2023-10-15 18:27:55
Two months following a hundred horticultural producers urged the provincial government to provide emergency financial assistance to compensate for disastrous harvests, several farmers are once once more calling on politicians.
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• Read also: “Extreme weather events”: horticultural producers request emergency aid
In addition to the weather which was disastrous for the harvests this summer with record rainfall in certain regions, inflation and the new standards to protect the environment to which producers must adapt are causing their operating costs to explode.
Many farmers also fear for the next generation in this field as increasing expenses make it difficult for new producers trying to enter this field.
This is why help from the provincial government is once once more requested by the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA).
“When I look at what happened with the battery sector last week, the announcement that we are going to blow up the BAPE for a company that is going to come and set up, and that we, for example, if a pork producer wants make a project for 2500 sows, it must pass to the BAPE, I apologize, but now I am starting to think that our Minister Lamontagne is alone in the fight for us and that Mr. Legault and Mr. Fitzgibbon no longer want to know anything regarding agriculture », Says the president of the UPA of the Capitale-Nationale-Côte-Nord, Yves Laurencelle.
For its part, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food indicates in an email sent to TVA Nouvelles that means to support the liquidity of producers have been put in place.
“In May, the Financière agricole du Québec announced the establishment of a working capital loan guarantee of $50,000 without repayment of capital and interest for the first 3 years, we indicate. A special committee was also set up to identify possible solutions to support producers affected by the difficult weather.”
“Several adjustments have already been made to take into account the summer of 2023,” we add. We will continue to improve the programs.”
In a press release published Thursday, the UPA recognizes that the government has acted, but according to the organization, the aid would be insufficient.
“The government of Quebec has taken concrete actions in response to this perfect storm,” it says. But it is already clear that additional actions will have to be taken.”
See the full explanation in the video above
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