Dozens of tree fruit farmers gathered in Kelowna, B.C., on Tuesday morning, calling for government intervention following the sudden closure last month of the co-operative that stores and packages their harvests.
The B.C. Tree Fruits co-operative, comprised of more than 230 farming families, informed members in mid-July that it would close after 90 years of operation, blaming “extremely low estimated fruit volumes, weather effects and difficult market and financial conditions.”
It filed for creditor protection last week.
The news came as many fruit farmers face catastrophic crop losses from extreme weather over the past year that wiped out peach, apricot and nectarine crops and severely damaged cherry orchards.
Moe Dhaliwal’s family has been growing fruit in B.C.’s Okanagan for 30 years, and the closure took members by surprise.
“We still have growers out there that still have apples on their trees, and we’ve got nowhere to put them.”
Protest organizer and Osooyos fruit grower Kelly Wander said farmers are calling on all levels of government to support tree fruit farmers during this time of need.
Wander said she and other farmers want the co-operative to be reopened, as private packing houses don’t have the capacity for the amount of fruit that has been, or will be, harvested.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty,” she said.
Devastating crop losses from extreme weather and the collapse of the BC Tree Fruits cooperative last month have left many growers scrabbling for a place to sell their fruit. Today Premier David Eby was in the region talking to farmers and pledging support. CBC’s Brady Strachan reports on this situation.
Wander said farmers don’t feel like their concerns are being heard by provincial officials, but last week, Agriculture Minister Pam Alexis said they have.
“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,” Alexis said in a statement.
Leadership change
Former B.C. Tree Fruits board member Amarjit Lalli said that while the province has announced some support for tree fruit farmers, it doesn’t help with what’s at the heart of the problem.
Lalli previously told the Canadian Press that the board’s decision to close the business was made amid a power struggle for control and member discontent over its management.
He said that the co-op’s board “didn’t want to give up control of the organization” at a special general meeting, so they decided to shut the organization down instead.
Lawyers and representatives for the co-operative did not immediately respond to requests for comment at the time.
Lalli said he now wants the province to backstop a loan to the co-operative and have it step in to allow co-operative members to remove B.C. Tree Fruits’ current leadership.
He said the co-operative has “never run efficiently.”
“We have individuals that are willing to step forward to fix the issues within the organization,” he said.
Opposition joins calls for support
On Tuesday morning, the Opposition party B.C. United put out a call for provincial government intervention to help tree fruit farmers.
The party said it wants the province to temporarily halt the liquidation of the co-op’s assets and offer funding to get B.C. Tree Fruits through this year’s harvest and audit the co-operative and its management.
“This is essential to prevent a total industry collapse while protecting the rights of co-operative members,” said MLA Ian Paton, the B.C. United shadow minister for agriculture, in a statement.
Dhaliwal worries that if the co-operative remains closed, farmers will be forced to “rip out their fruit trees” because they won’t be able to compete with outside, private markets.
“There’s gonna be no local fruit,” he said.
“If we don’t … let the government step in and take care of this situation … there is gonna be an influx of U.S. produce coming into the markets here.”