Up Front
amilies remain a cornerstone of agriculture in British Columbia, and while the farming landscape has changed somewhat in recent years, the demographics are relatively constant.
By Bryden Winsby
Families find niche in marketplace F
According to the last Census of Agriculture, this province’s total farm area declined about eight per cent between 2006 and 2011. Of the total, 61.7 per cent in 2011 was pasture land, while cropland accounted for 23 per cent. Farm operators in 2011 reported 1.5 million acres of cropland, of which fruit-growing accounted for 4.1 per cent (up slightly from five years earlier).
Sweet cherry area expanded 30.4 percent to 4,178 acres in 2011. (B.C. accounted for 86.6 per cent of the national sweet cherry area and also reported the largest areas of raspberries and apricots in the country.)
Not surprising to most of you, grape area increased 17.6 per cent to 9,169 acres while apple area decreased 12.7 per cent to 9,646 acres.
Now for the human side. The census reported 29,925 farm operators, a smidgeon higher than in 2006. And again, no surprise, as the average age of a farmer in British Columbia in 2011 was 55.7 years, compared with 53.6 in 2006. Nationally, the average in 2011 was 54, up from 52 in 2006.
What you might not know is that women comprised more than a third of farm operators in B.C., the highest proportion in the country (nationally this percentage was 27.4).
In 2010, 52.6 per cent of all B.C. farm operators had an off-farm job or business, compared to 54.9 per cent in 2005. At the national level this percentage was 46.9 per cent in 2010.
So much for the numbers. Making ends meet or, even better, turning a tidy household profit — if there is such a thing — very often requires effort and investment beyond what it takes to grow and harvest a crop. Diversifiying into other commodities or products is one
4 British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Fall 2014
route. Another, which has been around for decades, is the roadside fruit stand, or fruit market, some of which are quite simple, others quite sophisticated. In many cases,
success has hinged on family members
being prepared to stick around and stick it out. In this issue, Susan McIver recounts how four different fruit markets have made a go of it in the Okanagan Valley.
And speaking of family effort, Associate Editor Judie Steeves brings you a feature on the Stewarts of West Kelowna and their Quails’ Gate operation, which has now been around for a quarter-century, one of a handful of wineries that were in on the beginning of the huge success story that is the B.C. wine industry. Also celebrating a big birthday this year is the Pacific Agri-food Research Centre, formerly known (and still referred to by many) as the Summerland Research Station. PARC’s history reflects that of agriculture in the region. As you’ll read, there was a time when its research wasn’t focused on tree
fruits and grapes, but also on animals, vegetables and ornamentals. We’ve got some highlights of this summer’s Enology and Viticulture conference in Pencticton, details of the new high-tech cherry sizer at the B.C. Tree Fruit Co-operative’s refurbished Kelowna packinghouse, and details on the co-op’s latest venture, a cidery.
Gary Strachan tackles a topic that will fascinate some of you, and others, well, maybe not so much. The topic is epigenetics, a word that I, as unscientific a scribbler as you’re likely to find, had never heard before.
Gary is devoting two articles to this, and, after reading them I have a notion of what it’s all about. Well, kinda. Sorta. At the very least, I know that becoming a geneticist was never in my DNA.
And finally, you will find what we hope will become a regular contribution by Fred Steele, president of the B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association, a man of numerous talents, which include being a pretty decent
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