Canada

Virus Attacking Fruit in Ontario May Spread
Agweek, September 5, 2000

Canadian fruit growers are worried that a virus that's been attacking fruit crops in southern Ontario may spread to other parts of the country. The plum pox virus attacks peach, plum, apricot and nectarine trees, eventually making the trees unproductive and the fruit tasteless. The trees have to be chopped down to keep the virus from affecting the entire crop. Since June, the virus has been found in more than 500 orchards in the Niagara area. But the virus has been detected beyond the region, affecting trees near Windsor. Blake Ferguson, from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, is part of a team that's trying to find a way to control the virus. "If the virus was allowed to spread uncontained, it could have a serious economic effect over time on the peach industry," he said.

Wet Spring has Ontario Seeking Help
The Western Producer (Canada), July 6, 2000

Large swaths of Ontario farmland are water-logged this summer and a farm income crisis is looming, says the president of the province's largest farm organization. He estimated that crops worth hundreds of millions of dollars are in jeopardy because of one of the wettest spring and early summer seasons in many years. In many parts of the province, fields have been too wet to plant, or once seeded, too wet to produce a healthy crop. Fields of fruit and vegetables are rotting, soggy tobacco fields are being invaded by blue mould and the hay crop is either too wet to harvest or of diminished quality.