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Grower Day 2024 recap

The day started off stormy and uncomfortably humid but that didn’t stop close to 200 attendees, exhibitors and speakers from soaking in the coolness that was a fully air-conditioned Grower Day 2024, held in St. Catharines, Ont. on June 18.

Despite there being another industry event in the area on the same day, this year, Grower Day welcomed 195 industry professionals for a day of education, fellowship and networking. 

The event kicked off with a few words from Greenhouse Canada editor, Amy Kouniakis, who then handed moderator duties off to the always delightful and esteemed Dr. Rita Sterne, project manager of The Greenhouse Technology Network, who nimbly steered the course throughout the day.

In an effort to address comments and suggestions from attendees of Grower Day 2023, education sessions at this year’s event had a decided ‘sustainability’ theme to them, for the most part. It seems, in some of the feedback Greenhouse Canada has received from growers is that ‘sustainability’ can be a somewhat mystifying word in that there are many forms of sustainability that require addressing: financial and environmental foremost among them.

To get the day started, Anup Jwala Poudel, who was filling in for Dr. Rupp Carriveau, director of the Environmental Energy Institute and co-director of the Turbulence and Energy Lab at the University of Windsor, explored the subject of small modular reactor systems for greenhouses. Poudel, who is a master’s student under the guidance of Carriveau, spoke at length about the possibilities of leveraging this source of clean energy and how it may play a big part in the future of greenhouse production.

Next up, we heard from Dr. Scott Golem, research lead for Niagara College’s Horticulture and Environmental Sciences and Innovation Centre. Golem shared a truly enlightening presentation on optimizing light intensities for Cannabis cultivation. 

After a quick coffee break, Judy Colley, the IPM technical lead for Plant Products Ancaster got up on the stage to teach her Mixology 101 session. In this session, growers were schooled on the delicate dance of running a successful bio program while still spraying for pests. She dove into how certain chemistries can affect beneficials and timelines for chemistry applications to minimize their impact on beneficials. More on her session will be featured in an upcoming issue of this magazine.

Colley’s lively session was followed by an update on the status of the Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) from Dr. Jonathan Griffiths, research scientist in molecular virology at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. His presentation, which hit a cinematic tone with continuous and quite apt references to the ‘Back to the Future’ movie franchise, detailed the past, present and future (you can see how the movie theme plays in) of research into genetic resistance to ToBRFV. While the subject matter was no laughing matter, the manner in which it was delivered was lighthearted and engaging, breaking down an incredibly complex topic into more digestible and comprehensive tidbits. If you want to know the gist of Griffith’s presentation, think back to the franchise’s most quotable lines courtesy of Doc Brown: ‘Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.’

A delicious buffet lunch was a most welcome change of pace at this point of the day. Friends, colleagues and new acquaintances met in the lunch line, or gathered at tables to chat and enjoy the delectable spread served by the lovely staff at Holiday Inn & Suites Conference Centre in St. Catharines.

This was also a busy time for attendees, who were participating in the new Grower Day BINGO game, to meet with exhibitors and fill out their cards. Participants were asked to collect as many stamps as possible from exhibitors to earn entries into a draw for a $200 VISA gift card. Congratulations to our first-ever Grower Day BINGO winner, Tanya Irani!

After lunch and fellowship, the sessions started up again with an insightful presentation from Dr. Brian Lynch, director of Horticulture Technology Solutions at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, on robotic solutions for the greenhouse sector and how they may play a role in solving labour and efficiency challenges.

Dr. Josh Henry, who travelled from Ohio to present at the event, was up next with his insights on optimizing nutrition for poinsettia production, a particularly poignant theme this time of year. He shared some invaluable advice on optimizing water and fertilizer inputs for the crop.

Amy Jenkins, also from the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, had the distinction of being the final presenter of the day. Her session focused on a recent study into sustainable greenhouse vegetable production and what practices are currently popular in the sector and touched on what is coming down the pipeline. Jenkins’ presentation was the perfect segue into our end-of-day grower panel discussion.

The Grower Day panel, moderated by Aaron Coristine from Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers, featured Jan VanderHout of Beverly Greenhouses, Matt Korpan from SEF Horticultural Innovation Centre and Mike Vanderzwet from St. Davids Hydroponics. The subject was sustainability in the greenhouse sector, and it was clear from the audience engagement and the lively discussion on stage that this is a hot-button topic for many in the industry and carries a variety of meanings. The economic and logistics issues associated with sustainable production are top of mind but so too is ensuring business viability amid the rising costs of just about everything. It seemed like this discussion could have gone on for ages, given the interest in the room but, time was running out and we couldn’t end the day without recognizing the hard work, dedication and passion of the individuals being recognized as this year’s Top 4 Under 40 honourees and our Grower of the Year.

On hand to accept their Top 4 Under 40 plaques were Paul Kamps, sales director for Kamps Hydrangea Inc., Qinglu Ying, research scientist formerly with Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, and Kyle Dick, sales manager for Plant Products in Leamington. Greenhouse Canada’s Grower of the Year for 2024, Jake Enns from Greenhill Produce, also appeared on stage to accept his well-earned recognition. 

It was the perfect ending to a day organized in the hopes of uplifting and supporting this important industry and the people that make it run. It wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Greenhouse Canada’s thoroughly engaged audience, the attendees and exhibitors who spent a lot of time and money to be at Grower Day and our generous sponsors: Paul Boers Manufacturing, Prins Greenhouses, Philips, Koppert, Ball Seed and Ridder.

Next year, we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Grower Day. Planning has already begun for the festivities, slated to be held on June 17, 2025. Stay tuned for the details!

For more information on any of the sessions mentioned above, please reach out to Amy at akouniakis@annexbusinessmedia.com for assistance.