Following disastrous weather conditions for agricultural production, Quebec announced the creation of a special working group to “paint a fair picture of the situation” of farmers affected by the weather.
This working group will come from the crop monitoring committee of La Financière agricole du Québec (FADQ), the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said in a press release on Thursday. , André Lamontagne.
“This committee will be fed by a technical monitoring unit made up of government representatives and producers,” said Mr. Lamontagne.
It will aim to maximize existing programs and suggest ways to improve the Crop Insurance Program (ASREC), so that it meets the needs of the agricultural sector.
Mr. Lamontagne said he was “very sensitive” to the situation faced by farmers. He said he was working with different stakeholders so that the help available is known to everyone.
“I ask producers to continue to send their notice of damage to La Financière agricole du Québec to quickly obtain the appropriate support. The creation of the special working group and the support that the technical committee will provide to it will allow us to draw a complete picture of the situation for insured and uninsured companies, while analyzing the effectiveness of the programs already in place,” he said. he said in a statement.
The absence of viable harvests and the levels of losses which reach 80% in several cases go so far as to compromise the future of several farms, according to the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA).
The Association of Vegetable Producers of Quebec, the Association of Strawberry and Raspberry Producers of Quebec, the Potato Producers of Quebec and the Producers of Processing Vegetables of Quebec, and the UPA welcome the Minister’s announcement The mountain.
However, they call for immediate assistance independent of existing programs, stressing that the programs in place “were not designed to address the growing risks of climate change”.
Moreover, several producers refuse to join, to show that an “in-depth reform long requested by the community” is necessary.
The UPA also argues that “producers fund more than a third of these programs out of their contributions and franchises, as the case may be.”
The producers indicate that “the financing of urgent work to preserve recoverable crops and an improvement to the ad hoc program of the FADQ, announced last May, aimed at supporting agricultural businesses affected by the inflationary context”, are examples that can help them. help immediately.
The UPA also mentions the withdrawal of the intervention limit based on net profit from the Agri-Québec Plus program as another quick support for producers.
“The UPA and relevant horticultural organizations will actively participate in the work of the new task force emphasizing the emerging needs in the sector due to climate change. But in our view, the exceptional situation experienced by Quebec producers argues in favor of equally exceptional, rapid assistance, commensurate with needs and outside of existing programs,” pleaded in a press release the general president of the UPA, Martin Caron.