Dr. Mary Ruth McDonald has mentored dozens of students as professor of plant agriculture, University of Guelph. Equally at home in the field, she’s working with Master’s student Alexandra Dacey, documenting carrot weevil found in carrot trials at the Muck Crops Research Station in Bradford, Ontario.

In an age where it is easy for anyone and everyone to influence government through social media, having a single voice, even if representing thousands of fruit and vegetable farmers, is still only a single voice. Gordon Stock points out that government needs to demonstrate that it has heard from all sides.

Katie and Phil Keddy are the winners of the 2020 Atlantic Outstanding Young Farmers competition. Besides growing strawberries at Lakeville, Nova Scotia, they are the largest growers of sweet potatoes east of Ontario.

VQH Farms, a perennial competitor, took first place this year with Great Lakes Brewery for the Imperial (double) IPA’ style of craft beer. The annual competition was hosted at the 2020 Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention.

Congrats to all apple growers in the 2020 Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention cider competition held February 19. Winners were announced for sweet cider, specialty cider and common cider.

The state of Integrated Pest Management keeps evolving with new equipment and techniques for identifying diseases and pests.

Grape grower Bill George Jr. will serve a second one-year term. He and his wife Lesliann grow 160 acres of wine grapes in the Niagara region.

The Timorex biofungicide label has been expanded for control of Botrytis grey mold and powdery mildew on hops, greenhouse vegetables and strawberries in Canada.

Choices for weed control in strawberries have expanded with new label for Ignite SN herbicide.

Oliver cherry grower Pinder Dhaliwal will continue as president of the 400-member strong BC Fruit Growers’ Association.The annual general meeting was held February 11-12 in Kelowna.