Awareness of the Climate Impact on British Columbia’s Agriculture

As we all know by now, we can’t control the Climate, in fact, it controls us and the food we eat.

•Climate change has significant challenges and benefits for agriculture producers in B.C. due to changes in patterns, productions, increases in damage to crops, from water shortages to Flooding, and changes in the interactions between crops, Animals, weeds and insects. The HEAT WAVE that scorched western Canada, severely damaged fruit crops in the Okanagan and Fraser Valley, in Summer 2021

•The Province’s two major fruit growing regions saw many days of temperatures above 40 °C

•Estimated 50 – 70% of Cherry Crops damaged.

•A HUGE financial hit for the farmers. The B.C. Fruit Growers association says many farmers have crop insurance for heat wave, however the compensation is much less than what a healthy crop world earn.

“It seems like somebody took a blowtorch to it and just singed it” -says the orchardist from Oliver, in B.C.’s southern interior

•The heat wave also damaged apples, apricots and other stone fruits, just at a lesser degree than the cherries. •Grapes were able to survive in comparison to the cherries, how ever they may get a taint of smoke as a result of wildfires across the B.C. Interior. “They’re most susceptible to receiving those compounds which give you the smoke taint characteristics” –John Bayley, The President of B.C. Grape Growers

•Raspberries and Blue Berries have taken a big hit at David Mutz’s Abbotsford farm in the Fraser Valley, east of Vancouver. •Most of the damage was caused over the three-day period between Saturday June 26 – Monday June 28, 2021. •“The plants are literally just cooked. You can pull the leaves off and they just crinkle in your hands” – David Mutz •I my self also sadly lost my raspberries this year in the Okanagan. One day they were covered with fruit, the next day they were all dried up.

Lytton Wildfire Also known as Lytton Creak Fire It is still unknown just how much agriculture land and how many animals were destroyed and taken due to the fire that took the town of Lytton. The summer was hot and with Lytton hitting record breaking high temperatures, with just one spark everyone had to run. With only minutes to leave with what ever they were wearing, sadly the animals had to be left behind. President of the B.C. Cattlemen’s Associate Kevin Boon says: “Once it is deemed safe to go in, ranchers will be able to count up their losses.” “We do know that we’ve had loss of some cattle. It’s very hard to estimate how big and how much because we can't get in there and we don’t want to get in there until it is safe” “looking for those that are deceased because there will be some, but the bigger thing is looking for the ones that have been injured or harmed”

Due to the extreme heats and Fires in B.C., Ranchers had to resort to Hay being transported in for their animals. Thankfully, there was a Farmer on Vancouver Island, Saanichton Farmer Bryce Rashleigh, who was sitting on a mountain of Hay, with nothing to do with it. “I’ve got feed, but I don’t have animals” he told CTV news. However, everyone on the mainland had a complete opposite problem. Lots of animals, and no feed. Started as the drought being the problem, then the fires started.

Rashleigh was packing up his ninth load of hay to transport from the Island to the mainland, all while getting phone calls coming in from Merritt, B.C. all the way to Swift Current, Sask.

Transporting it in comes with a cost, Island resident Leslie James donated to help cover the freight costs to get it to the mainland. However, that’s not where the problems stop… “It’s scary. People are wondering how they’re going to get through the winter” Leslie said, originally from the interior, who her and her family had to flee their farm in early 2000’s due to a wildfire.

Rashliegh continues to raise money for the costs of transporting hay to the mainland. Back in August 2021 he had raised $10,000 and hoping to raise $50,000 so he can send off a total of 50 Truckloads.