By now everyone will have heard that our beloved loonie has lost about 30 cents to its American counterpart. So the story goes — expect to see a four to five per cent increase in your grocery bill this year. This doesn’t add up. Four to five dollars for a head of cauliflower, and almost as much for your broccoli? It is no small wonder our two grocery stores’ owners are the second and third wealthiest folks in Canada. This helps focus our attention on the retail end of produce farming. Did you know in B.C. you are supposed to have a quota for commercial vegetable crops?
In other business news, it appears two home improvement store chains may be set to amalgamate. The lower dollar has essentially put Canadian companies on sale. Bigger companies have more bargaining power with their suppliers. The BNN reporter is standing in front of one of these stores with a giant garden centre sign in the background. In the horticulture industry larger box store chains have introduced “pay by scan”. The wholesale nursery grower gets paid if and when their stock is sold by the store. If the weather is good and the product moves well, all is good. If it gets burnt up in the hot sun or freezes in the cold and wet weather, then the grower could lose his or her farm. It happens. In either case, the retail chain doesn’t have to pay for the stock and it still makes a profit with little or no risk. This is a pretty good business model, as long as they can find new suppliers every couple of years.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch I’m looking forward to some sunshine! Time to feed the seedlings in the greenhouse. Having received the last of the supplies, some 15,000 tags and some growing mix, everything is going according to plan. The plan is based on weeks. I target the sales weeks and work backward, figuring out how long it will take to produce the crops. If a crop takes two weeks to germinate and 12 weeks to grow on, you should end up seeding it 14 weeks before your sale date. Suppose the weather (big laugh here) will be average and folks like to plant just before the May long weekend which is the 20th week of the year. You’ll want to seed it this week. You could plan your veggie garden along these lines if you like. For now, it is pretty good orchard pruning weather.
Evan Davies owns Beltane Nursery at 2915 Highway 3 in Erickson.
