Province says recovery may take longer for some B.C. farms as flood support funds start being issued

The province says cheques have already been handed out to some agricultural operations in B.C. that were devastated by last fall’s floods, as part of a $228-million recovery program. While the government is still processing applications, the agriculture minister said Saturday not all farms will likely be able to get producing again this year.

It’s been almost two weeks since since a new federal and provincial funding program was announced, aimed at supporting farmers as they rebuild from the floodwaters that surged during November storms, turning fields in Abbotsford’s Sumas Prairie into lakes.

Up to $228 million is being made available through the Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security program, and Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said cheques were sent out within days of the announcement.

“There will be some applications that will take probably the next year to complete, but we will be able to make payments in the meantime,” she said. “There will be some farms, of course, that will not be able to be producing this year. Some farms may take up to three years. We’ve got some replanting that needs to be done in the blueberry sector, we’ve got buildings that need to be rebuilt in the livestock sector.”

Popham could not provide the exact number of applications received so far, but said an updated figure may become available this coming week.

“I can say that a lot of work has been done. There’s barns that had significant damage that did rebuild ... already. They’re in the process of being paid out for the expenses they incurred,” she said. “There’s soil assessments being done right now for our field crops. Preliminary results of contamination (assessments) on those fields and of that soil is that there looks to be little contamination. So we’re encouraged by that.”

At the peak of the floods, over 1,100 farms were under evacuation order or alert, and it’s estimated the agricultural sector suffered losses of about $285 million. In total, 15,000 hectares were impacted by the floods.

Popham said there’s still a lot of work ahead, but added that her ministry has received some positive feedback so far and considers the program “a success.”

“There’s a lot of money to move, and there’s a lot of rebuilding to do,” she said. “I know people are exhausted, but I think that the announcement of some recovery money was able to give them some hope.”

The funds are meant to help farmers with expenses for the cleanup and restoration of land, and the repairing of infrastructure. The amount each farm gets will depend on individual circumstances.