B.C. strengthens tree-fruit sector, protects growers, workers
Call for meaningful changes to Business Risk Management Programs:
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food has advocated strongly at federal/provincial/territorial (FPT) tables for the need to review the Business Risk Management suite of programs. In July 2024, at the most-recent ministerial FPT meeting, PTs and Canada agreed to review the suite of programs with urgency. Staff have been tasked with this review and the identification of proposals for consideration at the next Ministerial FPT meeting in January/February 2025.
Call for matching funding for replant program:
B.C.’s new expanded replant program, announced in March 2024 and launching in September, adds additional support to help B.C. tree-fruit growers, and ensures British Columbians have a sustainable supply of local fruit now and in the future. The Province is requesting the federal government match funding 50/50.
Call for review of supports provided to North American competitors:
The Province is requesting the federal government complete a comparison of subsidy frameworks provided to competitors in the United States, and implement changes as needed to address competitiveness challenges for B.C. growers.
Call for loan relief for growers:
The B.C. government is urging the federal government to provide relief to growers that participate in the federally funded Advance Payment Loan Program (APP) by granting an immediate two-year stay of default for growers unable to repay their 2024 loans. Additional flexibility on the timing of APP loan repayment dates would alleviate immediate cash-flow challenges and provide growers with the necessary time to make their APP repayments.
The Province has also asked for the federal government to enable B.C.’s Business Risk Management programs to halt deductions from APP outstanding balances for one year.
AgriStability fund:
The Province is creating an AgriStability fund of as much as $15 million to fund a 10% compensation rate increase and an increase to the maximum annual compensation per producer for claims submitted for the 2024 year. Farmers enrolled in AgriStability do not need to do anything to qualify for this support and enhancement program funding will flow automatically when their AgriStability payments are calculated.
B.C. also requested and received approval from the federal government to allow farmers late participation in the federal-provincial AgriStability program. Those who did not apply by the April 30, 2024, deadline now have until April 30, 2025, to enrol for the 2024 program year, giving them extra time to assess their needs.
Tree Fruit Climate Resiliency program:
A new Tree Fruit Climate Resiliency program for the tree-fruit sector will invest $5 million in tree-fruit farmers to help them buy equipment and pursue projects to strengthen farm resilience and preparedness for these extreme weather events. This program will build on the successful extreme weather preparedness (EWP) program and recognizes the significant impact of climate-change events on the tree fruit sector over the past year.
This new funding stream is for mitigative infrastructure projects responsive to extreme cold, frost and hail, cost-shared at 80/20 with growers. The current EWP funding streams are cost-shared 50/50 and fund projects responsive to heat, wildfire and drought.
Exemption to 50% Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) rule:
With the closure of the co-operative, many private packing houses will be taking in an increased volume of fruit from farms across the region. To support and provide a legal pathway for the storage, packing and marketing of this fruit, the Province is making a temporary exemption to the 50% ALR rule for tree fruits, which is the requirement that value-added products processed on the ALR must have at least 50% of the processed product sourced from the farm itself or from a formal collective of farms (a co-operative). The Ministry of Agriculture and Food will consult with industry to determine the length of term for this temporary exemption and implement the change in August 2024.
Development of a one-time climate-change response fund:
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food has been directed to begin developing, in consultation with industry, parameters for a one-time climate change response fund to allow for longevity and sustainability in the tree-fruit sector. This fund would be targeted at smaller, family-run farms based on the number of acres (or hectares) in the operation.