July 2016 newsletter - BC Grape Growers` Association

July 2016
In this issue…
Pg 1 – Report Stink Bugs!
Pg 2 – Irrigation Workshop
Pg 2 – Starling Control Program
Pg 3 – Starling Awareness
Public Outreach
Pg 4– Workplace Safety
Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs in Penticton
Four adult brown marmorated stink bugs (BMSB) were collected by AAFC, Ottawa on
chokecherries along the Penticton Canal, off Green mountain road on May 29, 2016.
Although this pest is not regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, two adults
were submitted to CFIA for confirmation.
The BC Ministry of Agriculture followed-up on June 3 and June 9 and have searched the
area and hosts along the Penticton canal and up Green mountain road for BMSB. They
did not find any adults or other life stages. BMSB traps were set-up and search for adults
and other life stages will continue throughout the summer and fall. The location is close to
an industrial area. There are no orchards or vineyards nearby.
CONTACT US!
PO Box 42, Grand Forks, BC, V0H 1H0
Toll Free: 1-877-762-4652
Fax: (250) 767-0094
E-mail: bcga@grapegrowers.bc.ca
Website: www.grapegrowers.bc.ca
Brown marmorated stink bug is a serious pest that feeds on more than 80 different plant
species including tree fruits, berries, grapes, vegetables, corn and ornamental plants. It
can be a contamination issue in grapes. These stink bugs also like to stay warm in
people's homes over the winter.
BMSB postcards will be distributed in garden centres in Penticton and other garden
centres in the Okanagan for public outreach. BC Ministry of Agriculture will continue
monitoring BMSB in the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys. Please send pictures or
samples of suspect stinkbugs to Susanna Acheampong (BC Agriculture Entimologist)
Email: Susanna.Acheampong@gov.bc.ca
Telephone: (250) 861-7681
Address: 200 – 1690 Powick Road, Kelowna, BC, V1X 7G6
Irrigation Workshop
A very successful irrigation workshop was held at Tightrope Winery on June 13. Participants had
lots of questions for Dr. Pat Bowen from the Summerland Research & Development Centre and
Graham O’Rourke. Graham explained why it was important to irrigate and how technology can not
only help you control the amount of water used but ensure you do it right. Dr. Bowen stressed the
importance that irrigation practices are unique to each site, that what works for one grower may
not necessarily work in your vineyard. She encouraged growers to test practices in small areas to
better understand and learn what works best for them. People were interested in learning from
German Barahonas about the latest technologies Nulton Irrigation had to offer.
Irrigation is only one piece of the puzzle when growing grapes for wine. Everything we do in our
vineyards is connected. Technology and other tools are there to help us connect the dots
especially when we have months like this one with healthy amounts of rain.
Why should you donate to the
Starling Control Program?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Do you wonder why you should donate to the Starling Control
Program? Just remember back to 2003 and why the Starling
Control was initiated. If you were not here at that time, then ask
growers who were around back then, what their losses were, and
how much they spent on bird control!
Here are a few more reasons to participate.
Our small group of trappers have demonstrated that they can be formidable. They captured 72,329 in 2015
alone. Now that the nesting season is completed, our mighty little force is eager to surpass this number this
year.
The Starling Aware Program is also busy promoting the program to the public.
Our research student is diligently working at increasing the database by identifying from where the
“immigrant” starlings are coming. The opportunity to identify the source populations of starlings through this
research is an important step in the overall control of the populations.
Some wineries have calculated how much they would lose in wine sales due to starling damages and figure
the program is a bargain and makes business sense.
Any amount will help ensure the trapping continues, the research is completed, and the public becomes more
aware and supportive. You can donate online at www.grapegrowers.bc.ca or send your cheque to BCGA, PO Box
42 Grand Forks, BC V0H 1H0.
You can help control the invasion of starlings in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys
Yes, I would like to donate!
DONATION AMOUNT: (suggested
donation of $10 per planted acre)
NAME:
# OF ACRES:
COMPANY:
PHONE:
ADDRESS:
E-MAIL:
Donation Method
CHEQUE
(made out to BC Grapegrowers’ Association )
Post Office Box 42, Grand Forks, BC, V0H 1H0
ONLINE at www.grapegrowers.bc.ca
via the PayPal/Credit Card feature
SEND ME AN INVOICE
Busy Time for Starling Awareness Program’s Public Outreach
Oyama Fun Day was great again this year. There were more booths and it was well attended. We had a lot of
interest in the starling program and we spoke to well over 60 people. Many took handouts.
We attended the new raptor show at Allan Brooks Nature Centre. We got to see a kestrel, red tail hawk, peregrine
falcon, turkey vulture, and a non-native owl (from South Africa) close-up and in action. They gave hunting demos
with the falcon. We provided the bird handlers with about 60 frozen starlings, and they said that starlings are one of
the best feeds for their raptors. We will continue to provide starlings for the raptor program.
We will be promoting the Starling Control Program at the Interior Provincial Exhibition (IPE) in Armstrong later this
summer and our next partnership with the Allan Brooks Nature Centre will be the Rivers Day at Polson Park on
th
September 25 .
Enology & Viticulture
Conference and
Tradeshow
Don’t miss the upcoming Enology and Viticulture
Conference and Tradeshow at the Penticton
Convention Centre July 18-19. There are several
H&S topics to make safety part of your business.
For more information and to register visit
www.bcwgc.org.
MAKE SAFETY PART OF
YOUR BUSINESS
Making safety part of your culture, part of the way
you do business is what makes safety valuable.
There is no value in a “big old binder”, crammed
full of papers and stacked up on a shelf gathering
dust with all that great safety information firmly
tucked “safely” inside of it. Making safety part of
your business makes safety realistic, viable, and
doable. It is not that safety is not important to each
and every one of us. At the end of the day, we all
want to be safe and come home to our families.
So, how do we make the regulated safety
requirements in the workplace something that can
compliment and become a valuable part of what
we do?
Safety should not just be a whole
When you have to do something, when you have to take on yet
another task, add another “ya gotta” it is tough to get it done. But
other thing to do but part of the
sometimes life simply demands that we get them done. In some
things that you do
situations, we are bound by a dictated need or a legislated demand
no matter what we think. Some aspects of a H&S program will be like
that! Interestingly enough the “unlikeable” or “useless” often varies from person to person. You may identify an
activity or process as very valuable and someone else may think this is useless and a waste of time.
Safety business
is serious
business
We simply need to understand that we live in a province with a regulated industry and
compliance is not an option. We need to be alert to this and understand the consequences
when we fail to comply and something awful happens. A small winery operator in the
Kootenays was seriously injured when he was pulled into a small bladder press because the
trip wire was wired incorrectly. This stuff won’t go away, so the parts we have to do, we have
to just do!
There are many parts of H&S that are good business and easy to include in the way you do that business. For
example, good confined space practices, CO2 monitors, guard rails in upper areas may prevent unforeseen
accidents. In the vineyard, proper tractor and ATV training, seat belts and helmets could save a life. Ladders and
hoses are things we often take for granted and are often left where someone could get seriously hurt. What about
how pesticides are stored and used? How do you prevent injuries and be able to prove that you have done due
diligence?
We need to re- tweak our impression about safety and think of it as a valid, even profitable part of doing business.
When WorkSafe inspectors go to a site, what are they looking for – simply three things.


What is the problem?
What have you done about it?

How can you prove it?
Well we are actually pretty good at A & B, it is C we struggle with, so how do we handle C and thus comply with the
regulations and the ABC outlined. Here is an easy way of documenting it.
What is the Problem?
Hazard
Rating
Action Taken to Resolve
Completed By
Date Completed
Comment
Tractor training required for Billy
Anderson – certificate expires on
06 June 2016
Medium
Registered Billy for tractor training
course on 25 May 2016 hosted by BCGA
Billy Anderson
25 May 2016
Certificate renewed
CO2 monitor is not functioning
High
Monitor was replaced and verified again
Joe Smith and
Carl Benson
Repaired 06 Jan 2016
10:30 am Joe
Verified – 11 am Carl
We have things that we need to do and must do. No way around them! So when we can make sense of them, when the
task is enhanced by the process and the operation runs better because of it, everybody wins. You never know, you may
just develop a culture of safety with habits of compliance that actually work and get things done without thinking. Then
they soon become part of the way you do business.
This article was adapted from R.C. Steward’s article in the AgSafe Newsletter