Okanagan fruit growers host rally, seek more help

More than 100 people gathered in Osoyoos this week, asking for change in B.C.’s agriculture industry.

The rally follows three tough years for growers, who have suffered crop losses because of climate change.

Some farmers say they are reeling from the financial and emotional pressures of low crop yields and returns, along with fading public awareness.

“We need to find a reason to keep going because it’s been since 2021, the damage,” said Peter Simonsen, president of the BC Fruit Growers Association.

“We’ve kind of just been going downhill and we can’t take it anymore. We have the strongest land-use legislation in British Columbia…. Now we have the weakest level of support of all the provinces in Canada.”

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“Like so many issues in this world, it’s reaching a tipping point,” Summerland fruit grower Denise MacDonald added. “I think the industry is going to struggle to survive.”

These issues sparked a pro-agriculture rally in Osoyoos on Tuesday afternoon where hundreds of local farmers gathered to express their concerns.

“Us farmers, we understand the problems, but we usually just talk to ourselves and the politicians,” MacDonald said.

“But people in the city, if you care about farming, then listen to what the farmers are saying and support them.”

In March, the province announced $70 million in funding through its replant program to replace damaged crops with climate-resilient varieties.

Farmers and local officials say that’s not enough.

“Don’t get me wrong; it’s good,” Penticton MLA Dan Ashton said. “It’s very good to have a replant taking place, but what are these people going to do in between?”

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The rally is happening at the same time the BC NDP is holding a caucus retreat in Osoyoos. Some politicians met with locals to discuss concerns, including agriculture losses.

“Always happy to come out and hang out with the farmers and hear what they are going through,” Boundary-Similkameen MLA Roly Russell said.

“Because we all know that it has been a difficult couple of years, so figuring out what the solution is now to move forward.”

Premier David Eby also attended the rally and spoke with farmers.

“There’s a lot of hurt and anxiety here and it’s good to be here first-hand to hear from the farmers about it,” Eby said.

“They’ve faced big challenges even as far back as COVID. The cost of bringing out workers and dealing with quarantine, losing crops to the heat dome and then again radical swings in temperatures.”

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According to Eby, the provincial government has received many suggestions from the BC Fruit Growers Association about what growers need to survive.

“Very helpful suggestions and there’s also our crop insurance program, which we operate with the federal government, making sure that it’s responsive to these multi-year crop failures is really important,” Eby said.

“So we’ll be working with the federal government on that as well.”