Molly Thurston
Changing weather patterns have been the new normal for many producers, with frequent reports of extremes in weather stealing the headlines. Horticultural crop growers are responding to changing weather patterns by adapting their pest-management approaches and adopting new technology to support the practice of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) on-farm.
IPM has long been the cornerstone of organic crop and livestock production. IPM is a framework that supports a balanced approach to on-farm decision making by weighing the risk of interventions using pest control products against environmental, human health, and economic factors. Organic growers have an acute awareness of how few “quick fixes” exist for problems on the farm. Organic production systems are the sum of many interrelated parts and good decision making comes from a solid understanding of the unique features of your farm, information which is best gathered through observation and monitoring.
In order to be successful, IPM requires the grower to be able to identify problem pests and beneficial organisms, understand their life cycle, and monitor weather conditions throughout the growing season. The BC Decision Aid System (BC-DAS) is an online IPM decision support program for BC-based tree fruit growers and horticulturalists. The BC-DAS provides a tool for tree fruit and grape producers to integrate local weather data with crop stage and pest prevalence observations to assist perennial fruit growers with their IPM decision making.
BC-DAS is a web-based platform adapted for British Columbia growers from the successful Decision Aid Systems project collaboration between Washington State University (WSU) Extension and WSU Agriculture Research Center. It is estimated that over 400 farm managers and consultants use the WSU DAS platform on over 90% of the Washington tree fruit acreage. BC-DAS runs IPM models for insects and disease, along with other horticultural models.
The platform was first launched for tree fruits adapted to the Okanagan/Similkameen regions in 2018 and expanded to the Kootenay growing region in 2023. In 2025, the BC-DAS project was expanded to include models for grape growing, which will be available in a beta form for testing during the 2026 season.
Why Enroll with BC-DAS?
- Free access to all BC-DAS weather stations
- Accessible on smartphones (iOS and Android) for convenient field use
- 35 weather stations in BC (Okanagan and Kootenay regions)
- 18 models currently available with potential for future additions
- Technical articles and videos on orchard disease and insect management
By enrolling in BC-DAS, growers will have access to near-real time weather data sourced from the BC AgriWeather Network (bcagriweather.ca) and orchard management models. BC-DAS does not replace in-field scouting, but rather supports orchard decisions by providing additional science-based information that can be incorporated into current management practices.
Once you enroll, you can begin to explore the information on the BCDAS platform by setting up your weather stations and crop types.
The BC Tree Fruit Production Guide has been integrated into the DAS Spray Guide. Here, users choose their crop management by setting the reference to conventional or organic practices using the drop-down menu. Efforts have been made to list approved organic pest control products; however, users remain responsible for checking the product approval prior to use with their certifying body.
Many BC-DAS models are passive and require no user input after selecting them under the My Stations tab. There are three key models that require the user to input orchard information at the beginning of the growing season, generally March or April, depending on your region:
- Apple Scab: requires green tip date
- Cherry powdery mildew: requires bud burst date and the date of first thorough irrigation (wetting of trunks)
- Fire blight: requires your orchard infection history (High – Moderate – Low incidence of fire blight in the previous season)
For additional support on how to enroll and use the system, please access the videos on the BC-DAS homepage or visit the BCDAS channel on YouTube:
youtube.com/@bcdecisionaidsystems3458
Upcoming horticultural meetings and events for tree fruit and grapes can be found on the Cross Commodity Leadership Program’s webpage:
crosscommodity.org/events
Molly is a Professional Agrologist, the owner of Pearl Agricultural Consulting, Inc., and also sits on the Organic BC Board of Directors. She has been working as the Coordinator of BC-DAS since 2019 and is an active user of BC-DAS for her orchard, Claremont Ranch Organics in Lake Country, BC.
Featured image: BC-DAS Meeting in Osoyoos. Credit: Pearl Agricultural Consulting, Inc.
