Widespread damage: B.C. fruit growers face millions in losses

It could be a very sour spring in wine country.

"A lot of farmers are at the end of their rope," says Binny Boparai-Gill, who helps run Farming Karma Fruit Co in Kelowna B.C.

The trouble stems from earlier this winter, which started exceptionally warm. Then in January, temperatures suddenly plunged. A shock many grape vines and fruit trees just couldn’t take.

At West Kelowna's Kalala Organic Estate Winery, owner Karnail Singh Sidhu estimates 95 per cent of this year's grape crop has been destroyed. Sidhu says the losses will be staggering.

"I will say two to three million dollars."

There is widespread bud damage at Farming Karma, but it’s still too early to know how many apples and cherries will grow on the trees that won’t begin to blossom for a few weeks.

Farmers being at the mercy of the weather is nothing new. However, with the extreme swings hitting B.C.'s Okanagan more often, in the winter and summer, Boparai-Gill says growers are taking a much bigger gamble. “Imagine having a business or a job and hearing 'okay, you’re only going to get 20 per cent of you salary this year.'"

Boparai-Gill and her family have tried to diversify, launching several lines of sparkling fruit beverages. Other farmers are taking on second jobs. Some are simply in over their heads.

“When the money comes in, it’s not enough to make mortgage payments,” Boparai-Gill says. “So a lot of people end up leveraging the equity in their land to take some money out to kind of get them by.”

Many farmers end up over-leveraged, and Boparai-Gill says the next generation of growers are watching how hard their parents work for very little return, and pursuing a career elsewhere.

“If people are feeling like growing fruit isn’t viable anymore, we’re all in really big trouble.”

Farmers are calling on government for additional support. In a statement to CTV News Friday, B.C. Agriculture Minister Pam Alexis acknowledges more need to be done at the provincial level, and says she will be meeting with Okanagan wine producers next week, to work collaboratively to ensure the long-term sustainability of the industry.