Fred Steele
This will be my last column as the President of the BCFGA. After four years as President, I have seen first hand how much the BCFGA is really involved in the lives of the members and the community as a whole.
I was reflecting on the changes the association brought to the community since its inception.
I think of the jobs that were created and the political battles fought and the course the industry followed until it reached its current place. Then it struck me. What might be different if the BCFGA was never formed?
Most don’t realize the industry didn’t start in the Okanagan; it had its beginnings in the Lower Mainland. The first BCFGA Board of Directors didn’t have a single farmer on it. The leadership was made up of real estate people and land developers. It started with David Oppenheimer, the Mayor of Vancouver and founder of the international fruit and vegetable broker sporting his name. The first President was J.M. Browning, the land commissioner for CP Rail.
What prompted the formation of the BCFGA? The first apple shipment heading east. It went from Chilliwack to Winnipeg in 1899. Fruit production, harvesting and transportation were going to be profitable, not to mention the sale of land to the growing industry.
Apples had come to the Okanagan in the mid-1800s with Father Pandosy who planted them at his mission in what is now Kelowna. In 1892 the Aberdeen’s planted thirteen thousand acres in the valley from orchards in Kelowna to Coldstream. In 1867 apples were in production in the Similkameen Valley.
The biggest problem facing growers is one we have even today; water. There is conflicting credit given as to who first thought of going into the mountains and damming the creeks and streams to develop the lakes that would supply irrigation water to the valley below. Some claim it was the Aberdeens and others give credit to John Rutland in the early nineteen hundreds.
When I look around I think, this area would look so much different had the industry not taken root, both in terms of the economic impact of tree fruit production and the infrastructure that was built to sustain the new industry. The BCFGA was the power house that brought the change to the valley. The list of development looms large. Here are a few:
At one time there were 64 packinghouses as the BCFGA brought SunRype into production to get some value out of the cull apples.
BC Tree Fruits, the Marketing Division of the BCFGA, was formed as a Depression-era solution to marketing issues.
In order to transport fruit out of the valley the infrastructure required was monumental. Paddle wheelers plied the waters of Okanagan Lake to take fruit to the railheads in Vernon and Kelowna. These transportation links breathed life into towns like Summerland, Peachland, Naramata, Okanagan Centre, and at the time the biggest Okanagan Landing at the head of the lake. The big boats were assembled in Vernon.
The railroad extension to Kelowna reduced the need for paddle wheel traffic, but the train and the building of new highways saw transportation needs change. The barges to Penticton took boxcars south right into the 1970s.
The BCFGA had clout, with 2500 members strong and thousands of acres in production. This continued until the sixties when the Columbia River Treaty was signed between Canada and the United States. The treaty established the procedures for the US to ask Canadians to control the flow of water, for flood control and hydro power. At that time the industry on both sides of the border produced about twelve million boxes of apples each. Today BC produces about three million boxes, Washington produces one hundred sixty million boxes.
When you think about it the BCFGA and its ability to lobby government saved the tree fruit industry from extinction. It advocated for and got Farm Income Insurance (now defunct) and Replant Programs, the Sterile Insect Release Program, and other important programs that allowed the industry to retool to meet market demands.
The BCFGA became the go to voice for governments when talking about horticulture issues and program plans. The BCFGA supports research and development, though today there are other important players such as the BC Cherry Association. One of the biggest achievements was the development company Summerland Varieties Corporation. The company owned by the BCFGA administers the intellectual property rights for a number of apple and cherry varieties around the world. These include the Ambrosia apple and nearly eighty percent of the commercial varieties of cherries.
The BCFGA is involved in community events and seminars, and we often host foreign dignitaries who come to offer their workers in our marketplace. We are invited to round tables to listen and give input on everything from finance to trade. We have participants on the boards of directors on umbrella associations such as the BC Agriculture Council, and the Canadian Horticultural Council.
Many of our Presidents developed into great leaders and held the confidence of politicians for both representing the industry and being credible and trusted. An outstanding example of BCFGA leadership is the late Joe Sardinha, who everyone in agriculture, including Agriculture Ministers, knew as “Joe”. If you said “Joe” on the national agriculture scene, from cattle to grain to dairy to fruits and vegetables, people knew it was Joe Sardinha.
Looking back, one of the greatest achievements was bringing the next generation of growers into the fold by changing some of the rules in how we govern ourselves. And out of the chaos of a few years ago the BCFGA found a leader who I think would make a President who will have impact and leave a lasting impression in the minds of those in government and agriculture circles. I speak of Pinder Dahliwal. Over the last four years Pinder has learned what it takes to lead in prime time.
There comes a time to say goodbye and make a graceful exit, and on February 16th I will do just that.
It is a time to reflect, and to thank the members of the BCFGA for having confidence in me. It is a humbling experience that was renewed each year. The election campaigns were long ones too, running from mid-November to February.
I would like to thank the BCFGA Office Staff and especially Glen Lucas, BCFGA General Manager, for without his advice and dedication, this industry would not have made the strides it did. I would also like to sincerely thank Lisa Olson of this publication, Orchard & Vine, for the generous column space she provided and the patience she had sending me a note that simply read “Column? Deadline Friday”.
The time has come for me to join those Presidents before me, at least forty of them, in stepping aside to make way for the next generation to take the mantle of leadership and take the BCFGA to new heights we never thought possible. Thank you all
