Okanagan tree fruit sector headed for early start to season

Mar 13, 2026 | 3:57 PM

The more temperate winter means local tree fruits could be available a little sooner in the Okanagan this year.

That’s according to Kirk Kemp, one of the owners of both B.C. Tree Fruits and Algoma Farms.

“It’s been quite a bit warmer than normal, and there’s some early signs of green tip in some of the cherries, and I even had a grower I talked to this morning who had green tip on apples, which I was surprised [about],” Kemp told Vernon Matters.

“That’s a couple, three weeks earlier than normal. It was a cool week this week, so nothing moved much I would say, so if it cools back down it’s probably okay, but it’s got the making of an earlier start. I don’t think we’re ever going to get away with a traditional start this year. With no snow, the soil is warmer than normal, but I think it’s going to be an earlier start.”

As of Friday, March 13, Kemp said the buds we’re looking good on the Okanagan tree fruits so far, as the mild winter helped the plants recover from a strong harvest in 2025.

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Though it appears this could be an early season, Kemp did note that it’s not an exact science and would depend on the conditions in the months to come.

“Once a tree gets active, any little surge of temperature they just push against. They don’t ever retract, they just move, stop, move some more,” Kemp said.

“So it is concerning that it is this early, but the next month is crucial. If it’s above temperature, [the trees will grow] too fast, if it’s average and below it will just slow things down and probably just get closer to normal, but I would suspect that it’s going to be hard to have an average start.”

He also warned that, if the trees do progress and indicate an early growing season, another cold snap could have serious consequences.

“The most vulnerable time is when apple trees are in bloom,” Kemp said.

“The can only take -2° C, so if they’re too far advanced and you get your normal weather and it’s early then your chances of getting a -3° C to -6° C a couple nights, and that’s when you can run into trouble.

“You’ve probably seen that there’s a number of [growers] that have got those frost fans out in the farms. That can help mitigate it, but [the risk persists] as they can only move the temperature two to three degrees so they’re not miracle workers, but they assist.”

Aside from that risk, however, Kemp said there were no other real downsides to an early start to the growing season, stating it would not affect the volume of fruit produced.

The B.C. Tree Fruit representative also said another concern was the lack of precipitation this winter.

“There was such little snow this winter that the soil moisture is quite low and [growers] will probably have to start irrigating much earlier,” Kemp explained.

“With the low snowpack in the mountains, there will probably be some restrictions on the water they can get, so when they need more they will probably get stuck with less.”

Kemp told Vernon Matters that growers were already preparing for another dry spring and summer and were developing plans for conserving water.

He also said the Okanagan fruit sector had a good opportunity to leverage a strong yield this season to sell to Canadians who are trying to avoid the prices and availability of imported foods in the midst of the ongoing trade war with the United States.

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by Liam Verster

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