For near a decade, Michel Frigon struggled along with his corn crop. He had quantity, however not high quality, making it exhausting to feed the cows on his dairy farm in Albanel, Que., about 150 kilometres northwest of Saguenay.
“Growing corn in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean isn’t a marathon. It’s a sprint,” stated Frigon, as a result of the chilly spring local weather offers farmers like him a brief rising season.
But 5 years in the past he turned to a product that was comparatively new to the world — plastic mulch.
“In terms of my herd’s productivity and feed costs, it’s had a huge impact,” stated Frigon, vice-president of the group representing milk producers within the area.
Imported from Ireland, plastic mulch is a movie positioned on a rising floor used to assist plant crops and apply merchandise, comparable to pesticides. It’s supposed to be oxo-biodegradable, that means the plastic movie may be damaged down into smaller items by way of publicity to warmth, gentle or oxygen.
Some residents of Domaine-du-Roy fear concerning the influence that the degradable plastic is having on the land and water. (Submitted by Jean-François Robert)
But it is prompted controversy throughout the area for potential environmental and well being issues raised in a current examine.
Farmers like Frigon say extra examine is required earlier than any restrictions are positioned on the product — which he says may have a serious influence on his enterprise.
Residents voice concern
The use of plastic mulch has gone up 90 per cent over the previous seven years within the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean area, in line with a brand new examine from Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC).
Maxime Paré, science professor at UQAC and lead creator of the examine, says another is required because of potential environmental and well being harms.
“Those microparticles stay for a very long time in the soil and in the water,” stated Paré.
It’s a discovering that involved the municipality of Domaine-du-Roy — which is now asking the province to manage plastic mulch, which can also be utilized by farmers outdoors the area and in the remainder of Canada.
Yanick Baillargeon, the prefect for the municipality, stated residents have been voicing their issues for the previous two years.
Worried about plastic particles blowing into neighbouring fields and water sources, they’ve requested Quebec’s Agriculture Ministry and Environment Ministry to check and regulate its use.
“We want it to be managed, verified and analyzed to make sure there is no impact on human health, animal health, our waterways and our land,” stated Baillargeon.
While he would not wish to influence farmers’ backside line or ban plastic mulch outright, he says it is vital to know how this product will influence his neighborhood.
More analysis might be a primary step, he says.
In an emailed assertion, the Environment Ministry stated that the province has dedicated to creating and implementing a method for the discount and accountable administration of plastics, which may finally result in a ban on sure merchandise.
The mulch is meant to be oxo-biodegradable, that means the plastic movie may be damaged down into smaller items by way of publicity to warmth, gentle or oxygen. (Submitted by Jean-François Robert)
The ministry stated will probably be obligatory to make sure there are viable options to assist farmers.
Single-use objects containing oxo-biodegradable plastics have been banned in British Columbia since July. The province solely permits farmers to make use of plastic mulch that may be eliminated on the finish of the season.
But for a lot of the nation, the product is unregulated. A examine was carried out utilizing plastic mulch to check its impact on the cultivation of bush beans in Yukon.
“It made a big difference in the rate of crop maturity and production levels,” stated Randy Lamb, an agrologist for the Yukon authorities. “We also observed that the plastic mulch degraded significantly by season end.”
‘We need to cease it,’ says resident
Jean-François Robert is likely one of the residents of Saint-Félicien, a city inside Domaine-du-Roy, who has been actively campaigning in opposition to plastic mulch.
“I agree that we should support agriculture, but on the other hand, when we see that an agricultural practice is harmful, we have to stop it,” stated Robert.
He says getting the municipality to behave has been troublesome, arguing enterprise pursuits are trampling collective ones.
Following the publication of the UQAC examine, he says the municipality hasn’t taken a powerful sufficient stance on condition that producers will begin ordering the plastic mulch wanted for the spring inside the subsequent few weeks.
“The researchers’ conclusion is categorical: Ban this technology as soon as possible,” he stated. “We want our municipal representatives to demand this of the ministry.”
Farmers query findings
But Frigon, who hopes to proceed utilizing plastic mulch, says some dairy farmers within the area take subject with how the examine was performed.
“They didn’t do research in the region. They did a literature review of everything that was being done in other regions with a different climate to ours, ” he stated.
Alongside different dairy farmers, Frigon says he requested UQAC to collaborate on a separate examine being deliberate by farmers and agricultural analysis agency Agrinova, however was turned down.
“I find it deplorable,” he stated.
That examine would have a look at concentrations of plastic mulch fragments of their soil. This sort of analysis must be carried out earlier than drawing conclusions concerning the area, says Frigon.
“We need regional solidarity,” he stated. “We don’t need to tear each other apart like this.”
