The Rural Voice, 1990-05, Page 48INNOVATION ON THE FARM
"Everyone is an innovator in a
time of need, and the times of need are
becoming more and more frequent as
competition increases," says Clair
Wiley, manager of the Wiley Bros.
juice plant in St. Catharines, Ontario.
For the Wiley family operation
itself, in fact, necessity was the mother
of innovation. In 1970, the Wileys
found they had more than 100 tonnes
of surplus grapes on their hands.
"It becomes frustrating when you
work to be efficient and then you have
a mountain of surplus you can't sell,"
says Clair Wiley. "It rapidly became
apparent in 1976 that we were facing
another surplus crop, but this time we
were ready."
Comments made by some of the
many students who came to visit the
Wileys' grape -harvesting operation
provided the seed of the idea. As the
students sipped homemade juice, they
asked where they could buy it. Mean-
while, the Wileys had 30,000 gallons
of red grape juice in the tank.
Clair Wiley suggests a general
lesson: "The basic crop grown must
be enhanced so it reaches the market
in a state superior to the competition's
product. If that cannot be achieved,
then one must look for alternatives."
"My grandfather was an innova-
tor," he adds. "He had a pond up on
a hill behind the bam that he never
drained. One afternoon, several years
ago, were were tiling the area and
came across a pipe running from the
pond to the well at the barn. The well
was always full; he never had to take
the horses out of the barn."
Wiley emphasizes that not all in-
novations have to be expensive. Nor
do you have to be a genius. "There
are three keys to being an innovator,
and everyone can afford them. They
are a pencil, a notebook, and a hand-
held calculator."
Innovation, after all, is indigenous
to farming. Wiley recalls that his
father would take broken disc blades
and split them into three. Attaching a
piece of hickory made a good hoe. "It
was a lot heavier on the upswing, but
it sure came down faster!"
In only one generation, the Wiley
There are three keys to being
an innovator, says Clair Wiley,
whose fruit -growing operation
has successfully expanded into
the marketing of juice. "They
are a pencil, a notebook, and a
hand-held calculator."
by Kevin Stewart
Clair Wiley, manager of Wiley Bros.
farm has grown from 30 acres to more
than 400 acres growing 23 varieties of
grapes. But Wiley Bros. was not built
in a day.
Construction of the juice plant
began in 1976, after long lists of used
machinery had been assessed. Making
an idea happen, Wiley notes, takes
time. "If you are depending on grants
and loans as part of your capital, be
advised that you may have as much as
a two-year wait before you can cash
the cheques." Govemment programs
do not allow for the purchase of used
equipment, he adds, and "can be fault-
ed for not encouraging innovators."
The next problem was finding a
market for the juice. "We started by
giving away free samples to each
passer-by and ended up selling to 80
per cent of those who tested it."
It was again touring students who
suggested an idea, Wiley adds. "After
years of giving school kids tours, we
discovered the kids remembered more
about petting the dog that would chase
the stick than anything about the juice -
making operation."
So Wiley came up with a colouring
book. He claims to be no artist, but he
sat down one afternoon and drew all
the pictures himself. He says the 12 -
page book has been a very popular
reminder of the step by step tour.
Wiley says he takes notes when he
meets other innovators. "I work with
people who grow cherries and have
machines that can pick a full-grown
cherry tree every 45 seconds."
"In processing," he adds, "we
started with a hand -operated machine
that filled 12 bottles per minute. Last
year we installed machines capable of
filling 160 bottles per minute.
Four of the original members of
the Wiley Bros. family farm have been
joined by five sons working full-time
and two more sons and a daughter
working part-time. "Each person has
an area in which he or she specializes.
All of these people are responsible for
innovations— everything from using
the old hay loader for a cooling table
to building the ... stainless-steel cool-
ing table at a saving of over $30,000."
"The key to being an innovator is
to listen and learn from others. So
keep your paper and pencil handy, and
don't be afraid of change. Oh, and
one more thing: Find your market
before you plant your seeds."
But that isn't Wiley's final word
after all. He says his latest idea to
improve sagging farm incomes does
not have to do with alternative crops
or diversification. "Politicians'
salaries," he suggests, "should be
based on the income of farmers."0
44 THE RURAL VOICE