“Everybody’s drowning right now.”

That’s the state of the B.C. fruit industry, at least metaphorically, according to President Pinder Dhaliwal of the BC Fruit Growers Association (BCFGA) following the annual general meeting in Penticton on Feb. 12 and 13.

“The biggest concern is the low prices and the support programs that are there are not necessarily working to keep everybody above level. Everybody’s drowning right now,” said Dhaliwal. “That’s the first thing we’re going to do, is approach the government and make sure they understand that they protected the land but they forgot about the farmer.

“Now is the time to help the farming community. The last two years have been so hard.”

Dhaliwal said orchards have a hard time finding hard-working, seasonal employees each summer because “it’s outside. A lot of people just don’t want to work in Mother Nature’s elements and it’s hard work.”

“Last year, we had integrity audits happening, so that put a stop on a lot of the workers come from Mexico or the Caribbean countries. So that was an issue,” said Dhaliwal.

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He said the increase to minimum wage is going to negatively impact orchard owners looking to employ seasonal workers since the cost of operations continually increases but they are not seeing an increase in returns. He added that the government is also going to be reviewing the current piece rate, which is how workers coming from other parts of Canada are paid.

According to the province, “if an employer chooses to pay a piece rate, farm workers must be paid at least the minimum piece rate for each crop as set out in the regulation.” As of Jan. 1, 2019, the rate is $21.06 a bin for apples, $22.38 a 1/2 bin for peaches and $0.277 a pound for cherries.

“We have almost 4,500 to 5,000 youth that come in from Quebec and Ontario to help harvest apples and cherries (on the piece rate). And the piece rate is very important to the industry. If that goes away, the youth that come out and make much, much more on the piece rate system will decide to pursue other employment,” said Dhaliwal. “So here is a group that’s willing to work in the agricultural environment that may not be available.”

Dhaliwal said while foreign workers are paid minimum wage, which will be $13.85 per hour as of June 1, 2019, employers must also cover airfare and housing for these workers as well.

“The wages have increased, but we need to see a fair deduction for some of the other inputs we’re putting in,” said Dhaliwal. “When you take in the cost of housing, with electrical and everything, and airfare, that’s way more than minimum wage.”

Dan Taylor with Cawston Cold Storage Ltd. said there are pros and cons to hiring orchard workers by the minimum wage or by the piece rate, but in his experience, they typically work out to the same. He said this may change as the minimum wage increases, but he is still seeing a spike in operational costs elsewhere.

“It’s just overall in the industry that the wage has gone up, and the returns to the grower have not gone up,” said Taylor. “Crop insurance has gone up quite substantially too, it’s costing me quite a bit more to have my acreage insured than it used to.

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“Whether you go with organic or conventional (farming)l, the cost of the inputs in the last five years has doubled. But our return isn’t going up.”

Donny Espet-Post at EP Orchards said he is unable to afford hiring workers, something that likely won’t change with the cost of operations increasing. He and his family purchased the orchard in 2009 and have plans to continue expanding it.

“I do the work myself for nothing. Not until the food pays, I can’t do anything,” said Espet-Post. “I could use help, but I can’t afford to pay anybody.”

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