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NEWS RELEASES - 2006
Apple industry branching out for new opportunities
(Guelph, ON - September 26, 2006) To growers with apple and tender fruit
trees and vines, word that funding is being made available to help with the
development of a business plan to improve the marketability of Ontario-grown
fruits is a fresh glimpse of the future.
The Ontario Apple Growers and Ontario Tender Fruit Producers’ Marketing Board
recently received the good news, that their joint proposal had received partial
funding from the Agricultural Management Institute (AMI). In all, $13,500 of the
project’s $22,500 was awarded to formulate a business plan that would enable
growers to remove less-marketable varieties and replant those that have a better
potential. The proposal was made to both federal and Ontario’s provincial
government, with the funding to pay a consultant to develop the business plan.
Adrian Huisman, manager of both St. Catharine’s, Ontario-based organizations,
notes that while the funding is welcome news, developing the plan has been
something of a challenge. It’s common for individuals wanting to shift
production or enhance their operations to qualify their moves to a lending
institution. But it’s rare for whole sectors to have to justify the removal of
poorly selling varieties in favour of more marketable ones.
In spite of that, Huisman says he understands the government’s need for some
form of proof that such a move is necessary and profitable.
“The government wants a guarantee but I can’t say as I blame them,” says
Huisman, adding this joint federal-provincial project could be used as a
template for other provinces. “If you’re putting taxpayers’ dollars on the line,
they need some assurance that it’s going to be workable, and that the end result
is going to be positive.”
It’s not as though the process is risk free for the growers, either. They will
be responsible for putting up one third of the cost of the replant on their own
farms. Which is why this is considered a serious step for growers.
“They aren’t going to spend that kind of money unless there’s some assurance
there’s going to be a market for what they’re going to plant, especially when
you have to wait three or four years for it to come into production,” says
Huisman.
Tradition no guarantee for success
Apple growers are looking to replace one of the more traditionally popular
varieties in the province –McIntosh –with newer varieties that are gaining a
wider appeal among consumers. Huisman assures people that Macs still will be
grown in Ontario, just not to the same degree as in the past.
“You can sell the Macs, but you can’t sell them at a profit, because it’s a very
popular variety and everybody’s got them,” says Huisman. “There are some new
varieties, and Ambrosia is one of them, Honeycrisp is another, and Royal Gala is
yet another.”
Help from Ottawa and Queen’s Park
This funding initiative is another example of the AMI program’s value to groups
and individuals, especially as renewal and business risk management issues
continue to present opportunities across the agri-food sector.
“In any business, there needs to be a well developed vision, first to assess the
market, and second, to address challenges from competitors,” says Peter Vander
Zaag, chair of the AMI program. “These apple and tender fruit growers have done
the work to look ahead and really gage where their markets are heading, and what
they have to do to be a strong part of those markets.”
The AMI program is administered by the Agricultural Adaptation Council, based in
Guelph, Ontario, and has done considerable funding work under various
initiatives, with a total of $5 million available to address renewal and
business management issues. Benchmarking and best management practices, human
resources development and innovation and market opportunities are some of the
other facets covered by the program.
For more information about AMI or to discuss AMI project ideas please contact
the Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC) at (519) 822-7445 or visit
www.adaptcouncil.org.
The AMI program is funded through the Renewal chapter of the
federal-provincial-territorial Agricultural Policy Framework, an initiative
designed to position Canada’s agri-food sector as a world leader. The AAC
administers the AMI program on behalf of the Government of Canada and the
Province of Ontario.
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For more information contact: Nadine Buitenhuis
Communications Manager
Agricultural Adaptation Council
Phone: (519) 822-7554
Fax: (519) 822-6248
E-mail: nbuitenhuis@adaptcouncil.org
Website: www.adaptcouncil.org
