B.C. to provide funding as the province’s fruit growers face crisis

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B.C. fruit growers who have been hit hard by consecutive years of bad harvests and the closing of a major packing house will be receiving additional funding from the province.

The money will be an immediate financial injection for growers but also will focus on building a more climate-resilient fruit sector, B.C. Premier David Eby and Pam Alexis, the Minister of Agriculture and Food, said in Penticton, B.C., on Tuesday.

“We’re going to stand with you and we’re going to make sure we’ve got your back here,” the Premier said. “And we’re going to continue to work together with you to address the crisis that you’re facing.”

Farmers will receive $15-million in direct payments through changes to the AgriStability program, a provincial risk-management program that offers personalized coverage for farmers. The province is raising compensation rates for losses from 80 per cent to 90 per cent. The payments will help with immediate costs and compensation claims tied to lost crops.

The province is also launching a new Tree Fruit Climate Resiliency Program that will provide $5-million to help farmers buy equipment that will steel their operations against further climate events. Equipment could include wind machines, orchard heaters or crop cover systems, for example.

These measures will be added to the $70-million replant program announced in March that will help grape, berry and fruit producers switch to more climate-resilient varieties of fruit.

Mr. Eby also said that he had written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau requesting further federal assistance, such as a two-year stay-in-place on advanced payment loans that farmers may have received. He is also calling on the federal government to review the subsidy programs offered to growers to make B.C.’s sector more competitive with the U.S. industry, which receives heavy subsidies from both state and federal governments, Mr. Eby said.

“Our farmers are expected to compete on what’s called a level playing field under free-trade agreements,” he said. “When it’s clearly not level. One group of farmers is being subsidized and one isn’t.”

The BC Conservatives, and a number of growers, has called for the NDP government to halt the liquidation of any assets of the BC Tree Fruits packing house until after the harvest season is finished. The 88-year-old co-operative not only packed goods but also offered cold storage and provided growers with bins that the fruit would be picked into.

The co-operative filed for creditor protection on Monday after shutting its doors July 26. It had incurred debts of $50-million, according to reporting from The Canadian Press. The decision came down to a “liquidity crisis,” BC Tree Fruits said in a statement Monday. According to the release, the crisis was caused by a number of factors, including decreased fruit volumes, increase in packing-house competition, market res pricing from Washington State and “significant impacts from a changing climate.”

When asked about plans to save the co-operative, Mr. Eby said the province was working to provide a number of services offered by BC Tree Fruits. So far, more than 60,000 bins of fruit that were destined for the co-operative have been shipped to other packers, said Ms. Alexis, the Agriculture Minister. The province is also working to try to keep some of the key assets owned by the co-operative and secure access to cold storage, required to extend the life of apples up to 10 months.

However, Mr. Eby said the challenges faced by BC Tree Fruits included governance and significant debt. He also said the bankruptcy placed the fate of the co-operative in the hands of the courts. “We’re doing all we can to protect farmers while recognizing that the co-op is now in this court process,” he said.

At Tuesday’s press conference, industry representatives welcomed the new announcements. Peter Simonsen, president of the BC Fruit Growers’ Association, said the move was “first steps towards stabilizing our industry.” BC Fruit Growers’ Association is independent of BC Tree Fruits but represents many of the same growers.

But the changes should just be the start, said Sukhpaul Bal, president of the BC Cherry Association.

“If food security is a priority for the province, then we will require a complete agricultural strategy that reexamines the entire food system.”

With reports from The Canadian Press