Twenty per cent of apple and pear crops could be lost in the Okanagan due to a lack of fruit pickers this season

The BC Fruit Growers’ Association is once again making an urgent appeal for Okanagan residents to consider picking fruit. A significant labour shortage is leaving farmers scrambling and fruit being wasted. Pear harvest is now underway and the apple harvest is just beginning and as Klaudia Van Emmerik reports, if more help isn’t hired soon, it could mean significant crop losses.

• Okanagan pear, apple growers facing significant crop losses due to labour shortage