Learn how an organic wine producer in Kelowna, B.C., deals with pests and disease, and why he views organic farming as having a strong future for Canadian agriculture.
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LearningTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:02 I look what's important in the future.
00:06 Do we want to deplete our soil so our future generation will
00:10 starve?
00:11 Do we want to keep our soil better than what we got
00:16 so they will flourish?
00:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:26 I have one thing I always tell-- the organic farm do not
00:30 look like a golf course.
00:32 You still can see there are a fair amount of other plants
00:35 growing in windyards.
00:36 And those plants do host some beneficial fungus,
00:40 and they do host some beneficial insects.
00:43 And they will help us to keep the equilibrium in windyard
00:48 or in farm.
00:48 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:52 We call it a culture practice to control insect and disease.
00:56 And the main insect in a windyard is a leafhopper.
01:01 What happens when we are going, hitting 20 degrees or something,
01:06 they start laying their eggs on first four or five leaves
01:11 on the grapevine.
01:13 And when I see the eggs are almost ready to hatch,
01:18 we send people in.
01:20 The windyard, I say, clean that area.
01:23 Just those four or five leaves, pluck them and throw
01:26 on the ground.
01:27 And they are not getting mature anymore.
01:30 The eggs are not fertile anymore.
01:33 We did work with the Summerland Research Center
01:36 to quantify the dead birds.
01:38 We calculate, I think, that 72% of the population
01:41 is controlled by doing that.
01:43 And other benefit of doing that is also
01:46 control fungus and grapes because they
01:48 are exposed to sun.
01:49 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:53 If we don't do it, we don't learn.
01:56 And I don't like to say no to anything
01:59 because I believe when you say no, you fail without trying.
02:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:06 Vine making is 90% done in a windyard.
02:11 I feel like myself, I'm very good at it, growing grapes.
02:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:18 Future is very bright because 27 years ago,
02:22 when I started in industry, you talk about organic people,
02:27 immediately the image is you are a hippie.
02:30 But that image is changing.
02:32 And more mainstream people are going into organic.
02:37 And we have a lot more knowledge available how to do organic.
02:42 And we have people who are looking for organic.
02:46 And new generation is more educated.
02:49 I think the future is very bright.
02:52 And it will go.
02:55 I think in here, if I speak about the wine industry,
02:58 in next five to 10 years, we probably
03:01 have more than 50% people growing organic.
03:05 Because I see that change.
03:06 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:20 (upbeat music)