Cherry producers will be able to apply for funds to support orchard renewal beginning July 9.
The funding is the third round of funding for the sector under the initial Perennial Crop Renewal Program announced in spring 2022, which was backed by $15 million of provincial monies for tree fruits, berries and hazelnuts.
Previous rounds funded opportunity assessments and removal programs that set the stage for replanting.
But demand was so strong those earlier streams could easily have expended the whole pool of funding.
“They were overwhelmed with applications and really all of that money could have been used just to pull out crops,” says BC Cherry Association president Sukhpaul Bal, who describes the program as “well-intended but quite short with the lack of funds.”
Happily, more funding is on the way.
The province announced an additional $70 million in funding this March as part of an “enhanced” program, but Bal is not sure how enhanced it is.
“We appreciate the funds, but the government didn’t consult with industry before they announced the new program,” he says. “I was hoping that ‘enhanced’ would provide us with funds for infrastructure to become more resilient to climate change, in addition to just replanting trees.”
Additionally, one program is not ideal for all growers.
“For grape growers whose vines are dead, they need to rip out and replant the whole vineyard, but that is not the same for cherry growers,” he says. “My trees didn’t all die, but I haven’t had a good crop for several years now.”
While he would like to renew his orchard with varieties resistant to the impacts of the more extreme weather seen in recent years, he doesn’t know of one.
This is also why he hopes the new enhanced program won’t be too prescriptive.
“[Our] association doesn’t feel comfortable telling people their business plan and saying don’t plant this, you can only plant that,” he says.
With the new program starting before the original one ends, he hopes growers who pulled out trees in the hopes of replant funding under the original program will be first up for funding under the new program.
“I hope that growers who applied but did not get approval for Stream 3 yet went ahead and pulled and replanted with their own funds will be able to receive retroactive support now that the program is better funded,” he says.
Administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC, the program is receiving applications from cherry growers through August 27.
The intake for cherries follows the opening for cranberry growers, whose funding applications are due July 3.
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