1. Municipal update: Niagara Development Charges

Good news! The 2022 Niagara DC By-Law was finalized at the end of July, and we are pleased to confirm that the exemption for agricultural buildings from development charges was maintained, and the exemption for on-farm accommodations was re-instated. These changes will ensure farm owners in the Region will be able to expand their operations and improve their worker housing without the additional burden of development charges. Landscape Ontario worked closely with other farm associations, a team of farm owners, consultants, and municipal contacts to achieve these successful outcomes.

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2. Box Tree Moth traps

The first BTM flight season has slowed down and hopefully all the traps are now re-stocked with new lures and tapes in advance of the second flight. Watch for email updates for the next flight season — and if you get a positive find in a trap please contact us right away. See the BMPs for traps and lure information, along with recommended guidance if you have a positive BTM find on your farm.

If you are getting low catch counts in the traps but seeing larvae in your crops: ensure your traps are WITHIN the crop or immediately peripheral…not a great distance away from boxwood plants. Adult males will mate with females in close proximity rather than travel to a trap! Ensure your 3mo lures have been stored at room temperature or in the refrigerator. One-month septa lures may be frozen or refrigerated until next season.

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3. Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) - PEST ALERT

So far, we haven’t heard of any SLF finds in Ontario. However, there was a recent find in Michigan, and nursery stock moving from the northeastern states into Canada is definitely a high risk pathway. We ask that you keep watching for adults in the nursery over the next months as we still anticipate this pest will arrive on plants or trucks from infested areas.

Contact Jeanine or Jamie (and your local CFIA office!!) if you suspect you have SLF on farm. Excellent images and resources are found on APHIS’s SLF website, as well as the University of Massachusetts Amherst site.
 

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4. CNLA Update
Provided by Jamie Aalbers, Growers Sector Specialist

Box Tree Moth:

• CFIA has posted the Risk Management Decision document for Box Tree Moth.
• The recommended option is Federal regulation of the pest, creation of a regulated area for all of Ontario to slow the spread of box tree moth and protect non-infested areas.
• This was also the recommendation from the CNLA BTM Task Force, this indicates CFIA is serious about slowing the spread of BTM which will help in negotiations with the U.S. to restore trade.
• Comments to the RMD will be accepted until Sept. 3 and CNLA will be preparing a response on behalf of the Canadian sector.

AmericanHort/CNLA meeting in Ohio:

• Five growers from Canada met with three large boxwood growers from the U.S. along with CNLA and AmericanHort staff to discuss strategies to work together as an industry to slow the spread of BTM without resorting to prohibitions in trade.
• CNLA asked that AmericanHort advocate for us with USDA-APHIS.
• Of our two requests: to ask AmericanHort to advocate for CNLA members with USDA APHIS to remove ilex and euonymus from the Federal Order, and to open up the border to B.C. grown product; all three U.S. growers were supportive. They recognized the existing Federal Order is too strict and penalizes the industry and asked AmericanHort staff if they could discuss this with USDA-APHIS.

Nursery tour in Netherlands:

• In conjunction with the AIPH fall meetings in Almere, CNLA members have been invited to participate in a tour of ornamental farms in the area along with growers from Italy and other countries. Although the details are still being developed, if you are interested in participating, please send email jamie@canadanursery.com so I can gauge the level of interest. Planned travel dates are around Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, 2022, so act quickly if you want to participate.
• Cost share for the tour is available through AgriMarketing.

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5. COVID webinar hosted by OMAFRA, August 16 from Noon-1 p.m.

Updates will be provided on:

• Infection, Prevention and Control Measures
• Registry of Employers of International Agri-Food Workers
• HEPA Program
• Provincial Antigen Screening Program

Please visit omafra.gov.on.ca/webinars to register for this session. Zoom details would be sent after registration.

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6. Update on the new On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF)

Intake window now open! New applications are now being accepted for the On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF), providing cost-share funding for Ontario Farmers to implement new practices under in-field nitrogen management, cover cropping, and rotational grazing systems. You can find all of the information, including the new program guide, at Ontario On Farm Climate Action Fund (OSCIA).

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7. Protected Agriculture – Water Stewardship

A reminder for farms with greenhouse structures: registration for the certification program is now open and can be accessed through the following link: https://awsa.ca/protected-agriculture-stewardship-standards/register/. If you apply pest control products labelled for greenhouse-use this notice applies and you should register through the website to either:
 

1. Receive an information package and be assigned an auditor if your facility is closed-loop; or
2. Declare that their operation is not closed-loop to receive self-declaration waiver information.

More information can be found by contacting jwest@landscapeontario.com.

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