August

Greenbelt Disaster

JAN YATES, SCA

oil on canvas

8x12in

Smouldering anger in the vineyard

Posted By Monique Beech, Standard Staff

Updated 1 month ago

A smouldering pile of recently-pulled grapevines matched the burning frustration of a group of grape growers who say their livelihood is on the brink of collapse.
The owner of the recently razed vineyard on Pelham Road in St. Catharines decided to pull out 20 acres of wine grapes after losing a contract with a major winery last month.
Watching the smoke from the vine fire fill the chilly air Thursday morning, neighbour and fellow grower Don Wiley said it’s tragic.
Last fall, he watched his own 150 acres of unsold grapes wither on the vine without a buyer after spending a season tending to his crop.
“To say the least, we’re bleeding and we’re bleeding bad,” said Wiley, 75, a St. Catharines grower who joined a handful of others for an informal rally in front of the vacant vineyard.
“If the tourniquet doesn’t come, we’re done. A whole lifetime of equity is gone in one fell swoop.”
Wiley isn’t alone.
About 4,000 tonnes of uncontracted grapes went unsold last year.
In November, the provincial government stepped in with a $4-million program and bought about 2,300 tonnes of these grapes from 79 growers.
This year, growers expect the grape surplus to be even bigger. Most wineries have full tanks of stock after several big harvests.
Wiley has decided to fight back. He’s started a grassroots movement called Ontario Greenbelt Disaster.
Wiley, who runs his 8th Avenue vineyard with his son, David, said if the government brought in the greenbelt legislation to perserve farmland, it needs to support farmers.
Wiley and other growers say the province needs to address several issues, including:
• Changing the amount of Ontario grapes that go into cellared in Canada or blended wines. Currently, wineries with licences that predate the North American Free Trade Agreement can use up to 70 per cent foreign grapes in their blended wines under the provincially-controlled Wine Content Act.
• Increase the amount of Ontario wine sold in Ontario to at least 50 per cent. Currently, Ontario wines make up about 43 per cent of the market.
• More retail outlets besides the LCBO, the farmgate and wineries to sell wine.
For the last six months, the Grape Growers of Ontario and the Wine Council of Ontario have worked to try and address some of these long-standing industry problems and make recommendations to the province on how to fix them.
The group’s joint report is expected to go to government in a few days.
Grape growers chairman Bill George could not be reached for comment.
St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley said his government is awaiting the report from GGO and the WCO: the offiical representatives of grape growers and wineries.
Bradley said he’s aware of long-standing concerns in the industry, and the many differing views of how to fix it. The government is ready to hear any recommendations, he said.
“We’ll give it full consideration and implement anything that can be implemented,” Bradley said.
Jordan grape grower Ian Johnston, 35, said he hopes solutions come quick.
The former juice grape grower pulled out more than 100 acres of vines after the Cadbury Schweppes juice plant in St. Catharines closed two years ago. He’s been searching for a winery contract ever since — and would like one before planting wine grapes, which cost about $25,000 per acre to put in the ground.
If things don’t improve, growers will go bankrupt and be forced to sell their land, he said.
“It’s a crisis situation,” said Johnston, a third-generation grower who has been renting out his 7th Avenue property for cash crops to survive.
“Guys can’t just keep growing grapes to put them on the ground. It would be like a guy going to work at GM and doing all the work for a year and getting no income at the end of a year.”