Apple growers want provincial help to replace trees Wednesday, April 20, 2011 by SUSAN MANNOntario apple farmers need an orchard replanting program to help them transition to varieties consumers demand and switch to high-density tree plantings.Brian Gilroy, chair of Ontario Apple Growers, says the organization has been ramping up its efforts to lobby the provincial government to get a seven-year program for “a while now and we’re trying to put some fine detail to it. But we don’t have any OMAFRA people working with us yet to design a program.”The Apple Growers’ current focus is on getting a funding commitment from the government, he says, noting it’s a good time to ask since a provincial election is being held this fall.So far Apple Growers representatives have met with both Agriculture Minister Carol Mitchell and deputy minister John Burke, Gilroy says. Now the organization is looking at next steps.The Ontario industry has shrunk to 11,500 acres of apple trees province-wide from 28,000 acres in 1994. Gilroy says without a “shot in the arm” like a replanting program the industry will continue to dwindle.A report for the apple, tender fruit and fresh grape industry released last spring notes that fruit consumption in the province is increasing but Ontario producers’ market share is declining.Gilroy says they are proposing a program to replant 25 per cent of Ontario’s acreage. “We’re asking for $10,000 an acre and the grower will put in at least $10,000 an acre.”In 2009 the federal and provincial governments introduced a three-year, $22.3 million program to help tree fruit and grape growers cover some of the costs to remove unwanted or unproductive trees and vines and transition into alternative varieties or crops. Ontario is the only province that hasn’t had an apple orchard replant program, Gilroy says. BF Food Policy launched Precedent setting hearing vindicates farmers
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BASF introduces Surtain herbicide for field corn growers Tuesday, September 17, 2024 Field corn growers in eastern Canada have a new crop protection product available to them. After about 10 years of research and trials, BASF has introduced Surtain, a residual herbicide for corn that combines PPO inhibitor saflufenacil (Group 14) and pyroxasulfone (Group 15) in a premix... Read this article online
We Didn’t Start the Fire! Impacts of Wildfire Smoke on Corn Monday, September 16, 2024 Assistant Professor of Corn Production at Purdue University’s College of Agriculture, Daniel Quinn, PhD. recently provided fascinating insights into the impacts of fire on major corn producing areas, many of which have been impacted by smoke from wildfires. Quinn was the keynote... Read this article online
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