Years of challenging weather compounding problems for Okanagan fruit growers

Stone fruit orchardists say large portions of their apricots, peaches and cherries are being wiped out.

Some B.C. orchardists are warning Okanagan peaches, cherries and apricots could be harder to come by this summer, a byproduct of an early bloom and an April frost.

“It’s not great when you see the blossoms come out so early that pollination isn’t quite as good as you want it to be,” said Jennay Oliver of Paynter’s Fruit Market in West Kelowna.

She said the earliest she’s ever seen trees start blooming in the Okanagan is March 15. While this year’s blossoms didn’t come out quite so early, they were still sooner than she would’ve liked, particularly since the orchard is still picking up the pieces from 2024’s devastating deep freeze.

“We’re still replanting trees from when that happened,” Oliver said. ”We replanted another block this year because we had a lot of damage.”

It’s the same story at Suncrest Hill Orchards in Kelowna, where Nancy Mann says the bloom happened “a little too early this year.”

“We have lost a lot of our peaches. Apricots, we’ve lost completely,” she said.

Mann said approximately 80 per cent of her farm is damaged because of weather, and not only this year’s. Previous seasons’ issues cause a domino effect that ripples into the future.

“It’s not how my parents used to farm, like 20, 30 years ago. The industry has changed,” she said.

Like many other farmers in the valley, she’s bracing for the worst with a dry summer ahead.

“I know the water levels are lower, and not having snow, and we have a certain allotment that we’re allowed to use for water as well,” Mann said.