It’s a scorcher out there, and local farmers are feeling the heat

Dennis Taylor is the sixth generation operator of Woodsview Farm, a family business that has been serving the community of Cookshire-eaton for over two centuries. For him, the lack of rain and high temperatures that have been hitting the Townships this summer mean big changes in the returns from his farm.

“The second cut [of hay] is way down this year,” he remarked in an interview on Thursday, “and the first cut was lower than usual too.”

Taylor usually uses his harvests of hay not only to feed the dairy cows that make up the core of Woodsview’s business, but he also provides the excess to

Alarge-scale uprooting operation is currently underway along the shores of Benda Creek in the

Val-saint Francois MRC, in what is considered the largest infestation of giant hogweed in Quebec.

“We know where it begins, but we do not know where it ends,” said Nicolas

Trottier, President of Quadra Environment, the firm that has been hired to help control the invasive species,

GORDON LAMBIE Because of its noxious sap, the teams working to uproot and destroy the giant hogweed must be dressed in protective clothing, making the work in a heatwave a challenge.