we discuss the UFO plantings that have just gone in, but they are not from outer space. These two systems are examples of how Creston- area cherry growers are working to improve orchard architecture and
management to enhance production. KGB stands for Kym Green Bush, a training method developed in Australia. The Sentennial trees, developed in Summerland, replaced a block of Lapins. Grafted on semi-dwarfing
rootstock, the trees are pruned to be smaller. This makes it easier for the fruit to be picked. Low expects his harvest window to run just six days rather than two weeks. “This block can be picked without a ladder and we should be able to do 20,000 lbs a day,” says Low, noting that older plantings allow just 10,000 lbs a day. “I think that’s important to
be able to attract and keep a picking staff as we are starting to see a shortage of summer labour.” The Upright Fruiting
Offshoot (UFO) training system evolved in Washington. The young cherry whip is initially turned sideways and attached to a cordon, just like a grape vine. The branches are then pruned and trained to grow vertically in a ‘fruit wall’ attached to the trellis wires. Young UFO blocks can also
be picked without ladders, but as the trees grow to full height, growers often invest in a picking platform. Although expensive to install, the system improves light penetration into the canopy, facilitates spray penetration and labour costs are low for the higher production that results. Managing rain damage is the most difficult, not to mention costly, aspect of cherry production. Growers worldwide are turning to canopy systems that keep the crop dry during the last few weeks before harvest when they are vulnerable to splitting. The first Voen rain covers in
the province went into Creston cherry orchards in 2006. A fabric canopy is draped over the trellises in early June to protect the maturing cherries from the
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Don Low stands in a Sentennial cherry block being grown using the KGB method. The variety is grafted on semi-dwarfing rootstock and pruned to be smaller. TOM WALKER PHOTO
rain. While the covers are expensive, Low says they’re more reliable than the seven helicopter flights he
commissioned this summer to dry fruit that wasn’t under cover. “My Voen covers are the
older style that have to be hooked on and it takes about a day for a crew to install an acre and another day to take them down and roll them up for storage,” he says. Low’s neighbour has just
contracted to install a fully retractable system from Voen, which will remain on the trellis year-round and take less time to install. While there’s a private
packinghouse in Creston, Low ships his fruit to Kelowna, which is home to approximately 20 independent packers as well
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as BC Tree Fruits. “We have it custom-packed
for us in Kelowna and others ship to BC Tree Fruits,” says Low. “It’s a hassle we don’t need at harvest time.” With cherry production expanding in Creston, Low expects additional packing capacity in the valley will be built in the future. “It makes sense with the
acreage going in here,” says Low. “But who wants to make that kind of investment?” Water is becoming an issue on the Erikson bench, the orchard area that covers the slope above town. Low has worked with several sprinkler
systems to reduce his water use. He is now conducting a three-year trial with the BC Agriculture Farm Adaptation Innovator Program coordinated by Kootenay Boundary Farm Advisors to evaluate the use of mulches to reduce his water consumption and improve fruit quality. Low has set up rows of hay
and straw mulch, as well as unmulched control rows. He thinks they’re helping but data collected by Catherine Tarasoff of Thompson Rivers University and AgroWest Consulting indicates there’s been no significant difference.
Tree Fruit Competitiveness Fund
The Province of BC has provided funding to enhance the competitiveness of the tree fruit sector.
The fund is open to tree fruit growers, producers, and processors to support three key areas of priority: ● Research: cultivar, disease and pest research. ● Marketing: export market opportunities and market development research.
● Infrastructure: sector-based infrastructure modernization such as new equipment.
The Tree Fruit Competitiveness Fund is jointly delivered by the BC Fruit Growers’ Association and Investment Agriculture Foundation BC.
For details about the Tree Fruit Competitiveness Fund, including eligibility and application forms, please visit
www.bcfga.com or
iafbc.ca/tree-fruit, or contact
funding@iafbc.ca.
Project intake is continous. Apply in advance of project initiation – 8 weeks minimum is recommended.
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