Flood destruction could require farmers hundreds of millions of dollars, B.C. Agriculture Council states

Key takeaways: 

• It could require as long as a year for some fields to start working again, the council president says. 
• Trash scatters a path in the Sumas Prairie flood region in Abbotsford, B.C., on Nov. 22.

Farms destroyed by floods in BC: 

The path to improvement for B.C. tenants will be long and costly, according to the president of the B.C. Agriculture Council.  

“I think we’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars of damage,” stated Stan Vanderwaal of the destruction created by recent catastrophic flooding in southwest B.C., particularly in the agricultural sector of the Fraser Valley.  Source – cbc.ca

Sumas Prairie, which involves a large swath of East Abbotsford, has been under an expulsion order since Nov. 16 due to the floods, which were triggered by important rain. 

Vanderwaal stated while he assumes some fields could probably find a way to work again within a period or so, others will likely take between six months to a year to fully resume. 

Numerous farmers have been unable to revert to their farms. Those that have been turning to huge destruction, told Vanderwaal. 

Also read: Trudeau declares a committee to develop flood restoration aims in B.C.

He said he talked to a tenant who had 600 acres of produce in the ground that had yet to be collected and is now lost after being sunken for over a week. 

The B.C. Dairy Association lately stated that about 500 cattle died in the Fraser Valley flooding, based on a preceding evaluation. They said this figure could rise. 

In enhancement to suffering crops and animals, several farmers have lost precious technology, much of which includes electrical elements that don’t react well to water destruction. 

“Things that may work now, in the future will also become problematic because once they’re wet, of course, there is an end-of-life a lot quicker on that kind of technology,” Vanderwaal stated.  Source – cbc.ca