Vintners fine-tune estimates

With bud break underway, grape growers are finding that preliminary estimates of severe damage from an extreme cold weather event in late December are accurate.

“Preliminary anecdotal reports indicate that our vintage 2023 winter damage modeling of a 50% crop decline is being realized,” a newsletter from industry association Wine Growers BC reported this week.

But since “anecdotes” is not a synonym of “data,” Wine Growers BC is asking growers to participate in an industry survey that will help firm up estimates based on what’s happening in vineyards this season.

“While we have advised the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the situation, we need a better analysis of the actual impact of this winter’s freeze event,” says Wine Growers BC president and CEO Miles Prodan. “Help us quantify the damage to back up our discussions with government for potential support.”
The province has received nearly 425 claims for yield and vine loss from nearly 200 policies as a result of the December freeze event. Besides production insurance, the province will welcome applications to its new perennial crop replant program from growers seeking to renew damaged blocks.

The survey is being conducted by Cascadia Partners, which last year prepared a report for the BC Vineyard Resiliency Task Group that pinned the persistence of short crops on more variable and extreme weather systems associated with a changing climate.

The current survey also includes an opportunity for growers to provide feedback on the existing business risk management programs provided to cover growers affected by unexpected financial shortfalls.

The feedback will help Wine Growers BC advocate for better, more responsive support programs to address the needs of producers and support overall food security in the province.

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5 hours ago

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10 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.