BC Farmers face uncertainty about reimbursement for washed-out crops

Fall rains devastated potato and vegetable crops across the Fraser Valley, BC and now producers face uncertainty about how much the government is going to help them.

The soggy September was disastrous for many farmers. Peter Schouten of Heppell’s Potato Corp. said they were the worst losses he has seen in 17 years as a farm owner. The largest producer in Abbotsford, he plants 650 acres of potatoes on Sumas Prairie, and lost about 30 per cent of it, worth about $2 million. In October, the provincial agriculture ministry announced it had put together a nine-person working group to address the losses, but questions remain.

Rob Butler of the B.C. Potato and Vegetable Growers Association, said producers have received money from crop insurance – for those who had it.

The AgriStability program will also reimburse farmers, but that income stabilization, administered by the province, is slow in coming. Some farmers need help now to afford to plant this spring.

The AgriRecovery program is a joint federal/provincial program designed to compensate farmers in the event of natural disasters such as droughts, floods or disease.

It is triggered by the provincial government, which then pays 40 per cent of the assistance, and the federal government pays the remaining 60 per cent.

“We’re still pushing for that,” said Butler. “I don’t know why the (provincial) government is reluctant.”