Courtesy La Ferme Michaud Farm/Facebook
One of the worst spring droughts in recent memory coupled with a pandemic has meant a rough year for farmers in the region.
Christian Michaud, co-owner of Michaud Farm in Bouctouche, says the growing season had a promising start with quick snow melt and unfrozen ground.
But Michaud says there’s been virtually no rain for six weeks now and it’s to the point where a lot of seeds won’t even germinate since there’s not enough moisture in the ground for them to do so.
“We are trying to irrigate as much as possible but there are some crops that we just can’t get to and will suffer. Peas that we planted… we weren’t able to get to and we probably won’t have any,” he says.
Although he’s fortunate to have irrigation, he adds it is costly, time consuming and requires more labour compared to Mother Nature.
Michaud says grain and potato crops are in danger and he adds some farmers will struggle to get a second cut of hay which could be bad news for the supply of animal feed.
To make matters worse, he adds some of his strawberries were damaged during a light frost earlier this month.
