Welcome to “the Cherry Pit”with news and views at the
heart of the BC Cherry industry.
As well as information about employment opportunities in our sunny BC
cherry orchards, this site now includes current and past OKCGA newsletters,
updates on current projects, events (see What's Up below), and issues, and a members’area
providing access to full research reports from completed projects and
reports. Membership is open. Join us! Click here for Membership Form.
LOOKING FOR WORK? Go to WORK IN OUR ORCHARDS to find a complete listing of the best orchards to work in. For foreign applicants requiring work visas, please be aware that Working Holiday visas are available from some countries.
Recent News
CLEAN-UP SPRAYS and POST HARVEST CONTROL REQUIRED! Click on Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) Monitoring Report for the Southern Interior of British Columbia August 25 th 2010 updated monitoring reort. And here for updated Spotted Wing Drosophila Monitoring and Management Recommendations for Commercial Tree Fruit and Grapes in the Interior of British Columbia from Dr. Acheampong.
Please click on the attached publication "Surveillance and Management of Spotted Wing Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) in the Interior of British Columbia" for more information. For links to current updates and further information please go to
BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands: http://www.al.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/swd.htm and Oregon State University: http://swd.hort.oregonstate.edu/
SWD posters to raise awareness and help control SWD spread are available for your farm, employee accommodation, fruit stands, neighbours, and local produce stores. They can be downloaded here to print. Poster 1 Poster 2
The June 2010 OKCGA Newsletter is now available and has been emailed to members.
A Cherry Picker Training Guide is now available on the web. This is a four page pamphlet you can view online or print out (double sided) to make your own pamphlets for cherry picking. Versions will be added in French, Punjabi, and Spanish. This is part of an ongoing project to delelop a manual for good cherry harvest and packing practices.
The 2010 MRL list is available here, downloadable in an Excel spreadsheet.
Thank you to Hugh Philip for his work to update this and the BCFGA for sharing the cost of this annual update with the OKCGA.
For a full and very interesting report, click on the 2009 International Cherry Symposium and Chilean tour report which is now uploaded on this site. Thanks to Nicole Verpaelst for the great work in putting this together and including a lot of interesting observations and photos!
2009 research reports are now available in the Members Area.
The presentations from the OKCGA February 9th annual research meeting are now available in pdf format: 2010 AGM Presentations
BE PATIENT WHEN OPENING, SOME OF THESE FILES ARE BIG AND TAKE TIME TO LOAD.
2010 Membership Renewals and contribution of 2009 Crop Levies are now overdue and required for orchard listings on our website. If you have not recieved it by mail, please print out the current membership form and mail it in to us as soon as possible. And remember, the rebate of 40% of it through SR&D Tax Credits means a penny a pound for research really only cost you 0.6 of a penny! To meet and beat the growing competition in our cherry industry, research is as important as ever! Please support this essential part of our industry. Cherries are our business!
BCAC has added an open forum for producers to connect and speak their mind on current issues, connect with other producers, seek solutions, start new discussions, or even post ads. The forum is part of the BCAC website www.bcac.bc.ca
What’s Up...
About OKCGA