BCBusiness

November 2019 – Street Fighting Man

With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.

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NOVEMBER 2019 BCBUSINESS 17 ( the informer ) ON THE RADAR MONEY TREE B.C. hobby farmers love hazelnuts for good reason. Hazelnut trees grow in less than ideal soil, and once established, they're considered nearly drought-resistant, requiring little water or fertilizer. Their deep root systems also help prevent soil erosion and capture more carbon than those of other perennial crops MARK GIBBON F or Peter Andres, torching what remained of his ravaged hazelnut trees was a last resort. Andres had been a prominent farmer in the B.C. hazelnut industry for more than two decades, but in 2011 a windblown spore called east ern filbert blight ( EFB) struck his Agassiz orchard. At first, he chopped down infected trees. Within four years, the disease had become so pervasive that he burned the few survivors. "It was 2008 when the first orchard in Chilliwack got hit, and I knew my farm was on the map for the next spread," re calls Andres, former president of the BC Hazelnut Growers Association ( BCHGA). "We spent $50,000 or more trying to cut down some of the [affected] trees on some of the farms, and we had some success slowing down the spread, but ulti mately you can't stop it." From 2006 through 2010, the B.C. hazelnut industry spanned 1,200 acres and produced more than a million pounds a year on average, according to the BCHGA. Easy togrow hazelnut trees were a favourite plant for hobby farm ers, most of them in the Fraser Valley. But by 2015, EFB had wiped out the industry. Now, thanks to the deter mination of farmers like An dres and some political will, B.C. hazelnuts are coming back. The 2018 harvest yielded 40,000 pounds, a number expected to grow exponen Cracking Success As B.C.'s hazelnut industry bounces back from a devastating blight, patient farmers could reap rewards from international buyers by Abby Wiseman A G R IC U LT U R E GOING NUTS Peter Andres had to destroy and replant his hazelnut orchard In the 2018-19 season, Turkey accounted for of global hazel- nut production in a US$2.9-billion market that yielded some 458,875 tonnes 63% SOURCES: ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION, INTERNATIONAL NUT AND DRIED FRUIT COUNCIL, FERRERO, REUTERS, NEW YORK TIMES 25% of world's hazelnuts Italy-based Ferrero, whose products include Nutella spread and Ferrero Rocher and Kinder Surprise chocolates, buys Turkey's volatile prices and shrinking crop have left Ferrero and other multination- als such as Mondelez Inter- national and Nestle seeking new pastures. Some Turkish hazelnut growers also stand accused of exploiting migrant workers including children ¯

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