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BC Cherry holds AGM

BC Cherry Association president Sukhpal Bal presented David Geen of Bertram Farms with the Dr. Karlis Lapins Achievement Award at BC Cherry's agm on Friday. Geen was honoured for his contributions to the cherry industry and also received a lifetime membership to the association. Geen, who recalled delivering one of the meeting speakers in his work as a family physician, started growing Lapins cherries before they became a named variety in 1983. Myrna Stark Leader / Photo

The BC Cherry Association held its annual general meeting in Kelowna on February 23.

While the industry continues to expand its access to international markets, with last year witnessing the first official exports to Korea, domestic growing conditions are a concern.

“We saw damage from the freeze of late December 2022 and then 30°C spring weather that condensed our growing season and put us in direct competition with Washington, Oregon and California,” says BCCA president Sukhpaul Bal.

The onset of fruit from the four west Coast growing regions pushed down prices, resulting in a fifth consecutive season where growers suffered financial hurt due to extreme weather.

Now, the extended freeze event this January is expected to reduce the 2024 crop significantly, promising a sixth season of pain.

“If this is the new normal, we cannot tackle these problems on our own,” Bal says.

Recognizing this challenge, the BC Cherry board voted to subsidize grower costs for the in-orchard cherry fruit fly trapping program required to export cherries to China. This will enable registered growers to continue meeting export requirements, whether or not they have much fruit to export this season.

“I urge you to stick with China, and that is why the board has voted to subsidize the work this season,” says Richard Isaacs, chair of BC Cherry’s market access committee. “If you withdraw from the program, we don’t know if you would be able to get back on the list next year.”

BC cherries were well received in the South Korean market last year.

“First impressions were good,” Isaacs says, but notes that further export opportunities are limited.

“There won’t be another China or South Korea, which is why we are keen to develop the domestic Canadian market,” he says.

Little Cherry Disease and Western X virus – two threats present in BC orchards but not currently spreading – remain a top priority of BC Cherry’s research and extension committee, which is planning research and field days to help growers tackle the diseases.