Unseasonably cold weather hurting budding crops, say B.C. cherry farmers

Cherry farmers in B.C.'s Okanagan region say they're worried about the survival of their crops after many of their budding trees have been exposed to frosts that are unusual for this time of year, causing many buds to die before they even produce fruit.

Sukhpaul Bal, a cherry farmer and president of the B.C. Cherry Association, says at this time of year the tree buds have opened, and that if the parts of the blossom that fertilize the stamen freeze over, then a cherry will never grow.

"It's a tense time for everybody because … we rely on these crops to sell down the road and make our livings, and if we suffer damage right from the get-go, it really puts us behind in crop volume," Bal said, adding that any temperature below zero degrees in the spring could cause a lot of damage.

He said he's heard from many farmers in the region who are concerned because of the damage they're starting to see in their trees this year.

The Okanagan fruit industry has also been impacted the last couple years by fewer farm workers and fruit pickers due to COVID-19, and last year's sweltering heat wave over Western Canada, which scorched up to 70 per cent of the region's cherry crops.

Crops away from water the most vulnerable

Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Sehkon told CBC Wednesday that a colder-than-usual arctic air mass is currently pushing down over most of the province and the rest of Canada, causing daytime temperatures to drop to significantly lower than what they would be in April, and even breaking records in some parts of southern B.C. 

Sehkon explained that recent turbulent weather — like high winds, lightning, and hail in parts of the Interior, the Lower Mainland, and on Vancouver Island — is caused by warm air rising to the sun, while cold air sinks to the bottom.

In the Okanagan, Environment Canada meteorologist Doug Lundquist said daytime temperatures this week have been six to eight degrees cooler than what is normal for the region, with overnight lows reaching to as low as -4 C in areas away from bodies of water. 

"We're worried about the orchard crops (that) are mostly away from [Okanagan] lake," said Lundquist. "Toward the airport it's pretty chilly."

Lundquist said that temperatures should rise to their usual levels by the end of the long weekend. 

In the meantime, Bal said, some cherry farmers have been using helicopters to force higher, warmer air down toward the cherry tree canopies. 

"I've seen a change in temperature of [up to] a degree and a half when the helicopter passes," he explained. 

Bal said the last time major trouble with the weather arose was in 2020, when a prolonged January arctic air mass dropped temperatures to around -20 C and significantly damaged many of the cherry crops for the rest of the year.