Province funds fruit growers

Training, extension services, pest management and marketing received funding as the province allocated a further $2.5 million in support of the tree fruit sector, November 17.

With the hard work of stabilizing the province’s tree fruit sector beginning in earnest, the province hopes a new certificate program at Okanagan College will give growers the training they need to be successful. It’s also establishing an extension service that will help 250 tree fruit and grape growers annually improve fruit quality, increase production and enhance their farm businesses.

“We are working directly with the industry, family farms and businesses to ensure they succeed into the future, and putting BC’s apple growers in the best position to increase their efficiency, production and profitability,” BC agriculture minister Lana Popham said in a statement.

A portion of the funds will also flow to the long-running Okanagan-Kootenay Sterile Insect Release Program, which earlier this year benefitted from a $375,000 investment in the BC Decision Aid System, as well as marketing initiatives.

The ministry did not provide a breakdown of how the new funds, which run through March 31, 2024, would be allocated.

However, ministry staff told Country Life in BC that the funding would support two new extension workers dedicated to extension services in the sector. A contractor is also being hired to conduct domestic market research for a price not to exceed $50,000 that will support a five to 10-year market development strategy and a two to three-year marketing and sales plan.

The new certificate program at Okanagan College could launch next fall.

“Our teams are moving forward to design the program and get it implemented,” said Kevin Parnell, associate director, college relations. “We’re excited to begin offering this.”

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

6 hours ago

... See MoreSee Less

View Comments

Likes: 1
Shares: 0
Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

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/]

#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

Likes: 19
Shares: 7
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.