Quebec's farmers are calling out for government assistance after they say the extreme weather events over the summer have had devastating effects on crops.

A collection of unions, producers and agricultural associations - APMQ, UPA, APFFQ, PPTQ and PLTQ - say weather events recently have affected hundreds of producers in the province.

"The frequency and intensity of the weather anomalies have caused exceptionally high levels of damage in most regions of Quebec," said Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA) president Martin Caron. "The consequences are both numerous and disastrous for a large number of growers."

Caron said rapid support is needed as the government programs in use "were not designed to mitigate the growing risks of climate change."

The organizations are saying food supply problems will arise and that Quebecers will need to rely more heavily on foreign markets due to local produce not being available.

"The Quebec Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food must intervene quickly, as any improvement to the programs of his department or of La Financière agricole du Québec (FADQ) requires his approval," said Association des producteurs maraîchers du Québec president Catherine Lefebvre.

The organizations would like aid measures to help preserve salvageable crops, improve the program to support farms affected by inflation, remove the intervention limit on net profit, defer premium crop insurance payments, and pause payments on FADQ (financiere agricole du Quebec) loans.

"These measures would alleviate the financial pressure weighing on the profitability of businesses, would greatly help the sector to recover, and would allow farms to move ahead with the new operations planned for 2024," said Association des producteurs de fraises et framboises du Québec (APFFQ) president Michel Sauriol.

The five organizations also said the risk-management programs do not allow agricultural businesses to deal with extreme weather and they need to be reformed. 

Minister of Agriculture Andre Lamontange told CTV News that he is watching the situation very carefully and that it's very worrying.

"No one will be left behind," he said.