This was part of the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Quebec Agriculture and Agri-food, chaired by the late Jean Pronovost. Thirteen years after the presentation of the report, the Legault government is paving the way for the emergence of small artisanal farms offering niche products and often favoring local marketing.
However, it is through the back door that the government intends to proceed. The Minister for the Economy, Lucie Lecours, presented Bill 103, which seeks “reduction of the administrative burden” and which affects the municipal world, cooperatives, Hydro-Quebec, mines, the environment, transport companies and everything else. Buried in this tote are amendments to the Law on the Protection of Land and Agricultural Activities.
Bill 103 provides the Commission for the Protection of Agricultural Territory of Quebec (CPTAQ) with a rule of interpretation which aims to “promote the practice of agriculture according to a diversity of models requiring varied areas”, to be applied at the time. whether or not to authorize smaller-scale farming projects, projects which often involve the fragmentation of land.
At present, many young people who are destined for agriculture and innovators are turning away from the large-scale production model consolidated by the CPTAQ. These emerging farmers just don’t have the capital to buy these massive farms worth millions, if not tens of millions. But above all, they advocate a model of small farms focused on organic market gardening or even combining this culture with small animal production. In short, rather than specialization and large areas, they favor a diversified agriculture practiced on land of less than 10 hectares.
In his report, Jean Pronovost judged that the agricultural sector was suffocating under laws and regulations and that even if the pillars of the system had to be preserved, it had to be opened up to “a proliferation of initiatives” with a view to the marketing of diversified products. After the Liberal government’s inaction, things are starting to change.
The Union paysanne has been campaigning for years to allow the establishment of these farms “on a human scale”, to which the CPTAQ was reluctant. Historically, the body’s tendency has been to view land consolidation as the best way to protect it, with the large size of farms ensuring increased profitability, at least in theory.
The Caquista government is not carrying out an in-depth reform of the Law on the protection of land and agricultural activities. But the CPTAQ is called upon to support the development in Quebec of a more diversified agriculture. There will therefore be more openness to different models, but for projects whose viability is predictable.
In addition, Bill 103 contains a measure that tightens the protection of the territory by restricting the dezoning of agricultural land by municipalities, a plague at the present time. It will no longer be up to the municipalities to demand dezoning, but to the MRCs and urban communities. It is believed that, in a larger complex, other locations could be suitable for the construction of new neighborhoods, which would prevent farmland from falling by the wayside.
The Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), but also Équiterre and Vivre en ville, urges the Legault government to be cautious. We would like more precise guidelines to be enacted with regard to the division of land. The UPA said it feared that wealthy people would invent agricultural activities in order to build mansions. Fragmentation may also lead to higher land prices, which would hamper the establishment of young farmers, but enrich middlemen. Rightly so, the UPA believes that the government should look into financing the next generation of farmers.
Of course, the Legault government will have to remain vigilant. But this diversified and ecological agriculture, promoted by a new generation of well-trained farmers, is a way of the future. Coexistence with mass agriculture is not easy, but it is possible and highly desirable. Last year, some 80 small farms were created. It is good for the occupation of the territory and the revitalization of small rural municipalities. It is also a step towards greater food autonomy.