Little help for apple farmers

A $2 million program announced by the Canadian and Ontario governments last week is just a drop in the bucket compared to what local apple producers were hoping for after last year's devastating season.

On Thursday, the governments announced they would provide up to $2 million through a program to help tree fruit growers develop strategies to help against frost damage.

The announcement comes after of one of the worst seasons ever for the the apple industry in the Georgian Bay region.

An abnormally warm March last year caused apple trees in the region to blossom very early. A series of heavy frosts then hit in April, killing the blossoms. The result was an estimated 90% crop loss in the Meaford and Thornbury area, the worst such crop loss the industry has ever experienced locally.

"This announcement is an interesting way to say, no," said Brian Gilroy, chairman of the Ontario Apple Growers and owner of Nighthawk Orchards just south of Meaford. "It's something and for that we are thankful, but if they are serious about helping our industry recover more is needed."

Gilroy said apple producers were hoping the AgriRecovery business risk program would apply to them. AgriRecovery is a program that allows federal and provincial governments to respond to natural disasters with quick, targeted assistance.

"We were hoping the AgriRecovery program would have kicked in for us and as of now I haven't heard a good reason why it didn't," said Gilroy. "I know it is designed to cover the gaps in other programs and it was our feeling that there was a gap and AgriRecovery could have helped a lot. It's not like we were asking for a whole lot of money. Just something to help with the crop losses we have experienced."

Gilroy said total losses for apple farmers in Ontario was close to $60 million. He said assistance in the neighbourhood of $10 million would have made apple farmers very happy. The wider economic impact to apple growing areas and industries involved in the processing of apples was believed to be more than $250 million.

The news release issued Thursday said any Ontario producer with more than $7,000 in tender fruit or apple income in their 2011 tax year who will be producing the commodities in 2013 is eligible for the program. Provisions will be made for producers who began production in the 2012 or 2013 tax year.

"Extreme weather events like frost require producers to review and refine their farm's risk mitigation plans," federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said in the release. "This federal-provincial assistance will help them develop strategies for future investments they can make to better manage weather events by reducing the risk to their operations."

Gilroy said not much is known about the $2 million program, but added farmers are already taking steps to reduce risks.

"One of the reason apples are grown where they are is because the risk of frost is minimal," said Gilroy. "Some wind protection likely will go in but most people feel our proximity to Georgian Bay and the slopes of our orchards are ideal."

The $2 million announced was on top of an estimated $74 million that will be paid out through business risk management programs including production insurance, AgriStability and Ontario's self-directed risk management program, the news release said.

As for crop insurance, Gilroy explained that only about half of apple producers insure their crops because it is so expensive to do so. He sees those costs only going up after last year's losses.

"It is not like insuring corn at $8 an acre. It is hundreds of dollars an acre," said Gilroy.

Gilroy said there are other initiatives apple farmers will continue to push, including a program to help orchards become more profitable.

"Ontario is the only province that doesn't have any orchard assistance for apple farmers that helps changing the planting system from being a hundred trees to an acre to 1,200, or 1,500 or 2,000 trees to an acre ? planting them like vineyards instead of the old-style orchards," said Gilroy. "We are not talking big money. We are talking a seven-year program that would cost the government over those seven years, $26 million and that would be matched probably two-fold at least by farmers."

Gilroy said despite the losses this year the apple producers in the region will continue on, though he admits some are a bit nervous, especially after the weekend's mild temperatures.

"What happened last year is so unimaginable," said Gilroy. "What happened, we hope, is a once in a lifetime thing."

Source: http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/2013/01/13/little-help-for-apple-farmers

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