Ambition combined with new technology define Simon Plante and Alison Blouin, strawberry and raspberry growers from Sainte-Pétronville, on the Île d’Orléans, Québec. Together they competed at the national event of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers and won the Eastern Canadian honours on December 1.   

The family-owned Polyculture Plante has adopted tall tunnels to shelter the plants from the weather elements. This European style of production, complete with irrigation, results in 20 per cent more plants per acre and 50 per cent higher yields. 

The second-generation farmers tend to 100 acres of summer strawberries, 30 acres of fall strawberries, three acres of tunnel-grown raspberries, two acres of blueberries, 30 acres of apples, 32 acres of sweet corn, four acres of field tomatoes, one acre of onions, four acres of pumpkins and squash. 

The winners for western Canada are Daniel, Lorin and Barry Doersken, from Gem, Alberta. Together they own a mixed farming and ranching operation, specializing in Gemstone Grass Fed Beef. 

Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers’ competition honours farmers aged 18-39 for excellence in agriculture. 

Source: Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers