The provincial budget contains little for the tree fruit industry, says the president of B.C. Fruit Growers' Association.
Jeet Dukhia said previous studies have concluded the fruit industry needs an ongoing replant program and assistance with environmental improvements on farms.
"We were hoping to get a positive future direction on these programs, but the budget contained no strategic, competitive help for tree fruit growers," Dukhia said in a news release.
Replacing old trees and varieties with new varieties and high-density plantings, will increase productivity and marketability of tree fruit, but costs growers about $30,000 per acre. The current program contributes up to $7,000 per acre for the renewal of orchards.
"We need continuity of replant in our industry. When we plan, orchardists look forward 15 or 20 years. The disruption of not having a long-term replant program is harming our industry," said Dukhia.
The replant program is currently funded for two years, but was disrupted in 2012, when no such funding was offered.
Environment programs, such as integrated pest management, deer fencing and septic systems for worker sanitary facilities have been proposed by the BCFGA.
"Our program proposals are similar to, but at a much lower level of cost, than those provided in Washington State, our main competitor. We proposed the programs with the expectation that the government was interested in protecting and enhancing the environment and helping us to meet the competition. We were disappointed," said Dukhia.
"The B.C. agriculture budget is the lowest in Canada, as a percentage of our agriculture output. We were looking for long-term direction from the province to get us on a level competitive playing field," said Dukhia.
However, two budget items did correct errors in existing programs:
• The carbon tax on purple, or marked, fuel used on farms is eliminated. Dukhia said this means fuel for tractors and farm vehicles is not put at a disadvantage when compared to food producers in other countries.
"The government needed to fix this error in order to stop giving an advantage to imported produce and having the perverse effect of increasing carbon emissions due to increased transportation of fruits and vegetables," he said.
• Also, property purchase tax for farms was not charged for transfers to family members when the owner was alive. The change corrects an error that taxed the transfer of the farm property if the owner was dead.
Dukhia classed the error correction as "important to get it right, but not a significant industry issue."
The BCFGA represents 550 family operated farms and advocates for the fruit industry which generates $300 million in annual economic activity.