BC United is calling on the provincial government to step into the case involving BC Tree Fruits Cooperative debacle and help tree-fruit farmers.
“The NDP has made a mess of this situation, and now it is time the attorney general step in to halt the liquidation of the cooperative’s assets and provide interim funding necessary to ensure farmers can access these vital facilities,” Delta South MLA Ian Paton said in a news release earlier this week.
He added that it’s essential to do that to prevent a total industry collapse, while protecting the rights of cooperative members.
BC United wants a temporary halt on the liquidation of the coop’s assets and to provide interim funding so the co-op can keep operating this harvest, allowing access to its cold storage facilities, to keep local fruit from spoiling.
The party also wants an independent audit to investigate what happened that led to the current crisis.
BC Tree Fruits Cooperative (BCTFC) filed for creditor protection Aug. 12.
A news release from BCTFC says that on Aug. 6 the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce issued a demand for repayment of debts owed by the cooperative and its subsidiaries, Growers Supply Company Limited and BC Tree Fruits Industries Ltd.
Decreasing tree-fruit volumes, an increase in local packing-house competition, aging facilities, aging equipment, market pricing pressures locally and from Washington state, a reduction in contracted BCTFC growers/members, and significant impacts from a changing climate have led to the crisis, said BC Tree Fruits.
It says attempts to “right size” the business were met with multiple attempts to block property sales, make board changes or change board governance. Those disruptions delayed property sales and equipment installations, reducing protection grower returns.
The final straw was the bad weather in 2024 which reduced cherry harvest by 85 percent while other stone fruit, such as peaches, disappeared.
Paton said that he doesn’t want to see the high-tech processing centre in Oliver to be sold in bits.
“Then it’s lost forever,” he said.
Without the co-op, a small grower will have to go to a private packer, the packer may or may not take their fruit, or do so at a low price, he said.
Growers need access to the thousands of bins but those are currently locked up.
“If farmers can’t get at these bins, they’ve got nowhere to put their fruit,” he said.
He added that B.C. fruit is world-renowned for the quality of its cherries and apples.
“So it’s something we can’t afford to lose. The Okanagan is just a great growing area. It’s making our wine industry famous and our fruit industry famous too,” said Paton, who’s shadow minister for agriculture.
The province has created a panel to address issues such as export certification, logistics and cash flow and is also connecting growers to other storage and packing facilities, said a news release Aug. 13 from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
The province is also enhancing its AgriStability program to raise the compensation rate to 90 percent and double the compensation cap for all farmers for the 2024 program year.
This will provide about $15 million in immediate relief to farmers in need. “This enhancement will help stabilize farm income and help farmers manage the increasing risk due to extreme weather,” said a news release.
As well, the new Tree Fruit Climate Resiliency program will provide $5 million to help tree-fruit farmers buy equipment and pursue projects that were not eligible under previous programs. This will strengthen farm resilience and preparedness for extreme weather.
Sukhpaul Bal, president of the BC Cherry Association, said that extreme weather over the last five years has devastated agriculture in B.C.
He said that B.C. needs an agricultural strategy that re-examines the entire food system and an “unprecedented investment in agriculture.”
-with files from Castanet
