Grape crop falls short

Despite optimism as harvest began, BC grape growers are reporting the shortest crop in years.

“Despite wine grape growers’ best efforts, our forecasts suggest that the industry is set for yet another material short crop in 2021, perhaps the worst in at least nine years,” reports Miles Prodan, CEO of Wine Growers BC in his latest weekly report to the industry.

The province’s wine grape crop has exceeded 28,000 tons for much of the past decade, with the low point being 26,455 tons harvested in 2013. The 2020 harvest was 29,113 tons, down from a record 35,537 tons in 2019.

While growing conditions were generally favourable to fruit development last year, warm, dry weather resulted in lighter cluster weights.

“Overall, B.C. wine grape yields in 2021 were lighter than expected due mainly to extreme heat and in some cases wildfire,” the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries told Country Life in BC.

However, final production volumes have yet to be reported. Receipt of this information will allow the province to proceed with processing claims from the 47 insured growers who filed notices of loss last year.

A total of 307 wine grape producers in BC obtained crop insurance last year.

The shortfall has wineries asking the province for relief.

“To help mitigate the current short crop, industry is requesting that the [BC] Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries exercise its authority over the Wines of Marked Quality Regulation to allow temporary changes to the BC VQA 100% BC blending rules for 2021 vintage wines,” says Prodan.

The changes could include allowing wineries to release 2021 wines that are up to 25% a prior or later vintage made from grapes grown anywhere in BC.

Similar blending strategies have been employed in Ontario and elsewhere to tide local wineries through short crops, especially following severe weather events.

To help the industry anticipate and prepare for similar shortfalls in the future, Wine Growers BC is undertaking research to better identify the factors that contributed to a short crop in 2021.

All content on this website is copyrighted, and cannot be republished or reproduced without permission.

1 hour ago

... See MoreSee Less

View Comments

Likes: 1
Shares: 0
Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

7 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/]

#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

Likes: 17
Shares: 5
Comments: 0

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

Likes: 7
Shares: 0
Comments: 0

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.

#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

Likes: 17
Shares: 1
Comments: 0

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.

#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

Likes: 7
Shares: 1
Comments: 3

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.