Ag minister visits Okanagan

Harsh weather drove stern words to BC agriculture minister Pam Alexis as she visited the Okanagan last week to meet with grape growers, orchardists and ranchers.

The three sectors have been hit hard in recent months and years by weather-related events. Wine Growers BC is forecasting a 54% decline in grape and wine production this year thanks to an extreme December freeze event. Fruit growers have also been impacted by extreme temperatures that have underscored the need for a recently relaunched provincial replant program.

Beef producers, for their part, are also seeing the impacts of dry conditions that have both reduced forage resources and increased the risk of wildfire.

Alexis met with grape growers and wine industry representatives on June 27, and the following day met with a delegation from the BC Fruit Growers Association where the need for a long-term replant program was emphasized as well as a closer look the supports possible through Production Insurance.

“The Minister indicated that some of the challenges were common themes from the other stops on her tour,” says a statement from the BCFGA following a meeting at Goraya Family Farms in Kelowna.

In addition to the farm visit, Alexis also visited the largest pickers’ camp in the region, Secrest Hill (formerly Loose Bay), which the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen took over in 2020 and upgraded with $657,000 in provincial funding.

Wine Growers BC says their own requests for support last week fell on sympathetic ears.

The organization says the minister has pledged to pursue federal AgriRecovery support for the sector, but a timeline hasn’t been set for when this might come through.

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15 hours ago

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21 hours ago

Forty-six regions in BC are eligible to participate in the federal livestock tax deferral program, announced yesterday, more than anywhere else in the country. The program allows producers who downsize their breeding herds by 15% to defer reporting the proceeds until the following year, when they buy replacement stock. But after multiple years of drought, the BC beef herd is cruising 25-year lows and some producers are calling for more support to maintain and rebuild their herds. For more, see: [www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-leads-livestock-tax-deferrals/]

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5 days ago

After weeks and weeks of no moisture, there's rain in Kelowna today. While much more moisture is needed over the coming weeks and months to reduce drought conditions and the air smells of wet campfire, the slow, steady rain is very welcome for fruit grower#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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6 days ago

The first Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust Grassland Set-aside Variety Trial Field Day was held at Delta's family-owned Tecarte Farms, August 27. Co-owner Bill Bates and DFWT executive director Christine Schmalz welcomed more than 35 people to view seven acres planted to different grassland blends specifically chosen to rejuvenate the soil and support the farm's blueberries. For the Bates family, it was time to try something different following the decline of the field's blueberry bushes over the past several years. "We tried everything, and nothing worked," says Bates. The blueberries were removed in May and the grassland crops planted about a week later.

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Bessette Creek is the latest watershed hit with a temporary fish protection order this year as the province moves to protect returning Chinook salmon. A total of 131 surface and groundwater users must cease drawing water immediately, with forage producers, greenhouses and nurseries impacted. "Declining flows in Bessette Creek reached record lows in early July 2026 and have remained below the minimum level required to support fish population survival," says the province. Bessette producers have embraced voluntary cutbacks, scheduled irrigation and other measures to reduce water use, and are also waiting on funding to boost water storage infrastructure. They're the second group of producers hit with a provincial order this year. Salmon River irrigators were told to top watering earlier this month following a reprieve to address wildfire risk. Growers in both the Salmon River and Bessette watersheds are urging the province to support new water storage infrastructure in advance of next year.

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There is a problem... having lived in the salmon river ( silver creek ) area, I remember a fish biologist telling family members that salmon only "survive" in high iron content creeks, they do not "thrive".... salmon river ( silver creek ) is a very high iron content, would stain clothes brown when i would use bleach... So don't expect high salmon numbers off of that creek , even in ideal situations...

I just wish they would take an interest in CHASE CREEK....went bone dry...100% of trout abd other species died...smell was terrible from rotting fish. Understand this has happened many times in the past. Chase Irrigation District totally responsible for this disaster. Now fishermen are complaining about major drop in water levels at Pillar Lake.

They could not mismanage things worse than they have. It's impossible for them to. The fact that farmers that we need for our animals are now suffering the consequences our governments have not protected us from, is absolutely fucking wild.