Farmers are worried about their future — and say Quebec needs to invest more

Julie Bissonnette says she doesn't even count her work hours anymore.

Running a dairy farm with her husband in L'Avenir, Que., 180 kilometres southwest of Quebec City, the chair of Quebec's federation for young farmers has been working a part-time job for the past six years to make ends meet.

"That's the same situation for 44 per cent of the young farmers," said Bissonnette. "It's not because we want to work outside, it's because we need this money."

Bissonnette says the rising cost of living and the impact of climate change on their growing seasons have slammed farmers across the province over the past few years.

Farmers were hoping for relief when Quebec's 2024-25 budget was tabled last week. But the $380 million in funding over five years announced to support the agricultural sector is falling short of some farmers' expectations.

Bissonnette says young farmers, like herself, need more support.

"There's nothing for us in the budget for now about what we are living," Bissonnette said.

"It's a lot of pressure on the shoulders of the young farmer."

Of the $380 million, $116 million is reserved to create a fund to invest in land for the next generation of farmers, support sustainable agricultural projects, fund a program that integrates agricultural activities in schools, recover surplus food and improve young people's cooking skills.

The remaining $264 million will fund Quebec's farm property tax credit program, which the province says will ensure competitive tax treatment for Quebec farmers.

'Worried about the future'

Benoit Legault, the general manager of the union for grain producers in Quebec, says that's not much of an improvement.

"There are still good gaps between the needs of grain farmers and the measures in place," said Legault. "Farmers are getting more and more worried about the future."

Legault says growers are already bracing for a difficult year and that their needs — including the cost of grain production — are growing.

"We observe no improvement in terms of financial support for one of our priorities, which is the agro-environmental initiatives and investments," said Legault.

"There was a high expectation in terms of new support because the margins are getting tighter for grain."

Rainstorm water has washed away soybean seeds and destroyed some of the plants on the Robinson farm, in the Laurentians. The 2023 harvest season was marked by extreme weather and Quebec's farmers struggled to cope with the impact on their crops. (Paula Dayan-Perez/CBC)

'A very negative message'

Legault hopes the province "doesn't forget growers and farming" when it looks for additional savings in next year's budget to reduce the deficit.

Charles-Félix Ross, the head of Quebec's farmers' union, says with high interest rates and tight margins, more farmers are having to take on a second job, with one in 10 farms in Quebec experiencing financial difficulty.

Ross says that figure could grow as thousands of farmers must invest more in order to generate profit.

"It's a very negative message," said Ross of the budget. "[Farmers] struggle right now to get by."

Bissonnette says young farmers need to know that the government will shoulder some of the burden of an unpredictable industry, especially risk management.

"We cannot control climate change. We cannot control what happens this summer," said Bisssonnette.

"Young farmers need to know that the government [is] behind them."