KBFA’s general farm advisors rely upon a large and expanding network of expert advisors to offer our producers the best available advice. Advisors include university professors, government researchers, provincial agrologists, successful farmers and ranchers, and industry specialists. We are pleased to introduce you to one such valued Expert Advisor: Molly Thurston!
Molly Thurston P.Ag MSc. Tree Fruit & Pest Management
Molly Thurston is a KBFA Expert Advisor, tree fruit horticulturist, food safety/GAP consultant, and organic tree fruit grower. She is an IAF verified contractor servicing the Kootenays and provides Integrated Pest Management Plans, Biodiversity Management Plans, and Vegetative Buffer Management Plans. Specialties include: integrated pest management, decision aid systems, crop physiology and pruning, crop nutrition and fertilization, field research and product efficacy trials.
Molly Thurston is a Professional Agrologist and owner-operator for Claremont Ranch Organics, Kokanee Fruit Company, and Pearl Agricultural Consulting, Inc. Her educational background includes a BSc. in Agriculture Science from the University of Guelph and a Master’s of Science (Biology) with a focus on soil microbiology from the University of British Columbia, Okanagan.
Claremont Ranch Organics is a certified organic orchard in Lake Country, BC growing apples, pears and peaches. Kokanee Fruit Company produces primarily cherries, along with a variety of other tree fruit and runs a herd of commercial and purebred Red Angus cattle in the Creston Valley. Pearl Agricultural Consulting, Inc. provides engaged agronomic support and extension services to conventional and certified organic growers and packers. Molly works with growers to identify and solve farm-specific problems relating to crop physiology, nutrition, soil fertility and integrated pest management. She has worked with numerous industry-leading agricultural input companies to perform efficacy trials, collect product use data and launch new horticultural products into the Tree Fruit and Grape markets. For the past two growing seasons, Molly has been working as the BC-DAS project coordinator – in a partnership between the Sterile Insect Release program and Washington State University to provide technical support for the BC-DAS program and to assist local tree fruit growers in their use of the online models for Integrated Pest Management in their own orchards.
Affiliations:
BC Institute of Agrologists | BC Cherry Association | International Fruit Tree Association
New Tree Fruit Varieties Development Council | Certified Organic Associations of BC
