Bumper strawberry crop in Prince George has farmer pursuing extra pickers

Prince George may not be known as a berry hotspot when compared to the Fraser Valley or California, but one farm has grown so many strawberries this season they needed extra pickers to get them all.

Andrew Adams of Hope Farm Organics says a magical alchemy of frost-free nights and sunshine has resulted in a bumper crop of strawberries than can rival his mechanized, non-organic counterparts.

"They usually produce about 3,000 pounds per acre," said Adams to host Wil Fundal on CBC's Daybreak North. 

"We're going to beat that about a third, possibly even doubling the production this year."

Adams, who is halfway through his harvest, had to recruit extra pickers — university students from the University of Northern British Columbia who are associated with a student-run farm on campus.

"You need to have a strong back, a small mind and be able to withstand very uncomfortable conditions," he said. "We live in an area with lots of mosquitos and the rain isn't fun."

Adams says not only are there many more strawberries than normal, the heavy rain means the berries have to be picked as soon as possible in order to prevent them from rotting. 

"It's all hands on deck and picking everything all day where we usually used to pick every two days to every three days," he said.

Once the strawberry crop is picked, however, there's more crops to tend to — like heirloom tomatoes.

"We're going to have a pretty big harvest this year," Adams said.

Similar issue across B.C. farms

Other fruit farmers in the Fraser Valley and the Okanagan are also struggling to find enough pickers to gather this year's harvest. 

Rhonda Driediger, of Driediger Farms in Fort Langley, B.C., said berry farmers have been planning out the season and introducing protocols for workers and for people who want to come out for "U-pick" operations.

She said late rain has meant fewer blueberries, which isn't exactly bad news when workers are in slim supply.

"During blossom, we had some bad weather and so the crop size now is more manageable for us — around 160 million pounds," she said.

Sukhdeep Brar, who owns a 100-acre orchard in Summerland, B.C., also said there are fewer pickers available this year because of COVID-19. Some are afraid to travel and others are unable to get to B.C. because of border closures.

"Usually at this point, I have 80 to 90 people call and ask when cherry picking is starting. I think I've had four people call," said Brar earlier this month. He has been looking to attract locals for the job.