Farmers in Baie-Saint-Paul are figuring out how much they lost because of the rain this week
It took Claude Méthot a few days to realize how bad the damage was to his farm in Baie-Saint-Paul, Que.
He says that people have been farming on the land he bought three years ago for hundreds of years.
The wheat, corn, and oat fields that were ready for another growing season are now covered with sand and clay.
Méthot said, “We will no longer be able to farm this field.” He thinks that he has lost about 10% of his land.
“It gives me a deep, gut-level fear and shock to see where last year there was a beautiful wheat field. It’s now a river.”
Méthot is a farmer in the area who isn’t sure if he can make up for his losses after the flooding and heavy rainwaters that hit the area on Monday.
Not only will this hurt his bottom line, but Méthot says the weather event could threaten Charlevoix’s agricultural scene, which is part of the region’s history.
“The field will be taken over again.
When the water level went up on Monday, Méthot says the current ate up the riverbank that was between his fields and the water. This means that two to three meters of land were washed away. Méthot says he is worried about what will happen to his land.
“The flood is going to come back because there is no longer a wall or anything else to stop even a small rise in the river from taking over the land… Even though it’s just a field, I still feel that,” Méthot said.
He says that it takes a lot of work to make his fields grow crops. He took out rocks and cleaned up the area. Last year, there was a lot of oats because of this. Even if he only lost 10% of his land, says Méthot, it will hurt him financially.
“I have taken that income out of my financial plans,” Méthot said. “I don’t count on it because I don’t know if I’ll be able to get any of that back.”
Pride in local productio
Méthot moved to the Charlevoix area because it had a long history of farming and was known for its cheese, meat, and milk. Now, he says, that has “eroded away.”
“Agriculture is important in and of itself, but there’s more to it than that. It’s a part of Charlevoix’s history. In the hearts and minds of a lot of people, it shows what Quebec is all about. “When you drive around, look around, and taste [products],” Méthot said.
He says that there is a sense of pride in making things locally and adding to the output of the region.
“Talk to all the farmers around here,” Méthot said. “Everyone will talk about that. Each day, they work for 18 hours. They’re proud of what they do, and they’re proud of what they’ve done, but the flooding is making it harder for them to do their jobs.
A third of seedlings los
Nicol Simard, a farmer, dairy producer, and president of the Charlevoix branch of the agricultural producers’ union, has also lost about 12 hectares of arable land.
“I just lost the feed for at least 25 animals,” Simard said.
“Land in Charlevoix is quite rare. Because of a microclimate, the lowlands along the Rivière du Gouffre are the warmest places in the area. Almost all of them are gone after Monday’s flood.”
He says he hopes that farmers in the area will get help and that steps will be taken to stop future floods, such as building retaining walls.
Elsa Girard is part owner of a family business that grows grain and raises organic chickens. She says that the river has taken over some of the fields and ruined some of the crop.
“Most of the time, we spend between $100,000 and $120,000 on seedlings. “I would say that maybe a third of what was planted won’t make it to the sun,” Girard said.
“I don’t think it can be saved with all the rocks and mud on the fields right now.”
‘In Charlevoix, people are resilient
Girard says that they are lucky that neither their animals nor their employees were hurt by the floods.
“There are losses, for sure, but they are nothing compared to the loss of life,” Girard said, referring to the two firefighters who died when they were swept away in the river. Girard said that the body of one of the firefighters had been found in the water near her property.
“In Charlevoix, people are resilient. I think this is what makes us who we are… This isn’t the first storm we’ve seen.”
The head of the agricultural union in Quebec City and the North Shore, Yves Laurencelle, says that the mud will stop crops from growing and will have to be cleaned up in the next few weeks.
“Six farmers have called us to talk about losing land. “We know that some crops will be lost completely,” said Laurencelle.
In an email statement, Quebec Agriculture Minister André Lamontagne called the situation in Baie-Saint-Paul “difficult” and said that since the flooding started, he has been in touch with the agricultural union.
“The main goal is to make sure that people and animals are safe. We haven’t figured out how it will affect agricultural businesses as a whole yet. There are a number of insurance programs that can help with this kind of thing,” the statement said.