Karnail Singh Sidhu, an Okanagan grape grower with over two decades of experience, contends that crop insurance does not adequately cover losses due to climate-related disasters like wildfires and extreme weather conditions. He cites a recent instance where 15 tonnes of grapes were affected by smoke from fires in the Summerland area, reducing their commercial value despite appearing fine on the vine. Jeff Guignard, CEO of the BC Wine Growers Association, echoes Sidhu’s concerns, noting that insurance payouts often fall short of covering actual operational costs due to a production history model that penalizes farmers for multiple consecutive bad years.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
For Okanagan grape grower Karnail Singh Sidhu, farming has always meant accepting something he cannot control.
asserted
he → mean → something
The weather can bring extreme heat, cold, drought, hail, or wildfire smoke, and any one of those can wipe out a crop or make grapes impossible to sell.
asserted
grapes → bring → crop
But Sidhu says what is becoming harder to accept is what happens after the damage: trying to recover with an insurance payout he says does not reflect the true cost of farming.
asserted
he → say → farming
“Agriculture is relying lots on nature.
asserted
Agriculture → rely → nature
There are lots of stuff we cannot control,” Sidhu said.
asserted
Sidhu → be → stuff
“It can be too hot, too cold, too much rain, not enough rain, smoke, and we have hails.
asserted
we → have → hails
It’s all which is not in our control.”
asserted
which → ’ → control
Pasted markdown
Sidhu has been in the wine industry since 1995 and has farmed his current vineyard for more than two decades.
asserted
Sidhu → paste → decades
He says he’s seen the impact firsthand when a cold spell severely damaged the crop.
asserted
spell → say → crop
This year, he is dealing with another problem: wildfire smoke.
asserted
he → deal → problem
About 15 tonnes of grapes at one of his vineyards were affected by smoke from fires in the Summerland area, according to Sidhu.
uncertain
tonnes → affect → Sidhu
The grapes can still look and taste fine on the vine, but the smoke taste compounds during fermentation, potentially making the crop commercially unusable.
asserted
crop → look → fermentation
Jeff Guignard, CEO of the BC Wine Growers Association, says that is happening across parts of the Okanagan.
asserted
that → say → Okanagan
Get daily National news
“Because we’ve had a few climate events, the evaluation they’re doing right now is suggesting the wineries make less and in turn the pay-outs are below the actual operation costs” said Guignard.
asserted
Guignard → get → costs
“A crop can still be hanging on the vine, but I’ve lost its commercial value if it’s been impacted by smoke,” he added.
asserted
he → hang → smoke
And that’s where growers say the insurance model is falling short.
asserted
model → ’ → ?
Production insurance uses a grower’s production history to help determine how much they are covered for.
asserted
they → use → much
But growers say that becomes a problem when several climate disasters happen in succession.
asserted
disasters → say → succession
A bad year lowers production.
asserted
year → lower → production
Then another bad year lowers it again.
asserted
year → lower → it
And when the grower eventually makes a claim, those previous losses can be part of the historical record used to determine coverage.
uncertain
losses → make → coverage
Sidhu says that is exactly what worries him.
asserted
what → say → him
He says insurance payouts may account for the damaged plant, but not the years of production that are lost while a replacement vine grows.
uncertain
vine → say → production
“I get paid for one year; nobody count that we lose crop for next three years,” Sidhu said.
asserted
Sidhu → pay → years
“I get only paid for the plant.
asserted
I → pay → plant
That plant come to the fruit takes time, that cost money.
asserted
that → come → money
And I lose crop from three years from that plant too.
asserted
I → lose → plant
Nobody compensate that.”
asserted
Nobody → compensate → that
Sidhu says the difference between the payout and the actual cost can be substantial.
asserted
difference → say → payout
For a damaged plant, he says he may receive around $10 to $12, while bringing a replacement vine to fruit-bearing age can cost more than $50 or $60.
uncertain
bringing → damage → 50
Growers also say smoke-tainted grapes can create another financial problem: contracts with wineries can be cancelled when fruit is no longer commercially viable.
asserted
fruit → say → wineries
And under the production-insurance rules described by growers, grapes that are claimed under the program must be harvested and destroyed rather than being sold for another use, creating additional labour and disposal costs.
Guignard says the issue is ultimately whether an insurance model based on historical losses can keep up with a climate where extreme events are becoming harder to treat as isolated incidents.
“The evaluation they’re doing right now is suggesting historical losses are less reliable at predicting those future claims,” he said.
uncertain
he → describe → claims
He says the association wants a transparent review involving growers, with coverage based on current production capacity and risk modelling that reflects changing conditions.
asserted
that → say → conditions
“We need a financially sustainable programme that provides a meaningful protection for our growers so that they can recover from this loss and continue to farm again in the future,” Guignard said.
asserted
Guignard → need → future
He says farmers learn to live with uncertainty, and find other ways to pay the bills when the crop doesn’t come through.
asserted
crop → say → bills
“I have to do something else to pay the bank,” he said.
asserted
he → have → bank
“If I have to drive a cab, I drive a car to pay my payment.
asserted
I → have → payment
That’s how farmers do.
asserted
farmers → ’ → ?
They always have something to subsidise that farming.”
asserted
They → have → farming
Sidhu says he keeps farming because he believes in what he does.
asserted
he → say → what
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
