These are challenging financial times for Okanagan fruit growers, and that’s reflected in some of the resolutions they’ll be discussing at their 122nd annual convention.
The B.C. Fruit Growers Association meets Thursday and Friday in Penticton.
President Joe Sardinha said this is not a banner year for prices so members are not in a very good mood.
The strong Canadian dollar is costing growers too, since prices are in U.S. dollars on global markets. That gives growers from that country the advantage, he noted, and they already have a lower cost of production than Canadian growers, so it’s a double whammy for local farmers.
However, he said the industry has gone through more positive change in the past four years than in the previous 20, since the launch of the industry strategy.
One of the biggest challenges facing growers now is new pests being imported from other fruit growing parts of the world, and it’s a problem addressed in a number of the resolutions up for debate by the 23 official delegates, who will represent the 900-plus members at the AGM.
One calls for a compensation program for orchardists facing losses due to foreign invasive pests and increased government resources for inspection of imported produce.
Another calls for a national plant health strategy, which would include compensation for emergency plant removal orders and quarantines.
Growers are also concerned about the possibility of a consumer backlash against the entire industry due to application by one Summerland business for approval from the U.S. agriculture department for a genetically-modified organism, an apple that doesn’t brown when cut.
A resolution notes that GMOs are perceived as risky to health and environment and are not accepted in some philosophies, particularly by the organic sector. There are concerns the entire tree fruit sector would be tarred by the same brush if these are accepted, and a market reaction could include all varieties.
Sardinha said he doesn’t think industry is prepared to take the chance that acceptance of GMO apples won’t affect the marketing of traditional apple varieties.
He feels a non-browing apple is more important to processors than it is to consumers, who are more interested in such qualities as appearance, texture and flavour.
Despite hints last year that he wouldn’t run for re-election again this year, all four regions have nominated Sardinha, a Summerland resident, for re-election as BCFGA president while Kelowna’s Fred Steele has been nominated for vice-president.
