Cherry growers weigh trade complaint

BC cherry growers took a beating on price last season as cheap California and Washington fruit flooded the market.

But whether or not the industry seeks an anti-dumping order is up in the air, with greater investment in domestic marketing possibly yielding greater benefits.

“Prices really crashed last July,” explains BC Fruit Growers Association general manager Glen Lucas. “We suspect that American fruit was being sold into Canada for less than our cost of production, which is against trade regulations.”

Part of the problem was a blast of heat in May that accelerated crop development and meant California, Washington and BC were all bringing fruit at the same time. California’s crop put pressure on Washington growers, who couldn’t find a home for all their fruit, and BC was a convenient destination.

BCFGA and the BC Cherry Association are considering an anti-dumping claim to prevent the situation from repeating itself, but the process takes time and is extremely costly.

Reps from the associations met with a lawyer who specializes in trade actions and he agreed to supply them with a proposal.

“It is called an assessment and it would cost $30,000. But even before doing that, you need some sort of plausible commitment to the $1 million eventual cost,” Lucas explains.

The two organizations are consulting their members on the best route forward, proposing three options: doing nothing; waiting to see if the situation repeats itself in 2024; or moving forward with a trade action.

Waiting to see how the next season unfolds may be the best option, Lucas says, noting that the last time a significant overlap in marketing windows occurred was 10 years ago. In the meantime, domestic marketing – a renewed focus of the BC Cherry Association this year – could address demand for BC fruit.

“We saw some positive results from our promotions for consumers to buy local cherries,” Lucas says. “There is more that could be done and it would really improve things in the long run.”

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6 hours ago

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11 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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4 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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5 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.