Cherry prices have plummeted, leaving some growers with little choice but to leave their crops unpicked. Okanagan fruit grower Nick Kiran says he can barely get by.
"Even if it's a dollar you can survive," Kiran said. "But 40 cents? You're locked away in a hole in a dungeon. It's a very, very precarious situation."
Kiran says it is not worth harvesting, despite the fact that he is sat on a 50,000 pound crop this year.
Fellow farmer Kirpal Bopari, president of the BC Fruit Growers Association, is calling on the government to step in with subsidies.
"It makes me sick to my stomach," he said. "This is a whole year’s work going down the drain."
He points out the subsidies competitors from the Washington cherry industry have received, for example, over $100 million for workers housing over the past nine years. It is things such as this which have helped push the prices down.
The BC government is having none of it though. It says it has already provided millions of dollars worth of support and no subsidies will be forthcoming.
"The province does not support subsidy programs," said MLA Ben Stewart, a former agriculture minister. "It’s an unfortunate situation but a certain amount of diversity in farming is the responsibility of a sharp, shrewd operator."
