WINFIELD, B.C. – As Tony diMaria inspects the buds on his grape vines, he talks about the challenges of trying to make a living on a fruit farm.
“I have to make money. This is not a pastime or a hobby,” said diMaria, who has farmed all his life in the Okanagan Valley.
“The dollars have to be generated here because there are no investment funds coming in. If you do make a buck, you better put it away.”
On his well-tended 20-acre farm near Winfield, he grows table grapes on two acres and apples and pears on the remaining land.
Read Also
Dennis Laycraft to be inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame
Dennis Laycraft, a champion for the beef industry, will be inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame this fall.
His apparent prosperity is deceiving.
Growers throughout the Okanagan Valley are facing one of the worst farm income crises in a history that goes back 100 years. There is weak demand for their fruit, falling prices, rising input costs and a distinct lack of the government support growers once enjoyed.
Fruit growers are eligible to join the Net Income Stabilization Account program and are part of the national agriculture disaster aid program, but after two weather disasters in 1997 and 1998, most say those programs are not enough.
They know they are going broke but most want to remain on their farms because that is their life.
There are hundreds of stories of hard choices not unlike diMaria’s. He has chosen to diversify his crops in hopes of breaking even.
The grapes already were on the farm when he bought it. Rather than contract grapes to a winery, he sells them at fruit stands.
The fresh market gives him quick cash rather than trying to live within the stringent demands made by the wine industry. Its targets for sugar levels are too narrow and the yields are too variable to guarantee him a paycheque otherwise.
He has extensively replanted new apple varieties like Gala, Ambrosia, Jonagold and Spartan, hoping to capture some premiums. It cost him $10,000 per acre to replant.
When some of these newer varieties were introduced, they paid 80 cents a pound. Now they fetch less than 20 cents.
The value on his farm is the real estate value of the land. Although it is locked into the provincial agricultural land reserve, he could apply to subdivide a couple acres. Those could then be sold to a developer and tide him over in this crisis.
However, he fears such a move would shrink his land base below a viable size.
Like most farmers in the Okanagan, diMaria does not want subsidies, yet he questions whether the government and society are sincere in their rhetoric about keeping the countryside green.
If greenery means farms rather than golf courses, he says better agricultural programs are required.
See the Special Report on the B.C. fruit industry pages 62-63.
