As the cooler weather arrives, many farmers in New Brunswick find themselves with their backs up against a wall after the driest summer in twenty years led to low yields of many crops.
Bathurst-area farmer Mike Bouma, president of the province’s Agricultural Alliance, says the apple crop is down 30 to 40 percent this year and it’s a similar story for strawberries.
“The price of blueberries was 20-ish cents which is basically only a few cents above the cost of production. A lot of blueberries were just left on the field because it was not worth that for the small producers to even bother with,” he notes.
With a severe lack of rain especially across southern New Brunswick, Bouma says many farmers weren’t able to get a second cut of hay which has left cattle producers scrambling to find whatever feed they can.
