The Nova Scotia government announced today it will give $15 million to growers of grapes and other fruit whose crops were destroyed in last month’s extreme cold snap.
Agriculture Minister Greg Morrow, who made the funding announcement Thursday morning in Wolfville, says he hopes this funding will cover some of the “extraordinary” costs that fruit growers are facing due to damaged crops.
Steve Ells, president of the Grape Growers Association of Nova Scotia, has said that when temperatures dropped to -25 C in early February amid an otherwise unseasonably mild winter, more than 95 per cent of some of the most prized varieties of grapes in Nova Scotia were destroyed.
The Department of Agriculture says early assessments show that some Nova Scotia farms are expected to lose all of this year’s grape, raspberry, peach, cherry and plum harvests due to the cold.
Ells says the extreme weather caused significant grape vine damage that is likely to impact next year’s crop as well.
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The government says it will work with farmers to design and deliver financial relief programs to help address losses that aren’t covered by crop insurance.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2023.
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