2023-harvest-reports
Every growing season brings winners and losers, and 2023 reminded all growers that it doesn’t take much to flip the balance and create exceptional challenges. From winter damage to thrips; lower prices to increasing costs, even the most consistent crops saw trials this year. Persistence and perseverance remain essential qualities for growers.
Raspberries report good yields
After many seasons of coming out behind, raspberries were the winner among berries in 2023 in B.C. David Mutz of Berry Haven Farm in Abbotsford notes blueberries and strawberries were both a struggle.
“The cane berries were the winner: the raspberries and blackberries,” he says. “Pricing is down on raspberries, especially the processed, but yield was up. Some people, ourselves included, did quite well in raspberries.”
James Bergen of Bergen Farms agreed that most raspberry varieties did better this year than previously and felt pricing was good on fresh varieties.
However, thrips was a major issue. Sometimes found in cane berries, the volume seen in raspberries this season was exceptional and led to the discolouration strawberries often face that makes fruit unsaleable.
“Everyone saw thrips this year,” Bergen says. “You don’t often see them to the level that they do damage like they did this year, with the bronzing fruit. It’s never been a concern because they’ve never damaged the crop.”
Raspberry growers will have an increase in levies from one cent to two cents per pound— the first in close to 10 years.
Strawberries had a difficult season. The early crop was disappointing and the later crop was just “okay” according to Bergen.
Blueberries were disappointing as well. Mutz notes the interest in exporting blueberries to foreign markets has cooled somewhat as growers don’t want to commit to the handpicking required.
“Scorch virus in blueberries is still the ongoing issue,” he says. “Of all the crops, I think blueberries had the toughest go. The yield wasn’t there and the market wasn’t there.”
Blueberries were small which contributed to the low yield, but the quality of the berries was good.
Shortage of agricultural workers
Growth in a berry black horse?
As a fringe crop, blackberries are doing well. It is a specialty, hand-picked berry, but for those willing to make the effort, there could be potential.
“We had a good crop,” Bergen says. “If we could find a processed variety that would machine harvest and still keep the quality, I think that would entice some people to jump on board.”
He says pricing for frozen blackberries was above average.
Cranberry receiving stations swamped
Cranberries saw a good harvest according to Mike Wallis, executive director with the BC Cranberry Growers Association.
“It was the highest volume in five years,” he says. “The receiving stations were swamped and backed up this year.”
The warm, dry weather improved pollination and made for a good crop, but growers without reliable irrigation were challenged.
Water woes
Mutz highlights the summer’s good growing conditions, but notes the anxiety among growers due to government requests to cut water usage by 50 percent. In August, the Lower Mainland region reached drought level 5.
“I hope people tried as much as possible,” he says.
Will you continue to grow fruit this next season?
Stone fruit dependent upon location
Steven Souto, president of Steve and Dan’s Fresh BC Fruit felt that peaches were impacted due to drier weather.
“We started having complaints on peaches,” he says. “The last picking of every variety was drier. You would have to sell them within two to three days of picking; it was a very weird year.”
While pricing on the stone fruits was “fair” in his estimation, he is seeing a problem in nectarines.
“There’s a disease. A lot of the nectarine trees are dying,” he says. “And there’s the problem that you can’t get trees. The wait list is forever.”
His apricots were hit by hail and sustained minor damage, but it seemed confined to the south Okanagan.
Storms hit apples
For Parm Dhaliwal, hail in the South Okanagan caused damage in apples.
“Our family’s been farming here a long time, I’ve never seen a hail event that late,” he says. “That was isolated, but you see these events happening.”
Souto says it’s too early to tell how his apple crop will shape up and whether there will be smoke damage, but so far, it looks good.
“I think the pears look great too,” he says.
Poor for table grapes
Table grape growers were impacted in similar ways, though at lesser degrees, to wine grape growers and Alan Wikenheiser who does field work for the Okanagan Table Grape Growers Association says yields were about a third of what they’ve been in previous years.
“It was a very, very poor season,” he says. “We’ve had three difficult winters. We’re not even sure if some of the effects of last year will come out further down the road.”
While table grapes are hardy and don’t have a lot of pests, growers are facing the same challenges as other fruit growers.
“The quantity was down so bad and costs have gotten out of hand,” he says. “It’s very labour intensive. A lot of hand work.”
Cherries face fruit fly worm
If growers missed their control sprays, fruit fly worm was a major issue in cherries, Souto says. Fortunately, he hit his timing right and the biggest issue was an overabundance of fruit.
“A lot went to juice, more than normal because it was such a heavy crop, the trees weren’t doing as well,” he says. “Pricing was good for us because of the volume, but it goes along with the U.S. market and at the end of the season the U.S. market dropped like crazy.”
Dhaliwal’s cherry crop was lighter than usual because of the December cold snap, but fruit quality was good, without the rains that often cause splitting.
“It was of good quality, but the market was saturated,” he says. “I feel like the price that the grocery stores got wasn’t reflected.”