Later crops mean the Okanagan industry isn’t competing directly with the huge Washington State cherry crop, which matures earlier.
G.P. Sandher Holdings Ltd. Company has applied to the Black Mountain Irrigation District to get water to 1,000 acres of its land, 80% of which is likely to be planted in cherries, district manager Bob Hrasko stated. That has triggered an application by the water district to the province to extend its boundaries east of Black Knight Mountain so it can provide water to the orchards.
That is still waiting final approval by the province. In the meantime, Hrasko said, the owners are trying to get a temporary water system in place.
The BC Ministry of Agriculture reported, that the acreage for apples in British Columbia fell to 7,454 in 2022 from 8,728 in 2018. That's a drop of almost 1,300 acres over five years. Almost 1,000 of those losses were in the Okanagan Valley, dropping acreage there to 5,665 acres as of last year.
Source: infotel.ca