Okanagan grape growers and the BC Wine Growers Association say crop insurance based on historical production can fall short when climate impacts arrive in succession and require years to fully recover.
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For Okanagan grape grower Karnail Singh Sidhu, farming has long meant accepting damage from factors he cannot control, including extreme heat, cold, drought, hail and wildfire smoke. Sidhu, the owner of Kalala Winery in West Kelowna, said the challenge is what comes after the damage: trying to recover with an insurance payout he says does not match the true cost of farming.
Sidhu has been in the wine industry since 1995 and has farmed his current vineyard for more than two decades. He said a cold spell severely damaged his crop in the past, and this year he is dealing with wildfire smoke affecting about 15 tonnes of grapes from one of his vineyards, according to Sidhu.
Sidhu said the grapes can still look and taste fine on the vine, but smoke compounds the taste during fermentation, potentially making the crop commercially unusable. He said wildfire smoke impacts like that are occurring across parts of the Okanagan, according to Jeff Guignard, CEO of the BC Wine Growers Association.
Guignard said a crop may still be hanging on the vine, but if it is impacted by smoke it can lose its commercial value. He also said the evaluation underway suggests that wineries could make less, with payouts “below the actual operation costs.”
Growers say the structure of production insurance becomes especially problematic when several climate disasters happen in succession. They describe a scenario where production drops in one year, and then drops again the next year, lowering the historical production record used to determine coverage when a claim is made.
Sidhu said insurance may account for the damaged plant but not the years of production lost while a replacement vine grows. “I get paid for one year; nobody count that we lose crop for next three years,” Sidhu said. “I get only paid for the plant. That plant come to the fruit takes time, that cost money. And I lose crop from three years from that plant too. Nobody compensate that.”
Sidhu said the difference between payout and recovery costs can be substantial, saying that for a damaged plant he may receive around $10 to $12, while bringing a replacement vine to fruit-bearing age can cost more than $50 or $60.
Growers also said smoke-tainted grapes can create additional financial pressure through winery contract cancellations when fruit is no longer commercially viable. They said that under the production-insurance rules described by growers, grapes claimed under the program must be harvested and destroyed rather than sold for another use, adding labour and disposal costs.
Guignard said the association wants a review that reflects changing conditions and uses coverage based on current production capacity and risk modelling. “We need a financially sustainable programme that provides a meaningful protection for our growers so that they can recover from this loss and continue to farm again in the future,” he said.
Sidhu said there is no easy way around the risk and that farmers often need to find other ways to pay bills when a crop fails. “I have to do something else to pay the bank,” Sidhu said. “If I have to drive a cab, I drive a car to pay my payment. That’s how farmers do. They always have something to subsidise that farming.”
The provincial ministry of agriculture and food said it was in a temporary caretaker mode due to the ongoing election campaign and that communications were limited to critical health and public safety information.
For Sidhu, the concern extends beyond whether insurance will cover this year’s damage. He said the key question is whether coverage will be enough to keep his farm operating so it can produce a crop the following year.
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