It’s often been said that in spring, a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of love. But at this time of the year, my attention drifts into local orchards. The Rolkes first took up fruit farming in the Okanagan Valley in the 1920s and it sustained the family for almost seven decades. One of my fondest momentos is a picture of my grandpa carrying me around in a picking bag. And once I reached a certain age, I was shown how to gently nudge a ladder inside a tree without bruising the fruit. Picking fruit, and all of the related activities, was the only job I had until I decided to pick up pen and notepad. I bring all of this up because agriculture appears to be on the political agenda again. In the last few weeks, there’s been debate at both Vernon and Coldstream councils about the Agricultural Land Reserve or the “freeze” as it’s also known. While previous Vernon mayors have appeared bent on nothing but development, Mayor Wayne Lippert has followed a different path. While a majority of council recently agreed to forward a Bella Vista Road application to the Agricultural Land Commission, Lippert disagreed with possible removal of the site from the ALR. "We get blamed lots for promoting it (farm land) to come out of the ALR and we want to urbanize everything," he said. And just a few weeks later, Coldstream council actually did something unusual in local politics. It refused to send two applications to the ALC to have land taken out of the reserve. Mayor Gary Corner said the decision to not forward the applications to the commission signals a more cautious approach from council. “I just think there’s a feeling that we don’t want to split up any more agricultural land into smaller parcels.” While these examples are positive, farm land still isn’t safe. Just the fact that Coldstream has extended sewer lines into areas of orchards and pastures means there could be increased pressure to develop those areas. After all, you can’t connect apple trees to a sewer line so residential construction makes the project more feasible. Beyond land, the other aspect of agriculture dominating politics is the Sterile Insect Release program. There’s absolutely no question that attempts to control the codling moth’s impact on the commercial apple crop have been expensive. It has hit all taxpayers hard, including orchardists. But I continue to support the program as a way of reducing harmful chemical sprays in our environment. Less pesticides also mean orchardists have a better chance of marketing their product to health-conscious consumers. There’s been some question as to why municipal taxpayers should help fund SIR, but the reasons are simple. Among them is the reality that backyard apple trees pose a threat to commercial crops so us urbanites have a responsibility towards growers. There is also the fact that the ALR has limited a grower’s ability to use their land for non-agricultural activities. While we see farms as green space, it’s their financial livelihood. As long as we insist on freezing agricultural land, British Columbians have a role to play in ensuring agricultural operations are viable. On top of this, farmers provide us with top quality produce right here at home. Unless we want to depend on foreign nations for our food, then we need to stand behind our farmers. In the end, agriculture continues to play a major role in our economy, whether it is tourism, equipment sales or farm workers purchasing groceries. And no matter the tone of the debate, at least our elected officials are talking about agriculture. That means they’ve haven’t forgot about it.
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