(CHAT News Today)

By Tiffany Goodwein

Imports of B.C fruit may be in short supply as farmers deal with crop losses

Jul 12, 2021 | 10:04 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – If you are hoping to get some delicious B.C. fruit this summer that may prove to be difficult.

The recent heatwave scorched a number of fruit crops in the Okanagan Valley, resulting in major crop losses, according to local farmers

Jackie Law owns and operates a number of fruit stands in Medicine Hat. Her family also owns an orchard in Osoyoos B.C.

Cherries, apricots, apples, certain wine grapes, and other high fructose fruit were among some of the hardest-hit.

“The cherries they pretty much just shrivelled up, and wrinkled and they got cooked on the tree. It sucked all the moisture out of them. So they are unsellable because they are unappealing and they are not quality that would be for sale,” Law said.

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According to Law, some farmers in the Kelowna and Keremeos area suffered total losses, while others saw cherry crop losses in the 70 to 80 per cent range.

The crop losses come at a time when farmers in the area have already been grappling with a challenging season, due to a shortage of fruit pickers due to COVID-19.

Law said price increases are likely to occur this year, due to the crop losses impacting supply, and labour shortages.

But Law said she is committed to ensuring quality B.C fruit is available to Hatters, by sourcing from different farms.

“We purchase from a lot of different growers in the Okanagan. So what we can’t find from one we will purchase from others. We may be short on certain varieties of fruit but we are going to try our best to bring as much as we can to Medicine Hat,” she said.