N.S., Canadian crop faces international challenges

BY KIRK STARRATT

Kings County Register

They come from one end of Canada to the other, but it turns out our country's apple producers have a lot in common.

The Canadian Horticultural Council's Apple and Fruit Committee held its annual summer meeting in Greenwich July 31 and Aug. 1. The meeting location moves throughout apple-producing regions.

Committee chairman Steve Levasseur, an apple grower from Quebec, said the annual mid-summer meetings provide a chance for producers to share concerns and see if they can work toward common solutions for common challenges.

He said the first day’s meetings were held with grower's associations, and they reached decisions on a number of specific topics. The second day’s meetings involved other industry stakeholders, including government representatives, marketers and processors.

“We face the same challenges,” he said: market share, ever-increasing volumes of imported apples and regulatory issues.

In terms of production, they want to have access to the same tools as their competitors in other countries, including the United States, the European Union and China.

“They have access to new, environmentally-friendly pest control products,” he said.

Nova Scotia Fruit Growers Association president Andrew Bishop, an apple grower from Greenwich, said our regulatory system sometimes slows Canadian producers’ ability to access innovations, such as environmentally-friendly pest control products. There is room for improvement.

“From a Nova Scotia perspective, we're interested in equal access to markets,” he said.

Nova Scotia is in the midst of a re-planting program with a focus on apple varieties consumers are interested in. Bishop said he would like to see an increased share of Canadian apples in the local market. There are challenges for producers: the price on the world market is less than the Canadian cost of production.

“It's hard to get a return back to producers,” he said.

There seems to be more interest in supporting apple producers in the United States. Their producers are able to establish lower selling prices.

“It's difficult to compete under those conditions,” he said.

The Nova Scotia Fruit Grower's Association held its annual summer orchard tour August 2.

“It's very nice to show our fellow apple producers from across Canada what we do in Nova Scotia,” Bishop said.

Levasseur said he is excited to see apple production in the Valley firsthand. In terms of best practices, you never know when you could see a technique that could be applied across the country.

Despite the challenges, Levasseur and Bishop seemed to share a sense of optimism when evaluating the state of the industry, both here in the Valley and across Canada.

“I'm looking forward to a good crop this year, and I'm optimistic about the future,” Bishop said.

Levasseur said there is an increase over last year in terms of crop volume across the country, and growers are expecting good returns.