Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. fruit and vegetable growers face uncertainty

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 26 Nov, 2021 11:07 AM
  • B.C. fruit and vegetable growers face uncertainty

While their homes and farm fields remain inundated by water, Curtis Sandhu says his family is looking towards rebuilding after a dike failed and devastating flooding hit the prime agricultural area of Sumas Prairie east of Vancouver last week.

The flooding came little more than four months after a heat wave in late June "torched" their entire raspberry crop and roughly a quarter of their overall fruit and vegetable crops, Sandhu said in an interview.

Sandhu's family came to Canada in the early 1960s and began farming about a decade later. Today, the 27-year-old and his parents grow a variety of berries and vegetables across about 120 hectares, while several other relatives have farms nearby in the Abbotsford area.

"You spend 45 years building something and then to see it all go in six hours or something, it's hard to see, right?" Sandhu said. "But, you know, being an immigrant family and working for everything they had, (my dad) said, well, we're not going to go anywhere, we can't go anywhere, this is our home and we're not going to stop."

Sandhu and his family left home last Tuesday following an evacuation order and the next day they received photos showing their almost two-metre berry plants underwater.

They wondered if their home, built on higher ground, would be all right, he said. A visit by boat last Saturday revealed more than a metre of water inside.

It was hard to see their belongings and pictures floating around when he waded in, but the visit also brought some acceptance and a resolve to move forward, he said.

Significant portions of many of the fruit and vegetable crops produced in the province are grown in the Sumas Prairie, Sandhu said. The farmers need help to clean up once the waters recede, and to repair their homes, infrastructure and soil so they can continue producing crops that feed people across the country, he added.

Close to 60 blueberry producers and 8.5 square kilometres of the berries have been affected by flooding, along with 33 hectares of raspberries that will need to be ripped out and replanted, Agriculture Minister Lana Popham told a news conference on Thursday.

About 4,000 tonnes of stored and unharvested field vegetables are likely lost, mostly from the Sumas Prairie and Fort Langley areas, with significant impacts to cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, carrots and leeks, Popham said.

Asked about the potential for financial help, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said the province is working with the federal government to determine where gaps in existing insurance, disaster and farming assistance programs must be filled.

David Gill is among the blueberry farmers whose Sumas Prairie property flooded. His fields, packaging facility, tractors and hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of high-tech equipment were submerged in more than two metres of water, he said.

"It's my life's work," the 28-year-old said in an interview.

Gill's family has been growing blueberries since the 1990s, expanding into the packaging and marketing business to represent about 30 growers in the region.

Since the flood, those growers are concerned about whether Gill will be able to receive their fruit, package it and get it to market during next year's season, he said.

Blueberries are Canada's top fruit export by volume and value and the Abbotsford area is a "hot spot" for their production, Gill said. The berries had already "suffered tremendously" during the heat wave, which scorched almost half his crops, he said.

It can take several years to develop the right soil conditions for growing blueberries, said Gill, who's concerned about the impacts of contaminants in the floodwaters.

While vegetables can be replanted annually, blueberry plants must be nurtured over years, first becoming hardy enough to plant outside and then robust enough for harvest, said Gill, adding that new blueberry plants were already in short supply.

It typically takes at least six years to see profits after planting blueberries, he said.

"Whoever is in the prairie and is underwater, this has set them back at least a decade of hard work just in terms of getting back to the day before the flood," he said.

"We're absolutely devastated and we need financial relief and help as soon as possible."

Like Sandhu, Gill's sights are set on rebuilding.

"I received this business from my parents and I have no plans of moving," he said. "We're not going anywhere and we have every plan to continue expanding as well."

Gill wants a guarantee that the federal, provincial and local governments will do everything in their power to prevent such devastating flooding in the future, he said, including fortifying dikes along with a key pump station that nearly failed in the flood.

"I want to make sure that we build back stronger and we make the Sumas Prairie a shining gem again."

MORE National ARTICLES

580 COVID19 cases and new rules for northern B.C. as COVID spreads

580 COVID19 cases and new rules for northern B.C. as COVID spreads
British Columbia's provincial health officer has announced new restrictions for the northern health region in an attempt to stop the rapid spread of COVID-19 through those who are unvaccinated.  Dr. Bonnie Henry announced the further restrictions will continue until Nov. 19.

580 COVID19 cases and new rules for northern B.C. as COVID spreads

Freeland non-committal on border COVID testing

Freeland non-committal on border COVID testing
Freeland says Canada needs to remain vigilant against the virus — and that includes making sure that people who cross the Canada-U.S. border are not infected. When fully vaccinated Canadian visitors are allowed to cross the land border into the U.S. next month, they won't be required to show negative test results.

Freeland non-committal on border COVID testing

B.C.'s youth in care to receive iPhones: ministry

B.C.'s youth in care to receive iPhones: ministry
Minister Mitzi Dean says the program is the first project of its kind in the province and, in collaboration with Telus, will distribute iPhones equipped with voice, five gigabytes of data, a phone case, screen protector and charger, all paid for by government.

B.C.'s youth in care to receive iPhones: ministry

No train link to wildfire in Lytton, B.C.: TSB

No train link to wildfire in Lytton, B.C.: TSB
The board's report says investigators confirmed with both CN and CP railways that there had been no rail grinding activities on the track and found no signs of hot bearings, burned brakes or other potential fire-creating causes in a train that went through the c

No train link to wildfire in Lytton, B.C.: TSB

VPD investigates the city’s 15th fatal collision of the year

VPD investigates the city’s 15th fatal collision of the year
The collision, involving a motorcycle and a white Mazda 3, happened around 6:45 p.m. near Rupert Street and East 41st Avenue. The motorcycle rider, a Vancouver resident, died on scene despite efforts by paramedics to save his life.

VPD investigates the city’s 15th fatal collision of the year

COVID testing a concern for Point Roberts, Wash.

COVID testing a concern for Point Roberts, Wash.
Point Roberts is disconnected from the rest of the state by water, requiring residents to drive through Metro Vancouver to get to Washington state's mainland.

COVID testing a concern for Point Roberts, Wash.