Sherbrooke Councillors embark on agricultural ‘Grand Tour’

As part of the 2018 agri-food tour and the implementation of the Agricultural Zone Development Plan (PDZA), ten members of Sherbrooke City Council visited three farms in the area Wednesday to examine farming conditions in the city.

"It’s important to raise public awareness and that of elected representatives of the major role played by agricultural and forestry in our region,” said Councillor Nicole Bergeron, Chair of the City’s Agricultural Advisory Committee. This is the first time Council members have been able to discover the agricultural territory and meet people who devote their talent and energy to feed us.”

Forty guests, including representatives of the Upa-estrie, visited Ferme Stecatherine on Sainte-catherine Road, as well as the Ferme Fernand and Ginette Breton, on Sherbrooke’s 6th range, in the morning before carrying on to the Bibeau Farm, on Bibeau Road for dinner. They ended the day in the Lennoxville area.

"We are very pleased that the City of Sherbrooke has put so much seriousness into its PDZA approach,” said UPA Estrie President François Bourassa, himself a Valcourt milk and maple producer. “Concrete actions, such as today's tour, have already been completed or are in the process of being completed. Agriculture is here on the territory, in complementarity with the rest of the agri-food chain. Decision-makers are now better informed."

Sherbrooke’s Plan de développement de la zone agricole (PDZA) is based on conditions in place to encourage young farmers and entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector. It wants to increase the viability and profitability of farms of all sizes, while promoting the creation of resources dedicated to networking and consultation. It also seeks to promote agricultural and forestry activities and workers and to take advantage of opportunities that arise within a territory with a large urban population.