Innovations
Arctic Apple Slices – Launching into Food Service Markets This Fall
Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc. is now expanding its non-browning Arctic Apple slices into the food service market, thanks to a huge increase in the crop size for 2019-2020. Read more
Cardboard Blueberry Packaging Wins ScanStar Award
BAMA Packaging in Norway has been awarded the ScanStar Prize for innovative packaging that reduces the use of plastics, and also helps reduce CO2 emissions. Read more
Big Award for Tiny Apples Goes to Rockit Global for Marketing
Rockit Global, the company behind miniature Rockit apples marketed in convenient recyclable tube packaging, scooped the Marketing Campaign of the Year Award for its new brand campaign in China. Read more
dreamstime
Task Force to Boost B.C. Agriculture Through Tech, Innovation
The Province of BC has created a Food Security Task Force to find new ways to use technology and innovation to strengthen B.C.'s agriculture sector and grow the economy by helping farmers farm and processors become more productive, now and in the fut Read more
Photo by the Canadian Space Agency
Space: the Final Frontier in Agricultural Research and Development
In June 2019 the CSA launched it's third generation of SAR satellites, the RADARSAT-Constellation, and agriculture is now one of the primary clients and end-users. Read more
UltraViolet Light Benefits Berries and Grapes
Different wavelengths of light are able to reduce or eliminate a variety of agricultural diseases, bacteria and pests pre- and post-harvest. Anubhav Singh, assistant professor in food processing with UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems, believes C Read more
Photo by Tom Walker
Hail Covers On Trial at Vernon Orchard
Summerland company Farm Solutions.net are working with Vernon-based Davison Orchards on a trial installation of hail covers at a Davison property just northwest of Vernon. With the assistance of a $128,000 Canadian Agriculture Partnership (CAP) grant Read more
Orchard & Vine: 60 Years of Innovation
To celebrate our 60th Anniversay Orchard & Vine magazine is reprinting a few of our historical articles and ads that highlight how the industry has changed. Below is a story on the new computer at BC Tree Fruits, the Model 30, which could perform up Read more
Okanagan Crush Pad Moving Toward Minimalist Wines
Okanagan Crush Pad is well known for bringing innovation to the Okanagan wine industry, starting out as the first custom crush facility and contract winery in the province, and later pioneering concrete tanks for wine production. Read more
Automated Irrigation Saves Time, Money & Water
Hortau, an irrigation automation company based in California and Quebec, has developed a new technology that measures plant stress and lets growers know precisely when to water their plants and by how much. Read more
A Kinder, Gentler Way to Sort Pears
Pears are among the most delicious tree fruits on the market, but as any farmer or packer knows, they are a delicate fruit that can be hard to handle. Read more
Waste Not, Want Not, With FoodMesh
An innovative service launched to help eliminate food waste while providing healthy food to the needy is now expanding to three new markets in BC. Read more
Automated Monitoring of Microbial Respiration
The soil science community now has a new instrument available in their carbon toolbox; a sophisticated yet simple way to measure biological carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Solvita IRTH (pronounced “earth”) reports the quantity of CO2 naturally Read more
New Post-Harvest Product Improves Quality
Hazel Technologies Inc., a USDA-funded company developing new shelf-life extension technologies for fresh produce, has launched a new post-harvest technology for fresh cherries that ensures excellent fruit quality, called the Hazel Cherry. Read more
Good Things Come in Great Packaging
Great products deserve equally great packaging, particularly for businesses involved in online sales of quality wine. Read more
Tracking Picker Production, Made Easy
If you’ve ever stood by a bin in an orchard recording buckets from cherry pickers with a clip board and pen as a storm approaches, you’ve probably asked yourself, is there a better way? Well, there is. FieldClock. Read more
Determine the Productivity of your Orchards
Eighty apples per tree at size 88 produces about 80 bins to the acre. A lot of BC growers aim for that magic set of numbers. But how do you know when you hit it? Read more
Labelling Tech Getting Smaller, Faster and Smarter
If you’re a farmer putting out value added products, you know well-designed labelling is critical, but also can be expensive to do right. Read more
Optimized Monitoring of Alcoholic Fermentations
Cellar-Tek in Kelowna is now offering Ctrl-Ferm®, a new patented system for the detection and monitoring of the fermentation process. Read more
Fertilizer Trailer Automates Distribution
Vancouver-based Vintality, a subsidiary of Geotronics Consulting Inc., is working with BC vineyards and fertilizer companies to boost yields and grape quality while lowering the amount of fertilizer needed to grow grapes. Read more