the freak storm hit was also damaged.


Cherries and prune plums had


already been harvested so those fruits were saved from the destruction.


He is also concerned that crop insurance doesn’t pay on wind damage, although he also had a claim for five per cent damage from a hail storm earlier in the year, which he expects he will be paid for. Gary Falk, director of the Business Risk Management Branch of the agriculture ministry in Kelowna, says he couldn’t discuss a particular claim, but crop insurance does pay for the loss of trees in a wind storm, as well as for crop losses.


However, he said there would be a five per cent deductible, so if not enough trees were destroyed, relative to the total number of trees on the orchard, the orchardist’s loss might not exceed the deductible.


Crop insurance policies do include damage from wind and total loss of trees as well as crop losses, he said. Growers have the option of buying more than basic insurance to reduce the deductible, he added.


Some growers may find that their income is low enough as a result of the crop loss, and their expenses high enough from having to clean up and replant, that AgriStability might kick in, replacing some of their lost income, he noted.


He admitted that insurance will not replace all lost income. “These programs are designed to get growers through,” he said.


He recalled another freak storm a few years ago in which hurricane- force winds ripped out posts and wires in a high-density orchard. There were 10 to 15 claims from this August freak storm, he said. “It was very unusual and severe,” he noted.


Other than the windstorm, Falk said they haven’t had high claims this year, and very few due to hail. “It’s been a good year,” he said. Unfortunately, these few Oliver-area orchardists were ‘hit hard,’ he added. Hank Markgraf, grower services manager for the B.C. Tree Fruit Co- op, said it appears to have only been in a small area around Oliver that the Aug. 13th wind storm did its damage, throwing the Ambrosias on the ground and bruising Galas that were left on the tree.


British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Fall 2015 11


BCFGA proposes policy to protect farmers from drought By Judie Steeves W


ith extreme drought conditions declared in the Okanagan this year, the B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association drafted a drought policy for water utilities and the Okanagan Basin Water Board to protect farmers and


their crops. Although water restrictions on farmers were not instituted this season, if this


year’s drought continues into next year, as forecast, that could change. At a workshop organized by the OBWB in mid-August, grapegrower Hans Buchler, who sits on the B.C. Agriculture Council, talked about the importance of considering food security in discussing restrictions on water for farming. He noted that in general, agriculture uses less than its allocation, but he admitted it is the largest single water user in the Okanagan basin. The extreme heat and dry weather has meant that evapo-transpiration has been a serious problem for growers this year, he added. Lee Hesketh, a rancher from the North Okanagan, noted that “farmers grow food, so don’t ask us to be the first to conserve if all other users don’t.” He also urged utilities to go after unlicensed users of water before licensed ones. He urged consultation and collaboration to deal with the drought, and that was one of the points made by the BCFGA in its drought policy, along with education and outreach.


The other points are: • Common policy between water purveyors makes it easier to promote; and greater support from the farm community will result if there is input from their associations.


• If implemented, agriculture water rationing should take into account the large, intensive investment in perennial crops such as tree fruits and grapes.


• As long as a farmer is not exceeding his allocation of irrigation water for the year, pricing should not be used to ration water.


• The BCFGAsupports the continued adoption of technology for greater irrigation efficiency.


• Food security (maintaining and expanding local agricultural production) should be a major consideration in allocating water.


• The BCFGAwill support municipalities seeking provincial and federal funding to expand water storage reservoirs. OBWB executive-director Anna Warwick Sears concluded the August workshop with the warning: “There will be local impacts this year, for sure, but I'm concerned that this is just a dress rehearsal for 2016 — given the long- range weather predictions. We need to be getting ready for more of this, and be conservative with our reservoirs—whether they are lakes or aquifers.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24