Agriculture Roundup for Monday, May 8, 2023

Quebec farming organizations said the rising cost of land is making it harder than ever for young farmers to enter the business.

Benoit Cure is the co-ordinator of ARTERRE, a program that pairs aspiring farmers with landowners and farm operators who are planning to retire. He said the price of agricultural land rose by about 10 per cent last year.

Cure said agricultural land in Quebec now sells for more than a farmer can hope to make from that land over their career.

Myriam Landry, who has been raising goats for their meat in Saint-Esprit, Quebec, since 2018, said she was able to get her start by opening a small operation in a rented barn.