OTTAWA — The federal government has agreed to an apple growers’ request that it organize one last effort to try to find a way out of the income instability problems that plague the sector.
From price-depressing imports to roller-coaster incomes, the $150 million apple orchard industry has long suffered from uncertainty.
Agriculture minister Ralph Goodale last week announced he is appointing a “special measures committee” to consider solutions to apple growers’ problems.
It will include representatives from federal and provincial governments, farmers, processors and others involved in the apple industry.
“The apple people really have said they are exhausted. They have tried to work with all the mechanisms available, they are financially pooped and they still have problems,” said Danny Dempster, executive vice-president of the Canadian Horticultural Council.
In recent years, apple producers have tried to stabilize their industry through use of crop insurance, tripartite stabilization, increased exports, supply management and anti-dumping measures allowed under the free trade deal.
None has worked and the industry remains under pressure.
