MONTREAL — With a significantly smaller agricultural sector than neighbouring Ontario, Quebec agriculture consistently records one of the highest net farm incomes in the country.
In 2011, Quebec’s $1.2 billion in net farm income was the strongest in the country. Ontario recorded net farm income of $880 million that year.
Last week, Quebec farm leader Marcel Groleau told his fellow directors on the Canadian Federation of Agriculture board the not-so-secret reason for his province’s success.
“One of the major reasons is implementation of our collective marketing system,” the president of the Union des Producteurs Agricoles told the summer meeting of the CFA board July 31 when it met in Montreal.
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“This has been a good way for us.”
Many provinces have dismantled most of their single desk agricultural marking agencies over the years other than supply management, including Ontario’s wheat board and the Prairies’ hog boards. However, Quebec has shown no signs of following suit. Most of the province’s farmers market their produce through a marketing board, some mandatory and some voluntary.
“This is one of the strengths of Quebec agriculture,” said Groleau.
“It gives us market strength and that is all the more important now with the concentration of processors.”
He said the province’s important hog sector survived the years of industry downturn in better shape than most provinces because of its collective marketing.
“We lost some farms for sure, but we maintained the industry.”
He said the first farm marketing legislation was approved in 1956 and it has become the Quebec model, supported by governments and farmers ever since.
It also helps that the Quebec government offers one of the country’s most farmer-friendly and financed provincial support programs.
The UPA is now working with the newly elected Parti Quebecois government as it promotes a food sovereignty plan for Quebec and industry development plans, which would expand food production but also increase promotion of Quebec products to Quebec consumers.
With the government support comes significant regulations on environmental practices, land use and land ownership. Groleau said the UPA supports the government direction, which helps the industry but also expects it to take responsibility for producing safe food in sustainable ways.
