Apple growers fight low prices

BC tree fruit growers are seeing extremely poor returns on their first pool advance from BC Tree Fruits Cooperative.

Payouts as low as nine and 10 cents a pound for Gala apples were reported by top growers for extra fancy pack-outs. These figures are being called the lowest ever in real terms and are well below the 30 cents a pound it costs to produce apples in BC.

This will be the third year of low returns, prompting significant discussion at the 131st annual convention of the BC Fruit Growers Association convention in Kelowna this week.

“The BCFGA is hearing that apple growers do not have resources to pay for the upcoming season’s agriculture activities such as pruning, thinning, fertilizer, and harvesting,” says association president Pinder Dhaliwal. “The provincial government needs to recognize the complex economics of our industry.”

Delegates will vote on a late resolution February 12 that directs the BCFGA board to pursue a special provincial per-pound payment to cover growers’ losses in 2019. This could be comprised of a cash payment and/or other proposals such as an increase in AgriStability coverage, a provincial sales tax exemption, an irrigation fee rebate, provincial guarantees and interest-free grower operating loans.

Duties against U.S. apples being dumped into Canada at prices below the cost of production are also proposed. Anti-dumping duties were last applied against U.S. apples in 1995.

“This industry is in dire need of help right now,” says Amarjit Lalli, in supporting the late resolution. “We just need short-term help and we will turn the ship around.”

Growers are also anticipating today’s report by Warren Sarafinchan, appointed CEO of BC Tree Fruits in October. In particular, they will look for an explanation of the 24 cents a pound the co-op is charging to process cull apples that are not suitable for sale.

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2 days ago

The province has extended its provincial state of emergency until August 29 as wildfire risk remains elevated across much of the province, particularly in the Okanagan. While thousands have returned home since the August 8 declaration, evacuation alerts and orders remain in effect in several areas. Government urges residents to stay prepared, review emergency plans and check EmergencyInfoBC.ca for updates.

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3 days ago

Chilco Ranch–Miller Ranches of Hanceville received the national environmental stewardship award from the Canadian Cattle Association at this week's Canadian Beef Industry Conference in Winnipeg. The fourth-generation ranch blends traditional values with modern innovation as it manages 1,000 cow-calf pairs of Hereford cattle across 170,000 acres. Rotational grazing, soil health improvement and careful land stewardship as well as advanced water-monitoring technology ensures sustainable ranch operations, while deep community involvement through 4-H and other organizations support future generations. You can read more of their story in the September issue of Country Life in BC, which goes to press next week. Photo | Facebook/Canadian Cattle Associat#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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The deadline to weigh in on BC's proposed food-processing rules in the Agricultural Land Reserve has been extended to September 18. Proposed changes would open nearly 1.3 million acres of protected farmland to food processors by allowing processors to build plants on Class 5-7 soil (and Class 4, in some cases) as long as 5% of inputs are grown in BC. Currently, all processors must source at least 50% of inputs from BC. The existing 50% rule would stay in place for Class 1-3 soils. The BC Agriculture Council, which has previously raised concerns that the proposal reflects a narrow set of interests, says it's still reviewing the details with its #BCAgrs.

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Funny how they always release these proposals in August when most farms are working overtime.

Let’s use our brains for a moment and think about this. Let’s say I’ve got a farm in bc, where i grow a crop that I then turn into jam. I have a small window each year where my produce is ready. I turn it into jam. Now my jam becomes a big hit and people want it year round. The only way for me to produce outside of my fruit bearing window is to bring in fruit from other places. I’m supposed to let my investment sit idle for most of the year? You can extrapolate this to many things we grow in bc and have short windows where it is ready. Our goal shouldn’t be to make it harder for people to succeed. Maybe 5% is too low, but 50% means it’s going to sit idle.

The current rules actually say 50% from the farm or related farms (ie. in the same producer group). The new rule is 5% from BC. This would likely be good for abattoirs, and I'm sure wineries would be excited too. However, both thise enterprises can be located away from ALR land. The proposed regulations will do the opposite of supporting agriculture. They will foster the removal of farmland from protection, and the increased impoverishment of our food system.

emails can be sent here: AF.Minister@gov.bc.ca

5%? Yeah, that’s a big “no” from me… the whole point of allowing processing on farmland is to make farms more economically viable by increasing the market for their product.

Where is the link for input?

5% that’s nothing and how long what happens then after 5 years it is 0% they are not going to say oh you need to shut down.

I find that 5% vs 50 % equation very unsettling. In this situation it is not 5% from the farm it is 5% from bc. The rest can come from anywhere else. This is fine for industry standards but does not help agriculture in bc. So if we are going to give up limited agricultural land for this endeavour it had should help farming in bc. Farmers are expected to use 50% of their own on farm product on alr. Farmers would continue to be expected to use 50% while processors need not grow anything nor support bc farms. This doesn’t pass the sniff test to me

I am by far, no expert, but why would you even propose to build a plant on good farmland, isn’t that for growing a plant? You can build a plant on any ground. Reminds me of all the greenhouses built on prime soil, to me it reduces capacity and takes away from local farmers so big business can come in and take over.

Here is the link: news.gov.bc.ca/files/FoodProcessingALR_DiscussionPaperAug18_2026.pdf Taking input until September 18th. In my opinion, lowering the sources to just 5% does nothing to build food sovereignty which is what we desperately need.

This is such bs

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4 days ago

The province has just issued a new temporary protection order for the Salmon River, effective immediately, restricting irrigation water for forage crops such as hay, alfalfa, and corn. A previous order was issued on July 28 and rescinded on August 8 due to wildfire risk, but low stream flows persist, threatening over 200 spawning Chinook salmon in the watershed. Affected licence holders will be contacted directly. Drought support is available to farmers through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The province has invested $120 million in the Agriculture Water Infrastructure Program to support farmers facing water scarcity.

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Can someone explain why they irrigate during the day in the blistering heat. Would it be better to water early morning and at sunset?

This is just an exceptionally dry year from low snow cap. It does happen!

200 fish over all the feed that grows in this valley wow that some expensive fish

Time to start new methods of agriculture, ive watched our ecosystem take a beating in my lifetime, iym not against any productivity of our economic development within our structures, really its not rocket science. Its just going to cost alot to change to a better, more viable solution. Banks and your intellectuals, wanna run this country with money, then quit, wasting it on ignorance. The solutions are all easy, just how much money, do we waste, and how much are we going to spend, on actually fixing the issues.

Get your water off fly hills two big lakes off there Spa and author

And they continue to ignore CHASE CREEK....

The methods we have now are because settlers always saw what was excess resources in their eyes - the riches of the ‘New World’ have been used and abused and as the limits have been reached are in disbelief and still trying to push for more….when the problem is US and how settlers have always been about extraction and not living with and much less understanding the landscapes in their integration because the next crop is the horizon and there is no compassion for the land its flora and fauna because it needs to be remade in the settler image and naive ideal

6 days ago

Kwantlen Polytechnic University has established a one-acre research hopyard at Molson Coors' Chilliwack plant, housing 10 experimental selections and 40 heritage varieties. The multi-year partnership supports new hop variety development and breeding decisions for BC growers, building on Chilliwack's history as Canada's former largest hop-producing region. www.countrylifeinbc.com/kpu-sets-up-rese #BCAgh#kwantlenpolytechnicuniversityc#MolsonCoorsty #MolsonCoors ... See MoreSee Less

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