Getting positive from negative


Several key factors come into play for surviving farmincome slump.


By Judie Steeves I


t’s been the fifth straight year of negative farm income for B.C., yet Statistics Canada numbers show that other provinces cumulatively had a net farm income on the positive side of the ledger.


There have been many reasons B.C. farmers haven’t measured up during the past few years, from the change in foreign exchange rates to BSE in the cattle sector, hog markets vaporizing and export markets oversupplied. But, we’ve got to learn to live with it and to manage it, believes Garnet Etsell, chairman of the B.C. Agriculture Council.


Blueberries are very export-oriented so the strength of the Canadian dollar is a critical factor in marketing. The domestic market can’t absorb all the blueberries we grow in B.C.


Strawberry production has shrunk in size and lost its processing side. “Inventory can kill a season,” Etsell noted, adding, “It makes me appreciate supply management.”


He and his family produce turkeys. However, the day to expand supply management to other commodity groups is gone, he said.


Success in blueberries depends on factors such as when you got into them, because if you got in when land prices were high, it’s a disaster for you. However, if you’ve been in for some time, land costs aren’t as much an issue affecting your bottom line. It also depends on whether you’re growing for the process market as well as fresh.


“It helps if you’ve diversified,” said Etsell. “If you’re just a grower, you struggle.”


Those who have diversified into agritourism also tend to be in a better position.


It helps that most of B.C.’s berries are grown in the Fraser Valley, which is close to a large population, because that opens up the possibility of


diversification into fresh sales off-farm, 8 British Columbia Berry Grower • Fall 2011


which is a real benefit to the bottom line.


Some berry growers


diversify into growing other berries as well, and some even go into cattle and poultry production. Etsell is a director on the Canadian Federation of Agriculture as well, which is working on a national food strategy. They are encouraging the federal government to look at domestic markets. “It’s important we protect the domestic industry. That needs promotion,” he commented.


It’s a particularly good


fit today, with many people concerned about the health and safety of the food they eat, and with the move to eat fresh and local produce and products. But, this is an era of shrinking government budgets, so growers need to face the fact they’ll have to do it themselves.


“We’ll have to learn to be better marketers. That’s the neat thing about berries; the industry got into marketing the health benefits of eating berries,” he noted.


He remembers when his mom and dad were growing blueberries there was only one receiver, while today there are more than 20 processors, which adds to the strength of the industry. Having good infrastructure is important. There were processing plants for strawberries in the 50s and 60s, but they weren’t kept up to date and they wore out. Since then,


strawberry production in B.C. has shrunk considerably.


Cranberries, on the other


hand, are a real success story, for growers who are part of the Ocean Spray co- operative.


Garnet Etsell


In fact, Etsell compared that to having supply management because it’s been so successful at keeping the price up by controlling supply. And, development of Craisins, a popular snack food, from what were essentially lower quality cranberries, has been a real


food industry success story, he noted. In his position as chairman of the BCAC, Etsell has become familiar with all of B.C.’s very diverse agricultural sectors and what situation they’re in. On a scale of one to 10, he says supply managed commodities are at the top, along with the cranberry sector. Berries, generally, are in the range of four to eight, he figures.


Where a producer sits in the four to eight range depends on whether they’re a new grower with high land costs to factor in or whether they’ve been in the business for awhile, and whether they have control over input costs. Another factor is whether they’ve diversified into other berries, other commodities or agri-tourism. In the end, Etsell says it comes down to luck with a measure of experience and good management.


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