8 / 72
SHORT
TAKES
A new
Hydro One
farm rapid
response team will streamline the
sometimes lengthy and complicated
process of solving stray voltage or
other on-farm electrical issues.
Just don’t expect the team to help
you figure out your billing issues, say
those operating the new service.
Introduced in September, the
team is the result of the combined
effort of the electrical service
provider and the
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
.
“In the past there has always been a bit of a void that
farmers can find themselves in (with regard to stray voltage
issues),” says
Daniel Levitan
, Hydro One director of
external relations. “That’s what we’re trying to fill with this
group.”
The service has a dedicated toll-free phone number
(1-888-405-3778) and a page on the Hydro One website.
After contacting the service, farmers complete a one-page
form and then are put in touch with the stray voltage
specialist in their area who reviews the problem and does
testing.
An engineer fromHydro One’s lines group audits test
results and provides “a second set of eyes,” says Levitan.
The utility will create a central database of stray voltage
incidents and solutions to share with others in the sector to
build knowledge about the issue.
Hydro One receives 150 to 200 calls annually about the
issue, says
Tony VandenBoomen
, who manages the team.
“With the increased awareness and quicker response, I
believe the number may climb,” he says.
BF
A new potato to Ontario markets
demonstrates opportunities that can
develop from consumer trends.
The variety, Carisma, is produced
with diabetic and health-conscious
consumers in mind, according to
Len Brackenbury
, field manager at
EarthFresh Foods
in Waterdown.
The potato has a lower glycemic
response than other starches.
“With Carisma, we’re able to provide potatoes to a market
that hasn’t been purchasing potatoes before,” says Bracken-
bury. “Potato consumption is falling year after year; this is a
way we can gain it back.”
EarthFresh is the exclusive Canadian grower, supplier and
packager but plans to contract other growers. “This, apart
from the glycemic index, is a good potato. Good skin finish,
good yields, a good yellow variety,” notes Brackenbury.
“There’s a lot of innovation in the industry. There will be a
push toward health attributes in potatoes; it’s the latest
interest.”
This innovation results from consumer education, says
Vanessa Currie
, potato research technician at the
Universi-
ty of Guelph
. “Everyone along the value chain is interested
in educating the consumer on varieties and quality.
“The industry continues to be driven by customer
demand; growers will need to be nimble in trying new
varieties and adopting new technologies,” says Currie.
Carisma was developed in the Netherlands, according to
the EarthFresh website.
BF
It’s time for farmers to think about
planting more onions, says a
Univer-
sity of Guelph
researcher who is
spearheading a new method to
extract the humble vegetable’s most
healthful ingredient.
Suresh Neethirajan
, principal
investigator in the university’s
Bionanotechnology Laboratory
, says
his engineering team’s research shows
quercetin extractions from certain
onions can kill colon cancer cells.
Quercetin is a flavonoid, an
antioxidant thought to produce an
anti-inflammatory effect and to
benefit immune systems.
Neethirajan says the university’s
extraction process uses superheated
high-pressure, steam-based water
technology. Other techniques leave
behind chemical residues that make
extractions unfit to use as food
additives or in biopharmaceutical
compounds. The university’s process
doesn’t leave any harmful residues
behind.
The approach is ready to be taken
into commercial production, he says.
“We have established a proof of
concept. We have a framework,” says
Neethirajan.
Jason Verkaik
, who grows onions
at his
Carron Farms Ltd.
in the
Holland Marsh and is chair of the
Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Grow-
ers’ Association
, estimates Ontario
producers grow 7,000-plus acres of
onions. These vegetables supply the
domestic market for most of the year
and are also exported along the
Eastern Seaboard.
He says demand for onions has
remained constant but will grow as
Ontario populations with South and
Southeast Asian and Middle and Far
East roots grow.
BF
New Hydro One response team
New spud offers exciting grower
possibilities
The onion’s perceived health benefits
wmaster890/Creative RF/Getty Images photo
npantos/Creative RF/Getty Images photo
8
Follow us onTwitter
@BetterFarmingON
Better Farming
December 2016