WAWGG Convention – Feb 8-9, Kennewick Wa.
Taken from www.wawgg.org:

The Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers Trade Show is the premier networking opportunity for the Northwest grape and wine industry.  With nearly 160 exhibitors and 2,000 attendees, it is one of the largest events of its kind in North America.

World Ag Expo – Feb 14-16 Tulare Ca.
Taken from www.worldagexpo.com

World Ag Expo is the largest annual agriculture exposition celebrating 45 years of innovative agriculture with:

• 1,600 exhibitors displaying the latest in farm equipment, chemicals, communications, and technology on 2.5 million square feet of exhibit space.
• Free seminars on a variety of topics important to dairy producers, farmers, ranchers and agribusiness professionals.
• Cooking demonstrations by chefs from California’s top restaurants in the World Ag Women Pavilion.
• Free parking and a Park-and-Ride shuttle service for off-site parking.
• International Business Centre

Oregon Wine Industry Symposium – Feb 21-22 Portland Or.

The Oregon wine industry symposium focus’s on growing and marketing specifics in the Oregon area, some of the topics of this years event included
- Oregon wines in the eyes of the world
- Botrytis in the vineyard
- Botrytis in the winery
- 21st Century viticulture software
- juggling pests and diseases through IPM

We had actually attended and were show casing Munckhof Machines at the world ag expo in Tulare, but unfortunately I forgot to bring the damn camera!! so sorry, no pictures of the show this year. Our next show we will be attending is the South Valley Sales Conference in Oliver B.C. Hope to see you there!

The following is written by blog moderator Roy Hyndman:

WIGA Grape Growing and WInemaking Discussion Group

Please join and contribute to the new WIGA discussion group (Blog) https://vancouverislandgrapegrowers.wordpress.com/

This is a new discussion group set up by WIGA webmaster Roy Hyndman, who will initially moderate it. It needs your input both to the discussion and to provide comments on how the operation can be improved.

The current operation has only WIGA members able to post questions, but others (if they register) are invited to provide answers and discussion to the question.

Viewing the discussion forum is open to the public. However, contributing to the discussion blog requires registering. WIGA members should receive an invitation with web instructions for registering in the next several weeks. If you do not get an invitation (or are a new member not yet on our list) please send an email to wiga@shaw.ca requesting registration.

Please sign your contributions with your first name and surname initial (or consistent pseudonom if you prefer). It would be helpful for readers if you also give your winery or vineyard name if you wish. Please respect others privacy; do not use the full name of others in your comments unless their name is public, such as given on their own vineyard/winery web site. Critical, personal, or other inappropriate comments of course will be deleted.

All questions relevant to grape growing in the Vancouver Island area and winemaking with local grapes are accepted. However, please check that answers are not available in basic books on grape growing and winemaking before posting a discussion question.

For experienced growers and winemakers, please take the time to answer questions. The success of Vancouver Island grape growing and winemaking depends on the reputation of the whole region (i.e., the “one bad bottle” problem for area reputations). We need to help everyone produce a better product.

Thank you for participating.

Sincerely
Roy Hyndman

-Food safety in the orchard
-Thinning/crop management
-Prediction and prevention of rain induced cherry splitting
-Brown marmorated stink bug
-2011 northwest cherry season market dynamics

For more info see the northwest cherry website at http://www.nwcherries.com/

Officials from the town of Oliver approached Munckhof mfg to ask if we could come up with a design for a new garbage can to replace the aging cast aluminum ones currently in use. The parameters for the new cans where that they must be unique, easy to access, have visual appeal, and employ heavy duty materials in their construction. That day set in motion the journey into producing a new can to brighten up Olivers downtown core.

Form and Shape:

First, a general shape had to be developed, this was done through collaboration of town works officials and the team at Munckhof working together to get something that fit the towns needs and made best use of the capacity of the machines at our shop. Many different shapes and sizes were considered and each was evaluated based on a number of factors such as capacity, durability, maintenance, ease of use and appeal.

Artsy Fartsy:

Next on the list was what design or logo to put on the can. This thoroughly stumped both the team at Munckhof and the town works guys, who all agreed that they were not much for working with art, let alone coming up with the stuff! So Munckhof mfg decided to hold an art competition. South Okanagan secondary, South Okanagan Adventist Christian, and the local home schoolers group were all invited to participate with prizes for first second and third. Town works staff pour over many entries and picked Jordon and Phillip Kleins joint submission for first and second place, and Ruth Rivera’s drawing for third.

Phillip and Jordon also submitted the following letter with their art:

Next we had to take the drawings that would end up on the cans and stylize them into a stencil format. This is because when they are cut into the metal there can be no open ended lines. Oliver native Megan Jentsch was contacted for the job. Megan, a graduate of the Florence Design Academy is currently a freelance artist in Calgary specializing in interior design.

The drawings and art then had to pass muster under town council before we could start finalizing the overall form and begin creating the working documents.

Working Documents:

Now the drafting team at Munckhof can get down to business! The artists drawings, along with the shape concept are taken and flat patterns are made. The draftsman uses a program to create code that will be read by our computer-numerical-controlled (CNC) machinery. The draftsman creates code for each piece of the can, and then he has to make up drawings to explain how it all fits together.

Once all the documents are finished, its back to town council for final design and budgetary approvals. Then we can get down to work!

Construction:

The flat patterns made up by the draftsman were cut into steel using a computer controlled laser, the table under the beam is moved in very precise measurements and can cut almost any shape.

The corners of the cans may appear round, but they are actually formed by making lots of small bends (called “Braking”) using a break press.

Once the parts have been cut and bent into shape, they can be put together, the seams are welded along their full length and then ground smooth.

Now the cans can be sent out for paint. The Oliver cans were painted using a process called powder coating. In powder coating a powder material is charged with negative energy, and the metal of the can is positively charged, then the powder is sprayed over the metal and the two charges attract the powder to the metal. Then the item is placed in a large oven and the the material is melted onto the metal, creating a very durable coating.

A NOTE TO VANDALS: the “copper” backing of the cans is NOT actual copper, it is a special material used in powder coating to SIMULATE copper.

When the cans come back from coating the final assembly can begin and the backings can be glued in before they are shipped off to the town

End Result:

Munckhof Mfg is very proud to have been a part of this project, we believe it is a testament to our town using a local company and showcasing local art to create a beautiful product.

But its our job to keep them out, and after trying fences, electricity, netting, noise cannons (the neighbors really love these), constant harassment, live trap relocation, and lastly, guns I can tell you that none of these options is a truly effective deterrent. The only thing that seems to make a dent is the use of a combination of multiple actions and real diligence in keeping fences mended, electrical lines clear and checking nets for ensnared birds.

I haven’t given up hope yet though, I am wondering if possibly the installation of a one way gate might help to remove animals that have breached my barricades and now must face the same walls when they attempt to leave. This also might help to encourage them to exit back into the wilderness side of the property, rather than just being spooked into the neighbors place. It seems the department of highways has used them to usher animals out of fenced highway zones, and (they claim) it has been met with some success.

The gates are a simple design, with some formed poles placed over each other on spring loaded hinges so that the animal can push through, but when attempting to come back, they are met with the unwelcome end of the poles. Another important note indicated is that the fence must be funneled out so that the animals are herded toward the gate.

I’m continuing research on the matter, it would obviously take some fence restructuring to make it happen, but I will keep you updated.

Small cart designed for moving around a small filter/pressure vessel

Note the extra holes so that the attachment can be turned in case the inlet/outlets need to be realigned

Larger cart for moving a pump (pump not pictured)

Sometimes its the simple items that make life easy!

But don’t forget about your sprayer! It needs to be taken care of so that it will survive the winter and be ready to serve you again when spring arrives, the material left in the tank, pump and hoses of the sprayer will freeze when the mercury drops below 0*C, and with that freezing comes expansion, and that expansion can cause some serious damage.

here is a step by step guide to preparing you sprayer for winter.

1. Drain the tank; to do this, remove the bottom of the filter cap and (if you have one) make sure the foot valve is depressed for draining.
   
2. Drain the pump and hoses; the best way to accomplish this is to detach the hoses where they attach to the spray booms making sure all the nozzle bodies are in the open position, and then turn the pump with all the boom valves open, displacing the water in the diaphragms and moving it out the hose. (if you don’t get every last drop don’t worry, you will be replacing it with a water/antifreeze mix soon anyways). If you have a long hose for a spray gun, detach and drain it, and hang it up.
   
3. Open the valve on the hand wash station.



4. Now with all the water removed you can reinstall the filter cap and the hoses. Leave the hand wash station open.
5. Place 8L of antifreeze/water mix in the spray tank, following the mixing directions on the antifreeze bottle. Do not place mix in the hand wash tank.



6. With the boom valves open, turn the pump to distribute the water/antifreeze throughout the system, keep turning the pump until you see the mix coming out of the nozzles.
7. Turn all the ball valves on the sprayer to a 1/2 open position, this is to prevent water from becoming trapped within the ball and freezing.



8. In the spring, repeat the steps for draining to remove the antifreeze mix before your first spray.

A note about spring operations! Often times a sprayer that was duly winterized will become victim to spring freezing. This is when the temperature drops overnight enough to freeze water inside the pump and hoses, but not the larger volume of water in the tank. nothing is frozen solid so there is no visible danger, but when the machine is started, the ice jams the pump and can cause a total failure. To prevent this, if you suspect that the temperature will drop below 1*C overnight, be sure to park your sprayer under cover that night, and in the morning turn the pump by hand for a few turns to “feel” if there is ice jamming it. If there is any ice detected or suspected, wait for the ice to melt completely before operating.

If you follow these instructions, you will help your sprayer live a long life, and avoid costly repairs.

Munckhof Manufacturing has been working on a machine to allow farmers to pack fruit in the orchard, particularly for peaches.  How the machine works is it is a three wheeled self prepelled machine that keeps itself moving slowly and centered down the row.  Workers on the ground directly infront of the machine pick all the fruit half way up the machine and place them on a conveyor belt  which is movable to which ever location is benificial to them.  Workers standing on the machine then pick all the remaining fruit on the top half of the tree.  All the fruit makes its way onto a central conveyor belt where a few workers sort and package the peaches.  The packaged peaches then get placed on a pallet that is on a trailer pulled along behind the machine.  Once the pallet is filled it is simply lowered to the ground so that a forklift can come pick it up and place it into a reefer truck.  Once the reefer truck is full it is ready to go off to market.  What this machine allows farmers to do is pick, sort and pack the product with as little handling as possible.  Because the sorting is done in the field there is no need for a packing facility.  And most importantly because there is less handling of the fruit there are fewer culls.  The possibility to produce riper peaches without damaging the fruit is achieved.

CHBC News did a piece on the peach packing machine, which you can see by clicking the link below.

Check out the video here!!

Aeration – roots need air! if the soil above the roots becomes compacted, the spaces required to transport air down to the root structure will be destroyed

Water retention – the same space that allow air to pass, also allow for water to move through to the root system, and can hold water long after the rain has stopped falling, compacted soil reduces these qualities

Erosion – if the water cannot go into the soil, it has to travel somewhere, so it runs off, carrying valuable topsoil with it!

Reduced root growth – the areas that are compacted become very hard, the plant has to then force its roots through this hard packed material, wasting energy and resulting in reduced overall growth rates and ultimately reduced yields.

The news is not all bad, some studies suggest that within 7 seasons the compaction effects level out. and with some compaction reduction techniques the ill effects can be controlled.
The biggest of these techniques is to stay out of the field when it is wet, this is the single biggest cause of compaction and while it is sometimes an unavoidable scenario, some forethought can keep you on dry land and not sinking into the earth.
The next thing farmers can do is to use low compaction tires or tracks to reduce the amount 0f pressure the equipment places on the ground, tracks are becoming more and more common on orchard tractors and low pressure (ie. “balloon tires”) are a good option as the amount of weight exerted is a function of the amount of PSI in the tire.