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Snowfall's collateral damage includes collapse of ginseng shade

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The recent unusual snowfall has made a mess for ginseng farmers who installed their shade early.

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The Ontario Ginseng Growers Association reports that heavy snow on April 20 and 21 collapsed shade on numerous acreages in Norfolk, Brant and Oxford counties. The damage is so significant that OGGA, on behalf of its 150-plus members, is petitioning for government help.

“2020 was a challenging enough year for our farmers,” OGGA chair Remi VanDeSlyke said in a news release.

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“2021 is proving to be more of the same, only worse. The damage done by this snowstorm will have crippling effects that will have significant negative impacts to the ginseng industry the likes of which we have never seen before.”

OGGA members in the tri-county area report accumulations on April 21 as high as six inches. Ginseng shade is not built to hold this much weight, prompting collapses across entire acreages.

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“Similar to growers’ shoulders, there is only so much weight these structures can take,” the OGGA statement says. “They are not designed to withstand the weight of heavy snow, and hundreds of acres of ginseng have now been smothered.

“The extent of damage will not be known until growers can further assess their crops and the structures are repaired – all without causing further damage.

“Growers are very concerned that the significant damage could result in a stunted growth cycle, a lost year of growth and, in a worst-case scenario, the plants could die.”

Ginseng does not grow well in full sun. To mimic the forest-floor conditions of its natural habitat, ginseng is grown under sturdy, translucent shade made from synthetic materials. Shade will stand up to most weather but is not designed to support a heavy snow load.

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With COVID-19 complicating the migrant labour situation in southern Ontario, many growers put their shade up early in anticipation of delays related to travel, testing and quarantines. They were also prompted to act by prolonged spells of warm, sunny weather in March.

While commenting on last month’s warm, dry weather, Larry Davis, the Norfolk, Haldimand and Brant representative to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, said the pleasant conditions were worrisome. A premature start to the growing season, he said, accelerated orchards and asparagus fields, leaving them vulnerable to late-season frost.

That cold weather hit last week. Brett Schuyler of Schuyler Farms in Simcoe, producers of cherries and apples among other crops, said April 22 it is too soon to assess the damage.

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“Temperatures approached levels that could cause some injury, and we still have more cold nights to potentially get through,” Schuyler said. “Still a wait-and-see scenario at the moment.”

Crops in Norfolk County have proven surprisingly resilient in recent years to hard spring frosts.

Local apple producers had several challenging seasons over the past 10 years due to frost damage to the blossom set.

Yet damage was remarkably light last year despite a hard frost over the weekend of May 8. Temperatures as low as – 8 C were recorded in some areas. By this time, strawberry farmers were busy, while the asparagus harvest was well underway.

As for this recite spate of cold, Delhi Coun. Mike Columbus, a former employee of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said asparagus spears out of the ground will be damaged and will have to be cut back for a reset.

“Asparagus was just beginning to pop,” Columbus said. “Those spears would, for sure, have suffered damage. The cool weather has slowed a first commercial harvest of asparagus.”

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