B.C. announces new financial support for fruit growers amid devastating crop yield

The same day the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative went to court for creditor protection, the B.C. government announced new financial support for fruit growers in the province.

Premier David Eby and Agriculture Minister Pam Alexis shared that three new or updated financial supports are coming to “help stabilize their bottom line and overcome significant challenges posed by extreme weather, market instability, and the recent closure of the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative.”

The industry has been struggling for years, but 2024 has been particularly challenging after a winter deep freeze decimated fruit blossoms.

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Many peach, apricot, and cherry orchardists won’t have any crops at all this year.

“We announced a $70 million replant program to respond to some of these challenges. It is not enough. We need to do more,” Eby said.

“Locally grown fruit is loved across B.C., but for the last few years, farmers and the industry as a whole have faced unprecedented challenges,” the premier continued. “From extreme weather driven by climate change to the closure of the processing co-operative, growers need support if they are going to be able to survive and thrive in the future. We’re taking action now at the provincial level, and also championing important changes needed from the federal government. Farmers need all levels of government to pitch in during this critical moment.”

Among the announced changes include enhancing the provincial AgriStability program’s compensation rate to 90 per cent, whilst also doubling the compensation cap for all farmers in the 2024 year.

The province expects this change to net an estimated $15 million in immediate relief for farmers.

The province also announced another $5 million for its new Tree Fruit Climate Resiliency Program, which will go toward farm equipment and projects that have not previously been covered under provincial programs.

“This has been a challenging time for farmers, including B.C. fruit growers. Our government has been listening to them. What we are hearing is everyone is facing different challenges, but the common denominator is that farmers need help now with their bottom line,” said Alexis.

“Today’s announcement reflects both short-term support with more money available to farmers through AgriStability payments, and longer-term support with a new climate resiliency program so growers can plan and ensure there is a sustainable supply of B.C. cherries, peaches, apples, and other tree fruits in future years,” she added.

The premier also shared that he has written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking for “some very specific things in this urgent moment,” as well as long-term commitments.

Eby said part of his request was for Trudeau to put in place a two-year stay on advance payment loans that farmers may have received.

“Farmers cannot afford to make those payments right now. With two years, they’ll be able to plan and prepare to start repaying those loans the federal government has made to them, for them to replenish and match the replant program that the provincial government has put forward,” he said.

Eby shared that he has also asked the feds to review the subsidy frameworks that take place in the United States, especially in Washington, “where we see the U.S. government and state government heavily subsidized their farmers, and then our farmers are expected to compete on what’s called a level playing field under the free trade agreements when it’s clearly not one level.”

“One group of farmers is being subsidized and one isn’t, and to ensure that our farmers are at least on a level playing field because if there’s a level playing field, our farmers can compete with the best in the world,” he added.

Owner of There and Back Again Farms Jennifer Deol says the province has taken a good step in providing financial relief, but it has fallen short of giving “immediate relief to directly impacted farmers.”

“What we need right now has not been addressed. We need access to bins. We need access to our storage facilities. I mean, they’re part of a cooperative. These are a joint asset, and mid-season, weeks away from harvest, we were denied all of that,” Deol said.

Deol said farmers are going to have to go the private route, but there are limitations to that. She says there aren’t enough private packers to take the amount of fruits that are going to go into the market now and in the coming weeks.

She also says it’s hard for farmers to trust private packers.

“There’s so many stories of growers coming forward and concerned about the contracts that are being offered,” Deol said. “They might not even see a paycheck, because when a market gets flooded with commodity, private packers don’t need to be transparent with us.”

She says the BC Tree Fruit Cooperative always had that transparency, which is why people chose them as their representative and packer.

Deol says the small farmers are going to be impacted, and the big players will be okay.

The farmer adds that climate change is also affecting the business. She says the heat dome followed by a cold snap directly impacted their fruit trees.

“That year, we lost 95% of our crop on the apricot plums, and the peaches last year was another issue because of the extreme cold. Cherry was significantly down. Wine grapes were essentially wiped out,” she said. “That’s three years of really poor yields.”

Deol says that even if a tree didn’t produce fruit doesn’t mean that the farms don’t have to put the money, time and resources into keeping the tree alive for the next year.

“We’re not having money brought in from the fruit, but we still have to spend,” she said. “That just kind of leaves us in you sell and you get out, or you get out of the tree fruit industry and think of other avenues of farming for your business to stay alive.”

BC Tree Fruits Cooperative files for protection citing $50M debt

Meanwhile, the group that had provided storage and packing services for B.C. fruit growers for almost 90 years has filed for creditor protection after receiving a bank repayment notice related to more than $50 million in debts.

Court documents show the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative is “non-compliant” with loan agreements to the Canadian Imperial Bank of Canada.

A statement from the co-operative issued Monday says the decision to file for creditor protection stems from the group’s “liquidity crisis,” with stone fruit crops damaged by weather identified as “the final tipping point” in a series of factors.

The co-operative announced last month that it was shutting down due to “extremely low” estimated fruit volumes, and “difficult market and financial conditions.”

It says the group received a notice from the CIBC last Tuesday demanding repayment of the debt, then filed for creditor protection in B.C. Supreme Court on Monday in an effort to “maximize recovery for all stakeholders.”

The group says it’s seeking a stay of all proceedings against the cooperative for 10 days, the appointment of a monitor, approval of interim financing, and the scheduling of a subsequent hearing.

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–With files from Joe Sadowski