Potato Grower

November 2019

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house just as impressive an assortment of spuds, all being observed for their strengths and weaknesses in Quebec's climate and soils. Gagnon is a veteran in the potato industry and has rubbed shoulders with several of the preeminent names in North America's potato academia. He has projects in the works for several entities, and he strongly believes that Quebec can continue to improve its already fairly strong position as a potato-supplying region for North American retailers and consumers. JULY 10, 10:58 A.M. Production Rivard, Saint-Ambroise I climb out of the car and shake hands with Kevin Rivard. Côté has already talked him up: "Kevin isn't yet 30, he just got his MBA, he has a wife and three kids, a business that's booming…" After apologizing for his poor grasp of English, Rivard proceeds to converse in English better than I—an alleged professional practitioner of said language—could ever hope to. He tells me about his family's farm: how his father and grandfather were among the first people to farm in Saint-Ambroise; how a majority of the now-arable land was cleared from forest and carefully prepared for growing potatoes; how in the last 20 years they have increased potato production from less than 100 acres to over 600. As we climb into his pickup, he apologizes for the mess, and I assure him that it's not a problem; after all, this is a farm truck. "Yes," Rivard replies with a grin, "but this is also my city truck." Interestingly, about half of Rivard's potatoes are grown for seed and half for table stock. The farm is spread out and the climate cooperative enough that he's able to keep the seed crop isolated and healthy. "Our biggest goal is to produce the same amount of potatoes here on 10 percent fewer acres," says Rivard. "With improvements in varieties, irrigation and management, I think we can do that in four or five years." JULY 10, 12:37 P.M. Ferme Michel Rivard et fille, Saint-Ambroise No trip to Canada is complete without at least one giant helping of poutine. Just down the road from Kevin's place, another Rivard farm family operates a quaint little diner whose menu stocked with dishes whose ingredients come primarily from their own farm. In as WWW.POTATOGROWER.COM 17

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