B.C. orchards and vineyards to get $70M to replant after disastrous weather

PENTICTON, B.C. — The British Columbia government says farmers will get an extra $70 million to replant and strengthen fruit orchards and vineyards after two years of weather-related disasters.

Premier David Eby says the funding will boost the province’s existing $15 million Perennial Crop Renewal Program, launched last spring to help more than 200 farmers replace diseased and unproductive plants.

Speaking at a wine industry conference in Penticton, Eby says the new funding will help about 1,000 more producers revitalize their farms.

B.C.’s wine grape growers say a cold snap in January destroyed up to 99 per cent of the province’s harvest, a devastating blow that followed another crippling deep freeze in 2022 and wildfire smoke damage in 2021.