May 28, 2010, Brighton –
Ontario’s rural communities are growing innovative ideas that drive the local
economy and advance Ontario’s agri-food industry.
May 28, 2010, Brighton –
Ontario’s rural communities are growing innovative ideas that drive the local
economy and advance Ontario’s agri-food industry.
These ideas were
celebrated recently at a ceremony in Brighton honouring regional winners of the
Premier’s Awards for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence. Local fruit and vegetable
producing recipients included:
Algoma Orchards Ltd. –
Clarington
Apples are fresh and ready
for their close-ups at Algoma Orchards. These growers are the first in Canada
to refine and tailor a processing system that can sort different apple
varieties into 22 distinct quality grades. Imaging equipment categorizes 54
images per apple per second during the sorting process. This helps the facility
inspect, handle, naturally preserve and package apples at a rate of 64,000
pounds an hour. Little is wasted since the owners also built a juicing plant
capable of pressing 12 million litres of fresh apple juice a year to handle any
juice grade apples. Their efficiency extends to the wastewater management
system which processes and recycles all water after it goes through sorting,
packaging and juice lines. This modern facility can store up to 1.2 million
apples in controlled environments that naturally minimize the fruit’s aging
process.
Burt’s Greenhouses –
Odessa
When Brian Burt and Alex
English were looking into biomass heating systems for their greenhouses, they
could not find exactly what they needed, so they re-designed an existing system
from the ground up. The results are impressive with lower emissions, the
potential for a by-product that can be used to fertilize soil, and an
astounding 65 per cent savings in heating costs. Instead of using 120,000
litres of heating oil a year, the owners use 600 tons of wood construction
waste, making the operation clean, green and far less expensive.
Print this page
