Author name: Brenda O'Farrell The Advocate

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

If Quebec farmers wondered whether the provincial government got the message conveyed by their demonstrations earlier this year – as convoys of tractors paraded along the streets of urban centres drawing the public’s attention to the growing list of issues that threaten the financial viability of agricultural producers – provincial Agriculture Minister André Lamontagne earlier this month said ‘Yes.”

Lamontagne’s response to the protests also came with an announcement of more than $200 million in help to mitigate the crisis in the farming sector.

“The economic and weather hazards of recent years have undermined the economic stability of our (farm) businesses,” Lamontagne said as he announced the measures at a press conference in Les Cèdres on June 13. “In such situations, it calls on us to show solidarity with our producers.”

Quebec will add an additional $30 million to its so-called emergency fund created last year to help farmers deal with inflationary costs, bringing the total amount of the fund to $55 million. These funds are expected to help about 3,000 agricultural businesses in the province that are considered to be in financial difficulty.

Another $37.1 million will help young producers offset the cost of increased interest rates. This measure is expected to help about 2,900 producers who have recently launched operations.

The largest infusion of cash – $106 million over five years – will come in the form of grants to help producers adapt to changes caused by climate change. The details will be outlined in the coming weeks.

Producers in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region will also receive $1.6 million in compensation for losses suffered in 2023 due to extreme drought conditions.

Additional measures specifically targeted at market gardeners and strawberry and raspberry producers through the Agri-Relance program, which receives funds from the federal government, will also be outlined in the coming weeks.

Lamontagne also pointed to what his ministry calculates as $36.8 million in savings for farmers that will result from moves to reduce paperwork and reporting for a variety of environmental regulations imposed in the last few years.

In an interview with The Advocate after making his announcement, Lamontagne confirmed the demonstrations helped him convince his cabinet colleagues the government had to act.

“The more people raise their voices, the more they will be heard,” he added, explaining the announcements he outlined reflect the cooperation of several other ministries.

In April and May, Quebec farmers staged 17 demonstrations in all regions of the province involving an estimated 4,500 participants calling on the government to help producers. From high interest rates, to increasing fuel and fertilizer costs, severe weather events triggered by climate change to the increasing bureaucratic burden being imposed on agricultural producers by expanding environmental regulations and reporting requirements, farmers told the government they are struggling to make ends meet.

Given the extent of the demonstrations, Union des producteurs agricoles president Martin Caron, who was with Lamontagne for the announcement in Les Cèdres, was asked: Is the government’s response enough?

“Yes. It’s some big steps being taken,” Caron said in response, but then added that the UPA is still pushing for the provincial government to increase its spending for agriculture.

Caron pointed out that the provincial government still only allocates 1 per cent of its budget to the sector.

“There is an opening, and there is optimism,” Caron added.

In an interview after the announcement, Caron confirmed the demonstrations made a difference.

“It had an impact,” he said, adding that it convinced several ministries to act in consort, a breakthrough that will hopefully continue and allow for what he termed “common sense” take on a bigger role in how the government treats farmers.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The Advocate

The usually quiet town of Très St. Rédempteur near the Ontario border was a beehive of activity at the end of May in the wake of a tornado touching down, cutting a swath of destruction in a matter of just a few moments.

“To have it gone in under 30 seconds – it’s emotional to say the very least,” said Julia Asselstine, whose old farmhouse suffered the most damage in the sudden swirl as the tornado whipped through her yard.

The front of the roof of her house, which she and her husband, Daniel Gelinas, had purchased in 2020, was ripped from the rafters, while the two large willow trees that framed the building on either side were splintered. The gazebo behind their house was destroyed, with sections of it strewn as far as across the street, while its lounge furniture was still visible, wedged high overhead in a nearby tree. The shed the couple had planned to take down, was left half standing, tattered and twisted by the violent winds.  

Not far away, on Chemin du Petit Brûlé in Rigaud, members of the Carrière family who run Ferme Carra were picking up the pieces on their farm the day after the twister. The tornado destroyed a cement silo by the barn, damaging the steel silo that stood next to it.

“It passed between my house and the garage,” said Carmen Beauclair, who ran the dairy farm with her husband before their son took over the operation.

The winds also ripped a corner of the roof from their barn. No animals were hurt.

Next door, where Beauclair’s son lives, a piece of another neighbour’s chicken barn was sent through a cedar hedge like a projectile, piecing a side window of the house, damaging part of the living room. No injuries were reported.

Only a concrete slab remained of the chicken coop next door. The building housed 75 laying hens owned by the nearby Petit Brûlé – Ferme Écologique

It was believed that all the chickens were lost, said Marie-Pier Thellen, an animal supervisor for Petit Brûlé, who was at the scene the day after the tornado. But while workers picked up the debris, one chicken was found unharmed, but with feathers ruffled.

Environment Canada confirmed the tornado touched down at about 5:30 p.m. on May 27, generating wind speeds of about 155 kilometres per hour.

The meteorological agency said the twister cut a path 14 kilometres long, stretching from Très St. Rédempteur to Rigaud and Pointe Fortune. In all five properties, including a barn in Pointe Fortune, are believed to have been damaged.

According to a statement issued by Environment Canada, data collected by the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University in London, Ont., the tornado was categorized as an EF-1, which falls on the lower end of the Enhanced Fujita Scale that is used to measure the severity of tornadoes.

Here are a few fun facts that quantify a few realities of the farming sector.

$1.3 million: That is the expected average debt per farm in 2024 in Canada, according to a recent survey of farm operators conducted by Statistics Canada. The average farm debt increased by more than half a million dollars, $562,543, between the 10-year period of 2011 to 2021, when it reached $1.1 million.

$66 million: That is the total amount of net farm revenue expected in 2024, according to forecasts by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, representing a historic low. In 2022, the figure stood at $959 million.

200,000: The number of Quebec companies with 25 to 49 employees that must now comply with francization rules as outlined in Bill 101, following the adoption of Bill 96 in June 2022. As of June 1, 2024, all these companies must register with l’Office afin d’entreprendre une démarche de francisation and conduct all of their business in French.

34: The number of dairy herds in the U.S. that have reported infections of the bird flu virus since the middle of March. The rise in incidents has sparked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to agree to a request from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to test lactating cows for the virus before they cross into Canada. The testing requirement went into effect April 29.

The virus has not been identified in any Canadian dairy or beef herds to date.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

In an exhaustive and highly critical report unveiled last month, Quebec’s commissioner for sustainable development offered a scathing review of both the province’s Agriculture Ministry and Quebec’s farmland protection agency, taking aim at how both are failing to efficiently promote soil heath and effectively protect Quebec’s food-producing land.

“MAPAQ’s interventions are insufficient to ensure the protection and development of Quebec’s agricultural territory, while issues, including the loss of cultivated areas, threaten its sustainability,” wrote sustainable development commissioner Janique Lambert in her 188-page report submitted to the National Assembly on April 25.

Lambert said the mechanisms put in place by Quebec’s Agriculture Ministry “are not sufficient and lack efficiency,” explaining that it is banking on its sustainable agriculture plan, the so-called Plan d’agriculture durable 2020-2030, to accelerate the adoption of sustainable practices, “but the implementation of the plan relies particularly on the commitments of numerous partners to support and train producers.”

This approach, the commissioner says, “will take time to see results.”

She then goes further, saying: “The ministry does not have the necessary data concerning the state of soil health, its evolution as well as current agricultural practices to better establish priorities.”

The commissioner also highlighted that the Financière Agricole du Québec’s programs are “insufficient to accelerate the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices to promote soil health and conservation.”

Lambert did not hold back either when she set her sights on the provincial farmland protection agency, the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec.

“The surveillance activities carried out by the CPTAQ do not make it possible to effectively protect the agricultural zone,” she wrote. “Surveillance is insufficient to detect the offences committed and long delays are observed in the processing of the offenses identified.”

Lambert said MAPAQ has been aware of the CPTAQ’s shortcomings to adequately protect farmland in certain instances for several years. She added, the goals outlined in its bio-food policy, La Politique bioalimentaire 2018-2025, fails to addresses these failures “and it rarely uses its aid programs to encourage enhancing the value of this land.”

The CPTAQ was also criticized for failing “to use all the means at its disposal” to ensure the laws surrounding protecting farmland are respected.

Farmland is a limited and non-renewable resource, Lambert stated, that is essential for ensure Quebecers’ food autonomy.

The mandate of the Sustainable Development Commissioner is to audit the performance of all agencies that are subject to the Sustainable Development Act. Her report is part the Auditor General of Quebec’s report to the National Assembly for 2023-2024.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Seventeen demonstrations over two months in all regions of the province involving an estimated 4,500 participants.

That is how Quebec’s farmers’ union quantifies the public protests that saw convoys of tractors take to the streets in urban centres throughout April and the beginning of May to draw attention to the growing list of issues that threaten the financial viability of agricultural producers.

The question now is: What’s next?

So far, the Union des producteurs agricoles is far from impressed with the provincial government’s reaction to the calls it has made at the demonstrations for immediate and sustained help to manage and mitigate the financial pressures farmers are facing.

From high interest rates, to increasing fuel and fertilizer costs, severe weather events triggered by climate change that range from periods of drought to heavy rains and windstorms to the increasing bureaucratic burden being imposed on agricultural producers by expanding environmental regulations and reporting requirements, farmers are being hampered and hurt.

And the economic reality is making it increasingly difficult for the next generation of agricultural producers to take over operations.

“The government’s response and will to consider the proposals put forward to date are clearly insufficient,” said UPA president Martin Caron in a letter sent to Quebec Agriculture Minister André Lamontagne on May 9.

In the National Assembly, Liberal agriculture critic André Fortin took up the farmers’ cause, pushing the CAQ government to act.

In a statement, Fortin said: “This is a real crisis. Imagine the farmers who lost 100 per cent of their 2023 harvest and are only offered 15-per-cent compensation. It becomes impossible for them to launch the new season while continuing to make the investments necessary for their production.

“It’s simple,” Fortin continued, “under current conditions, La Financière agricole is not fulfilling its mandate. Despite this, the minister does not seem interested in reviewing the programs.

“Is this willful blindness or bad faith?”

The UPA is hosting a provincial meeting with all its affiliate federations and groups May 23 in Quebec City to provide an updated overview of the financial situation farmers in the province currently face and to discuss next steps in its ongoing campaign to pressure the government to help alleviate the financial strain in the sector.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The Advocate

The legacy of Thomas Bassett Macaulay has many chapters.

He was a pioneer in the insurance industry, securing his first job at the age of 17 with the Sun Life Assurance Company. He would go on to become president, credited with transforming Sun Life into one of Canada’s largest firms with a reach that extended across continents. But it was his role that began as a gentleman farmer that would forever change the dairy industry in Canada and around the world.

And for that claim to fame, achieved in the last 18 years of his life in Hudson, Que., he was inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1961, 19 years after his death.

How it started

But, according to reported accounts, Macaulay turned his attention to livestock only after discovering that the fields he had purchased in Hudson in the early 1900s were too sandy to be productive cropland.

It is that decision that set him on a course that would influence the dairy industry throughout Canada, the U.S. and the world – and all from the picturesque patch of ground that offered a stunning elevated view of the Lake of Two Mountains.

It was in 1924, when Macaulay at the age of 66, purchased his first cow, a Holstein, for a reported $900. During the next 18 years he set to the task of refining the pedigree of the breed.

An actuary by profession, he applied the same principles that went into compiling and analyzing statistics to calculate the risks and probabilities relied on by insurance companies to breeding a herd of dairy cows that would produce the most and best quality milk.

Edward Morwick, a criminal lawyer and philanthropist turned cattleman and self-published author who wrote several books on cattle breeding, assessed Macaulay’s research:

“It is essentially a mathematical process and a discipline in which an actuary’s training would stand him in good stead,” he wrote, referring to Macaulay. “Through the lessons learned as an actuary, which were cross-applied to the study of genetics, Macaulay became convinced of his ability to develop a strain of Holstein cattle pure for sound type, good udders and four per cent test.”

Macaulay identified the traits he wanted and researched how to obtain what he needed. This lead him to purchase six cows, which became known as the “Big Six,” and what became known as his main sire, Johanna Rag Apple Pabst. This bull, dubbed “The One” and often referred to as “Old Joe,” was purchased for $15,000 and became the foundation of his breeding line. Together, these Holsteins became known as Macaulay’s Rag Apple bloodline, which produced the highest calibre dairy cows in both quality and quantity of milk. The genetics that sprang from this herd at Mount Victoria Farms can still be traced through to just about every Holstein cow in the world today.

According to records, “Old Joe” was born on Jan. 24, 1921, in Hartford, Wisconsin, and arrived in Hudson by train. By the time of his death in 1933, he had produced 51 daughters and 44 sons, who, in turn, produced most of the existing pure-bred Holstein herds in the world today.

In addition to being inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1961, in a testament to the enduring significance of his legacy in the sector, Macaulay was inducted into the Temple de la renommée de l’agriculture du Québec, the provincial agricultural hall of fame, in 1992 – 50 years after his death.

Macaulay was also honoured as a Pioneer in the Dairy Shrine Club, a U.S.-based association that recognizes those who have contributed to the dairy industry in North America.

Shortly after Macaulay’s death in April 1942, his herd was auctioned off. The 84-page catalogue for the auction held on Monday, June 29, 1942, has become collector’s items.

The Macaulay farm would itself by bought by John Norris, who continued to raise cattle on the land for a time under a new name, Norfolk Farm.

The farmland has since been sold off, redeveloped into residential housing. Part of the farm today is a golf course, while another section is an upscale neighbourhood known for its large homes with grand entrances and pavi-uni driveways.

In 2013, despite efforts by members of the Hudson Historical Society, the barns of the original Mount Victoria Farm, which by this time had deteriorated, were torn down.

But his legacy and contributions to the world of dairy cattle genetics still faintly echo in the community where they were made, acknowledged with a few street names, like Mount Victoria, Macaulay and Rag Apple.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The Advocate

In the world of home decor and design, fashions come and go. In many ways, they evolve.

The origins of some modern home style elements can be linked to early whispered trends in colour and texture, while others emerge from the latest innovations in technology and function.

Rarely, though, can a distinctive decor motif trace its origin back to one man’s legacy that is described as global in scope and unmatched in science by a source as unlikely as the Canadian Agriculture Hall of Fame.

That’s right.

Call it the shades of Holstein heredity, the machinations of Macaulay ingenuity or simply vintage Victoria Farm. But the art that adorns a recently completed house in Hudson, a little town off the western tip of Montreal, offers an inspired and unique nod to the historical and distinctively local legacy of a farming heritage that has spread throughout the world.

“I really wanted to make sure that when they see the house, you know the history of that land,” said designer Samantha Vince, who took on the challenge of giving this new house its unique flare.

That house is a two-storey structure described as “a modern farmhouse” that was completed earlier this year by a couple who had up until recently lived in neighbouring St. Lazare. It is built on land that was once part of the farm owned by Thomas B. Macaulay.

A site with farming history

Back in early 1900s, Macaulay bought the 200-acre property that had a magnificent view of Mount Victoria. He christened it Mount Victoria Farm. It is from this location that Macaulay, who had made a name for himself as an actuary and then president of the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, made his mark in the agricultural world.

More specifically, it was on this modest farm that featured iconic red wooden barns with grey metals roofs and twin silos built in the 1920s, that Macaulay applied his training as an actuary to the science of genetics, creating a prize-winning herd of Holstein dairy cattle that was so unparalleled that it has been recognized as “the origin of all Holsteins on the planet” today, according to dairy experts.

“With his actuary training, (Macaulay) applied his mathematical theories to genetic selection, in order to develop a purebred Holstein line with a much sought-after morphology, excellent mammary systems and fat ratings of 4 per cent,” Macaulay’s biography in the Canadian Agriculture Hall of Fame states.

The house, which has a traditional rural-setting rear wrap-around porch, has many stunning features, including impressive 18-foot ceilings, a large fireplace and many modern touches. But it is the art that adorns the walls throughout the home that reflects the history of the site on which it stands.

Cow art

Among the most eye-catching is the commissioned original painting of a single Holstein cow by Coteau du Lac artist Carole Lessard that hangs at the top of the stairs.

Affectionately referred to as Delores, this black-and-white Holstein cow has a slightly whimsical flare that commands attention as she looks out from a stretched canvas that measures four feet wide. Adding a touch of the personal, the date of the homeowners’ wedding anniversary provides the number featured in the cow’s ear tag.

In the dining room, another original painting features the image of the iconic Victoria Farm barns, which were torn down in 2013. The large work by St. Lazare-based artist Allison Robin Smith draws the eye, allowing the space to open an artful window onto the past.

The painting of the barns, with their crimson walls and white trimmed windows, that more than a decade earlier were the focus of heated public discussion in Hudson, where some residents attempted in vain to preserve the by-then neglected farm buildings from being torn down, casts the viewer back to a much earlier time, when the buildings stood proud, yet understated within a field of green.

And throughout the house, in a variety of locations, are framed vintage photographs of Hudson, which Vince selected from the archives kept by a local photographer. The prints, selected from among hundreds of images, showcase views of the original Macaulay farm in all seasons before the barns were demolished and the land subdivided. Included in the collection are photographs of the town’s principle thoroughfare, Main Road, the local train station and kids in canoes on the Lake of Two Mountains.

The effect gives this new home a warmth and charm that is not only elegant in look, but respectful of the place it looks out onto – a little patch of land that lays claim to a fabled piece of Canadian agricultural history that continues to stand unparalleled to this day.

Cutline:

As a nod to heritage of Victoria Farms being the place where all Holstein cattle can trace their lineage back to, this painting by Coteau du Lac artist Carole Lessard has a slightly whimsical flare that commands attention. Adding a touch of the personal, the date of the homeowners’ wedding anniversary provides the number featured in the cow’s ear tag.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

From Gatineau to Vaudreuil-Soulanges, and St. Jean sur Richelieu to Ste. Marie de Beauce, farmers have been demonstrating in the streets across the province.

Convoys of tractors – from modest machines to the largest John Deeres on the market – have been parading from town to town and heading to urban centres. And it is going to continue, as agricultural producers sound the alarm: it’s not going well down on the farm.

“There has to be change,” said Martin Caron, president of the Union des producteurs agricoles, in an interview on April 10 as about 200 farmers filled the parking lot in front of the Walmart store in Vaudreuil-Dorion with farm vehicles. “It makes no sense.”

A convoy of just over 100 tractors had made its way from the small farming community of St. Clet in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region, west of Montreal near the Ontario border, that day before heading to Vaudreuil-Dorion, one of the fastest growing towns in western Quebec.

Caron was there to greet them – as he hop-scotches his away from region to region attending one farmers’ protest after the other.

Commenting on the provincial government’s lack of support for farmers in all corners of the province, Caron is sending out a clarion call: Farmers in Quebec are facing an unprecedented perfect storm of financial pressures.

With high interest rates, increasing fuel and fertilizer costs, drops in harvests due to severe weather events triggered by climate change that range from periods of drought to heavy rains and windstorms – often all in the same season – and the increasing bureaucratic burden being imposed on agricultural producers by expanding environmental regulations and reporting requirements, farmers are being squeezed on all sides.

According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, farm revenues in Quebec in 2023 dropped almost by half – 49.2 per cent – and are projected to drop again this year – by a whopping 86.5 per cent.

While revenues are spiralling, inflation-fuelled costs are rising rapidly – with everything from fuel costs to seed and fertilizer prices seeing unprecedented upticks.

The economics of farming is pushing farmers further and further in debt, Caron said. In fact, according to the UPA, the total debt in Quebec’s agricultural sector has catapulted by 444 per cent in the last 25 years, from 1997 to 2022.

And this is all happening in front of a backdrop of rapidly increasing prices for farmland and growing environmental guidelines that are forcing farmers to shoulder a greater bureaucratic burden, saddling them with the paperwork that comes with demonstrating they are meeting the new regulatory requirements.

It is all putting the future of farming in Quebec in serious jeopardy, the UPA says. And threatening the ability of the next generation of farmers to survive in the sector.

Farmers need help, and they are taking to the streets as they call on the provincial government to help them weather the crisis.

The demonstrations that saw farmers rally in Rimouski and Baie Comeau in March have picked up steam in early April, where convoys of tractors were organized in the Saguenay-Lac St. Jean region.

More than 225 farm vehicles formed a procession in St. Jean sur Richelieu earlier this month, parading in front of the offices of MNAs and alerting the public to their plight.

In Vaudreuil-Soulanges, the demonstration attracted the attention of Conservative leader Éric Duhaime, who attended the farmers’ rally. Even Liberal party leader hopeful Denis Coderre showed up.

Farmers formed a procession from Lachute to Laval, rallied in front of the casino in Gatineau. They drove their vehicles to Mont Laurier and through the streets of Drummondville. They hit the roads in Gaspé and Ste. Marie in the Chaudière-Appalaches region.

Tractors paraded through Coaticook and Val St. François in the Eastern Townships and as far north as Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

More demonstrations are planned in May in Trois Rivières and beyond.

The UPA had pleaded with the CAQ government to increase funding for relief programs that would help producers struggling under the burden of high interest rates and increasing operating costs, but the latest provincial budget failed to deliver, Caron said.

As young farmers who took to the microphone during the demonstration in Vaudreuil-Dorion pointed out, the Legault government can find money for car-battery manufacturers, but are ignoring farmers.

In March, the provincial budget provided $1.251 billion to its Ministry of Agriculture, a figure that represents less than 1 per cent of the government’s overall spending.

Caron said farmers are fed up with the government simply claiming to be hearing what farmers are saying. They want the government to show that they understand the financial burdens they are dealing with and take action.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Both national and provincial farming groups were unimpressed with the federal government’s budget unveiled in the House of Commons on April 16, expressing disappointment in the lack of support and investment for Canadian farmers.

“While we understand there are competing priorities for government funds, with erratic weather and high prices tremendously increasing the risk profile of Canadian agriculture, the government can ill-afford to ignore food production and Canadian farmers,” said Keith Currie, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.

“The responsibility to help the agricultural sector does not fall solely on provincial governments,” said Martin Caron, president of the Union des producteurs agricoles. “Inflation, increased production costs and debt affect all farms across the county. It is, therefore, up to the Canadian government to go beyond its usual participation in financing federal and provincial programs.”

The absence of support measures linked to the government’s own recently launched Sustainable Agriculture Strategy was particularly disappointing, the UPA said.

“If Canadian agriculture is to seize its full economic and climate potential, we cannot keep missing opportunities while our international competitors continue to invest in their agriculture industries,” Currie added.

The CFA pointed to a few positive items mentioned in the latest budget, including carbon rebates for small businesses and maintaining the government’s previously announced funding for temporary improvements to the Advance Payments Program, a plan to access funds on the value of eligible agricultural products that a producer will produce or has in storage.

In a statement, the CFA said it was pleased the government increased the lifetime capital gains exemption, a tool it described as “critical” in supporting intergenerational farm transfers. However, the organization that represents farmers across the country said it will take some time to assess the impact this change will have.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

About 43 per cent of La Financière agricole du Québec’s English-speaking clients will soon be informed that they will no longer receive information from the financial services agency in English.

The reason is La Financière’s requirement to implement provisions of Bill 96, the provincial government’s update of the Charter of the French Language.

Of La Financière’s approximately 23,000 clients, only 517 were categorized as receiving information and communications from the agency in English, said Cynthia Byrne, director of communications for the agency.

Of that subset, however, only 301 are registered individuals. The rest are companies. And under the provisions of Bill 96, only eligible individuals will be able to continue receiving information from the provincial agency in English.

Byrne said only 293 of the 301 registered individuals will be offered the courtesy of communications in English. Eight have been deemed not eligible, she said, because they registered as clients of the agency after May 13, 2021, the cut-off date stipulated in the regulations of Bill 96.

The changes will not be made immediately, however, Byrne explained. La Financière is launching a pilot project by early May, whereby only 80 clients will be informed that communications will be sent to them in French only. These clients are in the Montérégie area surrounding Châteauguay, including the towns of Candiac, Mercier, St. Remi and Beauharnois, and a few in Rigaud. The rest will be informed later this year.

La Financière will continue to offer information about its programs on its website in both languages. Information on the site that deals with provincial programs for agricultural producers offered through provincial ministries, however, will be in French only.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The Union des producteurs agricoles is calling on the Quebec government to create a special $300-million fund to help agricultural producers weather the increasing storm of economic pressures they face.

The fund, which would provide $100 million in aid per year for the three-year period of 2024 to 2027, would help farmers mitigate the impact of elevated interest rates to ensure their businesses survive.

To support their call for the fund, the UPA highlights recent economic trends. Most significant among them is the increasing debt Quebec farmers are racking up as they struggle with post-pandemic inflationary pressures.

According to the UPA, between 2012 and 2022, the overall debt held by Quebec farmers increased by 123 per cent, hitting $27.2 billion in 2022, up from $14.9 billion in 2012. By the end of this year, the overall figure of farm debt in this province is expected to hit $29.5 billion.

How that overall financial reality translates for individual farmers paints an even starker picture.

The average debt per farm in Quebec is predicted to hit $1.3 million this year, according to an analysis conducted by Statistics Canada.

According to StatsCan’s figures, the average debt per farm increased more than half a million dollars from 2011 and 2021, or by $562,543, bringing the average debt per farm to $1.1 million in 2021.

This continuing increase in the level of indebtedness during a period of higher interest rates is threatening the viability of many farm businesses, the UPA contends. With the average annual interest cost per farm expected to hit almost $66,000 this year, almost three times as much as the annual cost of $23,712 registered in 2021.

The ironic aspect to all of this is that the increasing financial burden is happening as farms are posting impressive growth in cash receipts, leaving most farmers producing and selling more as they sink further and further into debt.

According to figures produced by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, total farm cash receipts between 2012 and 2022 grew by $4.3 billion, total net farm income dropped by $352 million, hitting $959 million in 2022.

But the worst is still to come, according to federal forecasts. Net farm income is predicted to hit $66 million in 2024 – a historic low.

The aid program being touted by the UPA would aim to provide financial assistance to farm businesses whose profitability is compromised by rising interest rates. To be eligible for help, a farm would have to demonstrate it is facing losses, while being able to show the prospect to return to profitability in the future.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The Union des producteurs agricoles appealed directly to Quebec Agriculture Minister André Lamontagne earlier this month, pleading for action in a number of areas to help reduce the ever-increasing bureaucratic burden being imposed on farmers.

In a four-page letter, UPA president Martin Caron asked the minister directly to act in order to fulfill a promise made by CAQ leader François Legault way back in the fall of 2018, when he was campaigning in the leadup to the election that would see him become premier.

“The big priority is the economy,” Legault told members of the UPA during a campaign stop back in September 2018. “And I think that one of the objectives we must give ourselves is to make the lives of our entrepreneurs easier.

“It’s far too complicated, there is too much bureaucracy and the deadlines are too long,” Legault acknowledged when he was seeking election.

Now, Caron is reminding Lamontagne of that pledge his party leader made to make things easier for farmers. It’s a promise that in many respects has not been fulfilled, he said.

When it comes to the administrative burden on farmers imposed by new regulations put forward by the CAQ, Caron was blunt: “The first step would certainly be to stop adding more.”

The worse problem area in this regard are regulations imposed on farmers by Quebec’s Environment Ministry, where Caron said, “the sustained support of producers is being tested regularly by the imposition of new restrictions.”

The creation of new “eco-fees” that were introduced last fall and enforced contributions to the Fonds d’électrification et de changements climatiques has created more than $400 million in extra charges producers have to pay.

The “almost systematic” requirement for farmers to engage a variety of professionals to validate documents and reports requested by government departments also adds “significant costs” for farmers, while at the same time serves as a “real source of frustration,” Caron said.

It also reduces a producer’s ability to run his or her business independently, he added.

Adding to the laundry list of complaints, Caron pointed to Quebec’s modernization of its Environmental Quality Act, legislation he described as “incredibly complex.”

“The procedures are tedious and costly, which discourages the completion of projects that require authorization,” as well as pages of paperwork that “can represent dozens of hours of work, hundreds of pages to complete and thousands of dollars in various fees.”

Caron also underlined the struggles producers wrestle with if they opt to hire foreign temporary works. The UPA president asked Lamontagne for action on these issues “because it is essential to give agricultural producers all possible means so that they can devote more time to carry out their mission.”

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

In the last seven years, and through a number of international trade agreements, Canada has opened access to this country’s dairy market to dairy producers in other parts of the world. The Dairy Farmers of Canada have opposed these concessions every step of the way. But now, they are aiming their sights on a new target in this battle to shore up the market share – the Canadian consumer.

And to do that, the organization is launching a new customer loyalty program.

Dubbed “More Goodness,” the program will offer coupons and incentives to encourage Canadians to reach for products that feature the Dairy Farmers of Canada’s blue cow logo, and not products from other countries.

“Canadian dairy farmers are amongst the most trusted professionals in the country, working day in, day out to feed the nation,” said David Wiens, president of Dairy Farmers of Canada, in a statement. “Our farmers not only produce high-quality milk, but they do so under some of the most stringent standards and sustainable practices in the world.”

The rewards program is a first of its kind. Consumers will have to sign up for the program, which will give them access to special offers, including discount coupons for dairy products; contests; and recipes.

“At Dairy Farmers of Canada, we wanted to reward Canadian shoppers for supporting local farmers and at the same time further educate them on dairy farming practices,” said Pamela Nalewajek, the Dairy Farmers of Canada’s chief marketing officer.

Since 2017, Canada has extended access to its consumer market to foreign dairy producers under the terms of three free-trade agreements – the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union, known as CETA; the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, known as the CPTPP deal; and Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA agreement, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2020.

Under the CUSMA deal, 3.5 per cent of the Canadian dairy market was opened to the U.S.

Here are a few fun facts that quantify a few realities of the farming sector.

2.3 million tonnes: The amount of pork produced in Canada in 2022.

$4.9 billion: The value of Canadian pork exports in 2022. This amount represents two-thirds of the country’s pork production, not including the 6.5 million live swine exported that year.

$3.1 billion: This is how much insured damage was caused by severe weather events in Canada in 2023,

one of the highest annual totals in the last four decades.

$29.5 billion: That is the estimated amount of total debt Quebec farms will hold by the end of 2024. This represents an increase of 123 per cent since 2012, when it was $12.3 billion.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Despite seeing an increase in farm cash receipts in 2022, Canadian farmers saw their net incomes for the year drop, according to an economic report just released by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.

The combined effect of high inflation and elevated interest rates is putting what the CFA has described as “tremendous pressure” on both farmers’ financial and mental health.

Farmers earned 6 per cent less in 2022 compared with 2021, the CFA report claims, as operating expenses outpaced revenues across all agricultural sectors.

“While most Canadian farmers have managed to stay afloat, largely due to high commodity prices and farm cash receipts that increased 14.6 per cent over 2021 levels, the ongoing impact of high inflation, matched with increasing interest rates, is beginning to take a serious toll on the operating margins of Canadian producers,” states the Farm Financial Health Report 2023-2024, a 33-page overview issued by the CFA earlier this month.

In 2022, Canadian farmers saw their total farm cash receipts increase by 14.6 per cent compared with 2021, the report says. This jump in revenues, based on figures obtained from Statistics Canada at the end of 2023, are based primarily on higher crop prices, which increased by $7.1 billion across the country, and improved livestock revenues, which gained $3.6 billion overall.

See FARM FINANCIALS, Page 4.

Also see Report recommendations, Page 4.

Report highlights, Page 4.

Optimism waning, Page 4

FARM FINANCIALS: Gains outpaced by growing operating costs

From Page 1

These substantial gains, however, were outpaced by growing operating expenses, which were calculated to have shot up by 18.6 per cent overall. The net effect left farmers with an overall net income of $11.8 billion in 2022 – or 6 per cent less than the $12.8 billion realized in 2021.

“One of the most significant input costs for Canadian producers through 2021 and 2022 was fertilizer,” the report states.

According to Statistics Canada, fertilizer prices began rising rapidly in early 2021 due primarily to high natural gas prices and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, resulting in a 54.4-per-cent increase in 2022.

Fuel prices also saw a 52.5-per-cent spike in 2022, the report states.

The report includes 18 recommendations aimed at government to help farmers manage the increasing cost of production, navigate regulatory barriers and mitigate the effects of climate change, while also provide support to the next generation of farmers.

The recommendations, the report states, “are aimed at ensuring Canada’s farmers have the flexibility and tools they need to weather the current financial climate and support the transition to a low emissions economy.”

“Canadian farmers play a crucial role in sustaining our rural communities, as stewards of our natural environment and in meeting our national and international food security needs,” the report states. It concludes: “Canadian agriculture has the potential to play an even bigger role in meeting many of the Government of Canada’s objectives related to sustainability, emissions reduction and sustainable growth while continuing to contribute to domestic and global food security.”

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The final phase of the provincial government’s year-long consultation as it prepares to overhaul the laws that govern the protection of farmland in the province continues, with the last public input period extended until Feb. 16.

The focus of this phase of the consultation will be the ownership of agricultural land and who should have access to it. The aim of the exercise is to solicit opinions on the increasing value of farmland and the consequences in terms of taxation and the ability of young producers’ to buy it, as well as the question of imposing limits on non-residents owning farmland.

There are two ways to participate in the consultation: responding to an online questionnaire and/or submitting written comments by email.

Announced at the end of last June, the consultation is expected wrap up later this year and will result in the biggest reform of the rules and regulations administered by the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec since the agency was created in 1978.

Although focused on farmland and the activities carried out in the agricultural sector, the general population has been invited to participate in the process.

The first two phases of the consultation dealt with the agricultural territory in general, followed by a look at the activities permitted in agricultural zones.

The final phase, which focuses on ownership of farmland, will delve into topics that include the purchase of farmland by those who do not plan to farm, ensuring that young farmers can access and buy farmland, and restrictions to prevent non-citizens from acquiring farmland in the province.

According to documents made available for the public consultation and compiled using data from the federal census of agriculture and Statistics Canada, in 2021, 64 per cent of agricultural land in Canada was owned by the producers who use them, with 36 per cent rented by farmers.

In Quebec, the figures are higher, with the amount of farmland owned by the farmers who work it at 83 per cent, and farmers renting another 15 per cent.

In Ontario, only 72 of the agricultural land is owned by the farmers who work the land themselves. That figure drops to 62 per cent in the Prairies and 55 per cent in British Columbia.

Once the final phase of the consultation is completed, officials with the provincial Agriculture Ministry will tour some of the regions of the province to host group discussions with stakeholders in the agricultural sector and at the municipal level on the topics raised in the consultations. This will be followed by a day-long public consultation session.

A final report is expected later this year.

The Union des producteurs agricoles has been very clear, it is against any loosening of protections for all farmland, advocating for a zero-net loss policy across the board.

To participate in the consultation, go to https://consultation.quebec.ca/

Click on “Consultations,” then scroll down to the third option, which outlines the process for the consultation on farmland use.

You can also watch webinars on the previous phases of the consultations at the same website. Click on the “Webinaires” tab to find a link to the videos, which are in French only.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Given the challenging economic trends with growing inflation, sustained interest rate hikes and the increasing severe weather events that are having uncontrollable impacts on growing seasons and crop outputs, farmers are less optimistic now than they were a year ago, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture claims in its latest report.

“Recent surveys have shown that the combination of high input costs, inflation, interest and debt levels are weighing heavily on the overall confidence of Canadian farmers,” states the Farm Financial Health Report 2023-2024, a 33-page overview issued by the CFA earlier this month. “When coupled with extreme weather-related events across the country, farmers are less confident in their farm financial security now and for the future than they were even one year ago.”

The report points to a survey conducted by the University of Guelph in 2021 that found that just more than three-quarters of Canadian farmers suffer from the effects of stress. More specifically, 77 per cent said they attribute their stress to the “unpredictability of the agricultural sector and feeling a loss of control,” 73 per cent attribute it to financial pressures, while 72 per cent cited workload pressures or a sense of lacking time.

The Guelph study also showed that farmers have suicidal thoughts at twice the rate of the general population.

Dealing with these high levels of stress, the report claims, can be managed, in part, through providing effective risk management and financial planning services, the authors claim.

The university survey highlights that 88 per cent of producers who follow a written business plan expressed having greater peace of mind in dealing with the growing challenges, while 77 per cent of producers who do not have a written business plan believe it would contribute to greater peace of mind.

But the process of committing a plan to paper is not straightforward.

“Producers are hesitant to plan because of the increasingly unpredictable natural environment, global economy, trade and geopolitical context,” the CFA report states.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Here are a few highlights from the Farm Financial Health Report 2023-2024 issued by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture:

Farmland values see big jump

The value of farmland across Canada increased significantly in 2022, recording a 12.8-per-cent gain, the highest one-year jump in a decade, according to the report.

According to Farm Credit Canada, Canadian farmland values have increased on average 10 per cent annually over the last 10 years.

The largest jumps in farmland prices were seen in Ontario, where the average value of an acre of farmland hit $17,962 – 52.4 per cent more than the average price of $11,786 recorded in 2019.

In addition, average annual mortgage payments jumped a whopping 41 per cent in 2022, the CFA reports, far outpacing the average annual increase of 9.7 per cent recorded in the last decade.

Vegetable, fruit and pork producers suffering big losses

The growing financial pressures in the agricultural industry are affecting the various sectors in different ways, with some feeling the economic pinch more than others.

For example, Canada’s fruit and vegetable sector reported a 40-per-cent jump in production costs – including a staggering 72-per-cent increase in fertilizer cost since 2020. Increasing labour costs have of about 20 per cent have also had a significant effect, while shipping fees have climbed by as much as 42 per cent, the report claims.

This has resulted in 44 per cent of the country’s fruit and vegetable producers – as of last January – reporting they were selling their crops at a loss.

Also leading the pack of sectors hardest hit are Canada’s pork producers.

Hampered by “decreasing processor capacity and increasing non-tariff barriers to trade,” the report says many producers are suffering from losses of $40 to $50 a head.

Farm debt hits record

The total debt held by Canadian farms hit a new record in 2022  – $138 billion.

The impact of interest rate increases on a capital-sensitive industry can be staggering, the CFA report states. Borrowing rates also have a big influence on spending and investment decisions.

According to the statistics, farmers in Ontario, Alberta and Quebec hold the highest level of debt. Farms in Ontario lead the pack with $35.7 billion in collective debt; followed by producers in Alberta, who hold $29.8 billion in loans; and farmers in Quebec, who have $27.2 billion in loans, according to Statistics Canada.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

A proposal to encourage Canadian farmers to reduce methane emissions from cattle through a credit-trading system was announced by the federal government at the COP28 conference in Dubai last December.

The Reducing Enteric Methane Emissions from Beef Cattle proposal is the latest climate-change initiative put forward by the Canadian government in its ongoing efforts to reduce the effects of greenhouse gases.

The proposal would provide farmers who reduce methane emissions created by cow burps the opportunity to collect credits that could then be sold to other businesses seeking to meet their own emission targets.

These offset credits would be provided through the Canadian Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System and governed by the system’s previously established regulations.

Each credit would represent a metric tonne of methane emissions.

Reducing burp emissions would be achieved through improving diets for cattle and using strategies that support “more efficient animal growth,” according to the proposal.

Methane is emitted by cows during the animals’ natural digestive process. As food is digested, feed is converted into methane and released back into the atmosphere through burping.

According to the guidelines outlined for the proposal, the aim is to generate emission reductions that are “real, additional, quantified, verified, unique and permanent.”

Only cows confined to “beef cattle feeding operations” qualify. Grazing beef cattle and dairy cows are not included. The government could include other ruminants other than beef cattle in the project at a later date.

Studies of methane emissions from livestock show these emissions can be reduced by altering the animals’ diet, including using high grain rations and adding fats and oils to rations. Feeding higher quality forage – like replacing grass hay with alfalfa, as one example – can reduce the animal’s methane emissions.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

An estimated 1,000 members of the Union des producteurs agricoles took to the streets of Quebec City on Dec. 6 to draw attention to the increasing challenges farmers in the province are facing.

Under sunny skies, a light snow and minus-16 temperatures, the parade of agricultural producers from all regions of the province made its way to the National Assembly, where they demonstrated, calling attention to the growing concern about the financial viability of many farms and the need to encourage and support young people to invest in the sector.

“Producers participate every day in a very important social project, that of feeding their fellow citizens,” said UPA president Martin Caron in front of provincial legislature. “In return, they wish to be at the heart of discussions and decisions having an impact on their future as well as that of the next generation. This future is more fragile than ever and it is high time that lasting solutions are identified and implemented.

“What will be on the plates of Quebecers for the next 10, 20, 100 years that is at stake,” Caron said.

That’s the message
UPA sent legislators
in provincial capital

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

If the Quebec government says agriculture is a priority, it has to allocate more of its budget to the sector. And that means investing more than 0.98 per cent of its overall budget as it does now.

That was the clear message from the Union des producteurs agricole as it wrapped up its 99^th annual Congrès Général in Quebec City earlier this month.

“We don’t want pity,” UPA president Martin Caron told The Advocate in an interview as the three-day convention wrapped up. “We want equity.”

With about 700 delegates gathering for the convention in the provincial capital, the changing realities of farming was showcased. And it came with a clear, impassioned plea from the UPA , which represents the more than 42,000 farm families from across the province – the government has to put its money where its mouth is and support Quebec farmers now, as the  growing inflationary and climatic pressures are threatening their financial viability.

“We can’t keep going into deeper debt,” Caron said.

To underline its message, the UPA staged a march through the streets of Quebec City on Dec. 6, and held a rally outside the National Assembly, where Caron presented Quebec Agriculture Minister André Lamontagne with the organization’s newly drafted manifesto.

The demand to be part of the solution to help the province’s agricultural producers who face increased economic challenges was on clear display as about 1,000 members of the Union des producteurs agricoles demonstrated through the streets of Quebec City on Dec. 6 as they took their plea to the National Assembly.

“We, the agricultural and forestry producers of Quebec, call on a collective push from citizens and government for the viability and sustainability of agriculture and forestry,” the document declares.

“For more than 100 years, we have been committed to feeding the world with determination and passion, despite all the challenges we have encountered over time,” the message continues, referring to the fact that the UPA is set to mark its 100^th anniversary.

“Today, we are at a turning point in our history: more than ever, the sustainability of

our farms are being called into question. The unparalleled situation of economic challenges,

environmental, climatic and social factors expose the vulnerability of the future of agriculture and our ability to ensure Quebec’s food autonomy.”

The manifesto issues a direct call for the provincial government to act:

“Today, we, the 42,000 agricultural and forestry producers of Quebec, call on the government to prioritize our mission, which is so critical to Quebec, through a new, strong bio-food policy that is adapted to the new economic, environmental and social rules, and reflective of the challenging global context and realities of climate change.” “We, the women and men who feed the public, must be at the heart of a social plan that allows us to exercise our profession in an economically viable, effective framework that provides a safety net that supports environmental sustainability.”

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The Marquis family of Ste. Croix – just north of Laurier Station, west of Lévis – was named the Farm Family of 2023 by La Fondation de la famille agricole during the Union des producteurs agricoles’ annual Congrès Général in Quebec City earlier this month.

The family, headed by Émilienne Dion and André Marquis, who married in 1962, had six children – Carl, Simon, Brigitte, Nicolas, Bernard and Marie-Andrée – and now count three generations who are active in farming.

Dion was raised on a farm, while Marquis followed in his father’s footsteps and was a butcher. Together, they had a modest beef farm, where they launched a small grocery store that featured a butcher’s shop that marketed beef they raised themselves.

In 1980, they expanded their operation, purchasing a forested area, where they launched a modest maple operation, tapping about 450 trees, collecting sap in buckets.

As their children grew, so did their family’s farming ambitions.

The couple’s oldest son, Carl, at the age of 19, married and with the financial aid of his parents,  purchased what was considered at the time a rather rundown farm. It is here, at what would become known as La Ferme Lorka, where the family builds dairy, forestry and maple operations.

This expansion also inspires Carl’s brothers to pursue their livelihoods in agriculture.

Brother Simon found employment with a dairy equipment company and became an entrepreneur specializing in farm building construction. He also bought Holsteins that were kept at La Ferme Lorka. He eventually bought his own farm in St. Charles de Bellechasse, where he raised beef cattle. In 1992, with his wife, they launched their own dairy operation, creating what they would christen La Ferme Sika.

The third brother Nicolas became a dairy consultant, and continues to work for Sollio Agriculture.

The fourth brother, Bernard, became an agronomist. Today, he is vice-president of strategic projects for Sollio Group Coopératif.

Now, as the family’s third generation grows into adulthood, the future of both La Ferme Lorka and La Ferme Sika are destined to be transferred to an all-female leadership.

Carl’s daughters Catherine and Justine both aspire to taking over their parents’ farm in Ste. Croix, while Simon’s daughter Laurence aims to take the reins of operations in St. Charles de Bellechasse.

Carl’s other children are also very active in the world of agriculture – Élaine is a veterinarian, while Guillaume has a 4,000-tap maple operation.

As for André Marquis and Émilienne Dion, they are enjoying their retirement as they continue to watch their children and grandchildren build and expand prosperous farming operations. They sewed the seed that has developed strong roots in a farming tradition that continue to grow.

Cutline: When the three generations of the Marquis-Dion family get together it is a large and boisterous gathering.

Credit: Photo courtesy of Union des producteurs agricoles

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The provincial government earlier in December launched the third and final phase of its public consultation as it prepares to overhaul the laws that govern the protection of farmland in the province.

The focus of this phase of the consultation will be the ownership of agricultural land and who should have access to it. The aim of the exercise is to solicit opinions on the increasing value of farmland and the consequences that carries in terms of taxation and the ability of young producers’ to buy it, as well as the question of imposing limits on non-residents owning farmland.

This phase of the consultation is expected to last 45 days, wrapping up in the third week of January. Farmers are encouraged to share their views online at https://consultation.quebec.ca/

Click on “Consultations,” then scroll down to the third option, which outlines the process for the consultation on farmland use.

The consultation is open to the general public, as well as those involved in municipal development.

Once this phase of the consultation is completed, provincial officials will tour the regions hosting online webinars in late winter with those who have shared their opinions with the aim of getting more in-depth feedback.

A final day-long public consultation session will be held in March, before a final report is written summarizing the finding of the consultation process that began last June.

This process marks the biggest reform of the rules and regulations administered by the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec since the agency was created in 1978.

“We must act to ensure that producers will be able to cultivate the land and feed the Quebec of tomorrow,” said Quebec Agriculture Minister André Lamontagne in officially launching this latest phase of the consultation.

But some critics worry that the reform of the law, which might strengthen the protection of some of the highest valued farmland, could make less valued agricultural land more vulnerable to dezoning.

In the last few years, municipal officials in a growing number of regions have been applying pressure on the Legault government to be more flexible when it comes to farmland zoning, as demand for housing and industrial expansions grow.

In an interview in May 2022, Premier François Legault commented on criticism levelled at the CPTAQ, claiming, in some instances, it was too lax in protecting agriculturally zoned land, while in other instances it was too rigid in its protection. The premier responded: “The priority for me is the economy and the acceptability of citizens, and not only the CPTAQ.”

And in recent months, hundreds of hectares of farmland have been earmarked for development for massive electric vehicle battery plants. And a recent report by Radio-Canada claimed that from April 1998 and March 2022, the Commission de protection du territoire agricole approved all 10 mining related requests on agricultural land it received, taking 1,780 hectares out of food production.

The Union des producteurs agricoles has been very clear, it is against any loosening of protections for all farmland, advocating for a zero-net loss policy across the board.