Replant help seen as just a start
Industry struggles expected to continue unless there is a lotmore support from government and consumers.
By Judie Steeves A
lthough it is appreciated, growers attending the announcement in late May of a $2 million, three- year replant program made it clear the industry needs more support than that.
For starters, B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association president Kirpal Boparai told agriculture minister Don McRae and local MLAs that growers will expect this program to be continued beyond three years.
McRae toured the Okanagan Valley with a retinue of local MLAs and even some from further afield, beginning in the south and working his way north, with news media conferences held in local orchards to make his announcement.
In Kelowna, the event was held in a block of young apple trees on Steve Day’s farm, but even he admitted, as the sound equipment was being packed up and cars were kicking up dust nearby, that far more support from all levels of government and from consumers is needed to support agriculture in this country.
Day pointed to an apartment building under construction in the background, looming over his young apples, and noted that the land it’s on also used to be farmed, just one indication of the kind of pressure farmland is under.
“Future generations will damn us for laying asphalt over this land,” Day commented.
But, it shouldn’t be on the farmer’s shoulders to protect farmland for future generations. “We should be supported. We’re protecting farmland for the future.” Instead, such costs as crop insurance and irrigation should be government-supported to ensure the farmer can continue to farm the land.
If Canadian farmers have to grow their crops under the restrictions of Canada’s food safety regulations, pest control rules and
10 JUDIE STEEVES
Provincial agriculture minister Don McRae at one of several news conferences held to announce the latest tree fruit replant program.
labour laws, then they shouldn’t have to compete with imported crops grown under less restrictive and expensive conditions. It’s not a level playing field. The Day family is not new to agriculture. Steve’s grandfather began farming in Summerland in 1884 and moved to Kelowna to continue farming. He and his family farm 120 acres on Byrns Road in Kelowna, while other Day families farm other properties in the area. “It’s in your blood. It’s who you are,” he says. In Vernon, orchardist John Dobernigg said the program should be for five years, rather than three. “You have to put orders in to get trees and it takes time to get rolling,” he explained.
The new replant program will be administered by the BCFGA again in partnership with the Investment Agriculture Foundation, but many details haven’t yet been worked out.
This program will be a bit more restrictive than the last one said BCFGA general manager Glen Lucas, but it’s expected growers can plant the first trees by next spring.
Grafting and budding will be an important component in the program, which will help get new trees into production faster. Lucas estimated 350 to 400 acres could be replanted with this funding, depending on the type of planting, but he warned that a panel set up to review applications won’t just approve every application. For instance, although Ambrosias and Galas could be grown anywhere in the valley, it’s not likely that a planting of Fujis in the north would gain approval.
JUDIE STEEVES
Steve Day is a firm believer that farmers shouldn’t shoulder the full burden of farmland protection.
British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Summer 2012
It will be more directed than the previous program, to ensure the best varieties are grown in the best locations, Lucas explained. The idea is to increase the amount of high-value planted acreage to improve the returns to growers.
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