Rising Costs

The costs of fruit farming continue to increase, but unfortunately orchardists’ income has not risen accordingly. Therefore, many orchardists are now cutting down their trees. In the 1970s in the Okanagan Valley, there were over 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) planted in fruit trees. By 2001, that number had dropped to about 7,200 hectares (1,779 acres). Part of this reduction is due to the fact that the prices fruit farmers are getting for their apples are not rising with their costs. For example, in the early 1900s, orchardists earned a few cents for each pound (.45 kilogram) of apples. In 2000, they were only getting 5 or 6 cents a pound for some varieties. There are government programs in place to help the orchardists, but many fruit tree growers are still opting out of the orchard business altogether. Apple farmers in the Okanagan have encountered many obstacles over the past century. But most orchardists have been hardy individuals who have overcome many hurdles to help make the Okanagan Valley the apple bin of British Columbia.