FOOD SECURITY STRATEGY DRAFT
2.1.2 Agriculture The City of Penticton has a considerable amount of land dedicated to agriculture. There are 672 hectares irrigated using city water on 298 properties.14 Of Penticton’s 4,447 hectares, there are 1,341 hectares of land zoned Agricultural as well as 839 hectares within the ALR. Refer to Figure 2.3 which shows Penticton’s land base and agricultural land designations. There are 24 wineries in Penticton, up from 12 in 2005, when the Penticton Agricultural Plan was done. Refer to Figure 2.1 and Figure 2.2 which shows the number and locations of wineries in Penticton.15 Although the Strategy did not include a thorough review of current agricultural production within Penticton city limits, it is possible to comment on cultivation trends in the surrounding electoral areas using 2016 agricultural census information. In Electoral Areas D, E, and F, which immediately border Penticton, there are Many farms grow fruit 563 farms. Electoral Area D is to the while only about one fifth southeast of Penticton and includes of farms raise livestock or Okanagan Falls. Electoral E is to the grow vegetables. northeast and includes Naramata, while Area F is to the northwest, bordering Penticton IR # 1 and Summerland.16 Between 2011 and 2016 the number of farms in Areas D and E decreased slightly while in Area F the number increased marginally. About 10% of farms in 2016 raised cattle, 10% grew vegetables, and a small number of operations raised animals, raised chickens for meat and eggs, and grew hay. 17 Most farms however are fruit and tree nut farms, which includes vineyards. In both Areas D and E, most fruit and nut tree producing acres are in grape production. 19 In Area F a larger proportion are in apple production. However, in all three areas the number of farms producing apples decreased. This could be due to very low apple prices in recent years, a challenge which has been noted in community engagement and by other sources.20 In Electoral Area D, the number of grape growing farms and acres in grape production increased significantly. At the same time the number of acres of apples declined by more than a quarter and acres of all other fruit or nut trees reduced by 14%.
Information provided by City of Penticton. Only wineries with attached vineyards have been included as the analysis relates to agricultural land use. 16 There was no information available for Area I to the southwest. 17 Statistics Canada. Table 32-10-0403-01 Farms classified by farm type 19 Statistics Canada. Table 32-10-0417-01 Fruits, berries and nuts 20 “Last Days for BC’s Apple Industry?”. The Tyee. https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/01/08/Last-Days-BC-AppleIndustry/ 14 15
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