Christmas Tree Council of Nova Scotia and TBA It’S Affiliated, Regional Based Associations
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Summer, 2012 NOVA SCOTIA CHRISTMAS TREE JOURNAL The Voice of the Christmas Tree Industry in Nova Scotia Volume 26 No. 2 Balsam - the Aroma of Christmas ! What’s inside? P 2 President’s report P 3 CTCNS contacts P 4 Haitian visitor P 5 Exec Director. hired P 6 Provincial results P 7 Garlon XRT P 8 LCCTPA field day P 9 Big winner Bill Smith helps out in a mulching crew at Plumdale Orchard earlier this summer. P10 Trees for Troops 2012 annual meeting report P11 Turner report P12 Sandeson report Canadian association presses MPs for dedicated P13 Sweet report Christmas tree day recognition P14 Maine meeting by Matthew Wright P15 NeCTA evening 2012 Canadian delegate and CCTGA treasurer P16 NCTA highlights P17 Mulching crew British Columbia hosted this year’s annual meeting of the Canadian Christmas P18 Canadian Assoc Tree Growers’ Association on August 24 and 25. Main agenda topics included the P20 Buddy Balsam Minor Use of Pesticides Registration process, the new National Christmas Tree P21 Wa-Su-Wek spot Phytosanitary Advisory Committee to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, an P22 Awards update of our constitution and the national promotion of Christmas trees. P23 Grower’s Notebook P24 Advertiser index Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia work together P24 CRC info within the Canadian structure, while Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island retain casual involvement, although many of their members participate within Nova Scotia and New Brunswick associations. Continued on page 18 2 President’s Message - Matthew Priest, CTCNS President 1) Industry Coordinator - Matthew Wright has Hello All, been hired for this job. I am sure he will do a wonderful job. He is quite knowledgeable in this This is my first time area, as he has been doing most of it already. writing as President of the Council. It truly is an honour to represent 2) Executive Director - Angus Bonnyman has such a hardworking and wonderful group of people been hired to fill this position. What a great guy, across this province. who has jumped in with both feet. He is working very hard on behalf of the industry, particularly For those of you who do not know me, I am a at levy compliance. second generation tree farmer. My father, Wayne Priest, started in this business in the 80s and was 3) Journal Editor - Annette Bourgeois-Bent was also a past president of the Council. My wife, chosen from a number of applicants. We were Gena, and I purchased Northern Lights Christmas impressed by her previous work and all that she Tree Farms from my father four years ago and have has accomplished in her life so far. If you are been working alongside many growers over the reading this letter and can understand it, then past few years. I hope to have the opportunity to you know she is doing her job well meet many more in the future. I look forward to working with all of you and I I would like to take this opportunity to thank two am positive you will all do an excellent job! good men. Council has been busy with meetings with the First, Jim Delong. Not only did he work on his Liberal and Conservative caucuses, keeping own farm, spend countless hours working on them informed of our struggles, as well as what behalf of the council but he also fought and won we as tree farmers do for rural Nova Scotia. a battle with cancer. I have learned a lot from Jim Also, I think it is very important to keep our on both a professional and personal level. I have elected officials up to date with our industry and some pretty big shoes to fill with Jim being past keep them aware of how important long-term president. I do know he has already followed up funding is for the Christmas tree industry. We on his promise to guide me when needed and for have also started a dialogue with them about our that I thank you, Jim. secondary roads Second is Matthew Wright. Where did he find the What a great summer it has been. To all the time to do everything? Matt, you truly do have a areas that I have been, the tree growth has been passion for the Christmas tree industry and I thank excellent and the trees are looking great. I thank you for all that you have done and continue to do. everyone at Council for their support and I look forward to doing whatever I can to improve this We have recently filled three positions on the industry. Until next time, I wish you all a pro- Council: ductive harvest. MP 3 Editor’s Notes - Annette Bourgeois-Bent and I look forward to meeting many of the people I can’t say I’ve settled in completely, but I’m well on whose words and photos appear within the pages of my way, especially after having put to bed my first, of the Journal from time to time. hopefully many, Journals. I’m excited by the prospect of potential for the Jour- It has been a warm welcome for me and I want to ep- nal and I welcome and encourage letters to the editor, ecially thank the Council for putting their trust in my comments and submissions. I hope you recognize a ability to produce a top-quality publication to reflect change in your publication in the coming months and the industry and deliver the information you, our read- are moved to write a note or pick up the phone. I look ers, want. forward to all comments, criticisms and suggestions. Until next time. It would have been significantly more difficult to put together this issue of the Journal had not Matt Wright been as responsive as he has been to my many ques- CHRISTMAS TREE COUNCIL OF tions and requests. His contributions of insightful arti- NOVA SCOTIA cles are brimming with information from several meet- ings and workshops he attended in recent weeks. PO Box 148, New Germany, NS, B0R 1E0 Tel: (902) 644-2271; Fax: (902) 644-2715 I also want to say thank you for the many well wishes Executive Officers President: Matt Priest (902) 641-2142 NOVA SCOTIA 1st Vice-P: Duncan MacDonald (902) 863-1208 2nd Vice: Forrest Higgins (902) 384-2833 CHRISTMAS TREE JOURNAL Treasurer: Scott MacKinnon (902) 863-1407 Past President: Jim DeLong (902) 644-2718 Editor Annette Bourgeois-Bent Assistant Danielle Wile Association Delegates Lunenburg County Christmas Tree Producers’ PO Box 148, New Germany, NS, B0R 1E0 Association Tel: (902) 644-2271; Fax: (902) 644-2715 George Lake (902) 543-5374 [email protected] or [email protected] Jack Wentzell (902) 644-2375 Bruce Turner (902) 689-2725 The Nova Scotia Christmas Tree Journal is published quar- Northeastern Christmas Tree Association terly (February, May, August and October) by the Christmas Dave Sweet (902) 522-2924 Tree Council of Nova Scotia. The Journal is a benefit of Kevin Chisholm (902) 386-2782 membership for all the various Nova Scotia Christmas Tree Cobequid Christmas Tree Producers’ Association Association members. However, you may subscribe directly: Bill Smith (902) 895-0698 Exporter Delegates Non-Member Subscriptions Large Exporters: Norm MacIsaac (902) 783-2758 $ 25.00 Canadian (within Canada) Dwight Sanders (902) 689-2262 $ 30.00 U.S. (United States or International) Medium Exporters: Forrest Higgins (902) 384-2833 Bill Rundle (902) 396-4537 Editorial Policy Myles MacPherson (902) 533-2695 This Journal attempts to reflect the opinions and Small Exporters: Wayne Higgins (902) 568-2550 positions of the Christmas Tree Council of Nova Scotia and TBA it’s affiliated, regional based Associations. However, in pre- Office senting articles, not all opinions expressed in this publication Executive Director: Matthew Wright (902) 644-2271 will necessarily be the views or positions of the Council or Administrator: Danielle Wile (902) 644-2271 Associations. [email protected] [email protected] Publication Mail Agreement No. 41043025 Find us on the WEB at: http://www.ctcns.com 4 Northeastern meeting guest speaker Rachel Kennedy of SMART spoke at the Northeastern Christ- mas Tree Associa- tion’s annual meeting Sept. 11. More info- mation and photos on page 15. DID YOU KNOW? Recent outbreaks of water mold fungi, like the ring canker disease and phytophthora root rot, would largely subside if we can get back to winters with deep frosts, as the cold can kill certain soil based spore stages of these diseases. Haitian visitor tours Nova Scotian farms Chris Dickie(left) tours Legrand Charles, Senior Agronomist with FIDA-pch, the Foundation for Inter- national Development Assistance-productive coop- eratives Haiti, around Nova Scotia. Mr Charles was visiting on a three-week study tour looking at scale appropriate agriculture and forestry as part of a project that Forests Without Borders has been developping in Haiti over the last year-and-a-half. 5 Bonnyman joins Council as executive director 2 0 1 2 by Angus Bonnyman Dear growers, I would like to introduce myself as your new executive director for the CTCNS, taking over just a piece of what Matt Wright has been doing recently, so that he has more time to focus on his role as industry coordinator. Although I come from a family that has been involved in forestry and wild blueberries, we’ve never grown Christmas trees, so I am looking forward to learning more about the industry from each of you whenever we have a chance to talk. You may ask what I bring to the role, if I don’t know much about growing trees.