Farms across Quebec hold open houses on Sunday on the back of a disastrous season

Quebec's agricultural producers are struggling to recover from a "catastrophic" season due to the heavy rains that fell on the province this summer.

However, many of them will open their doors to the public on Sunday. More than 50 producers across Quebec will be ready to welcome consumers to discuss their trade, showcase their products or offer pick-your-own, for example, at the "Eat Local" open house.

"There's also a whole section on sustainable development - the environment is important," said Martin Caron, President of the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), which is organizing the open house.

There will be educational activities for children, as well as inflatable games on some sites.

Caron believes that public interest in buying local is still high.

"Since the pandemic, we've set up an application," he said. "This app allows consumers to find out which farms are open to people who want to buy their produce directly on the spot."

As far as the open days are concerned, the public can consult the list of businesses taking part in the event by region on the UPA website.

However, Quebec farmers are still feeling the impact of the unfavourable weather of recent months.

"We're not out of the woods for the season this year, as far as farming is concerned. It's really catastrophic," said Caron. "Squash, pumpkin and bean crops are among those that have suffered from the weather."

"With the impact we had in July, with the rain that fell and then continued to fall even into August, it led to mould, among other things," he explained. "All that water that came in caused diseases in the produce. We're still working on that."

The large amounts of rain have also made it more difficult to store products such as potatoes because of the greater risk of mould.

PROGRAMS NEEDED

Producers remain concerned about the months ahead, said Caron, pointing out that a number of farmers have carried out work and thus made additional investments in an attempt to prevent their crops from going to waste.

"I think that, yes, there are new technologies, but it's going to take really well-adapted programs," said Caron.

In August, the Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ) set up a special working group to take stock of the situation of producers affected by the summer's bad weather.

On Friday, MAPAQ announced that the Financière agricole du Québec (FADQ) would be making a number of changes to the emergency assistance measure announced in May to help farmers affected by inflation.

The FADQ is removing the requirement to have a turnover of $1.5 million or less to access financial assistance, and "producers anticipating a negative margin for the 2023 season could apply for a loan guarantee of up to $50,000 in order to have access to liquidity," reads a press release issued by the ministry.

On Friday, the UPA welcomed MAPAQ's decision but called for applications to the emergency initiative to be processed more quickly.

"It will also be necessary to respond more directly to the crying financial needs of the thousands of farms that are suffering heavy losses and are having great difficulty coping with the consequences of inflation, soaring interest rates and the extreme weather events of recent months," the UPA also pleaded in a press release.

The working group will continue its work in September.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 10, 2023.