L’Isle-aux-Allumettes farmer David Gillespie believes agritourism is the future of the Pontiac, but to realize that vision, agricultural land protection policies need to be adapted to the times.

An agritourism industry depends on the existence of small-scale, sustainable farms whose business models include hosting visitors on their land.

Gillespie said the Pontiac’s proximity to large urban centers and its . . .

relatively cheap land prices position it well for the development of an economy that uses high-quality agricultural products to draw crowds from the city.

Initally this shift away from the large-scale cash-crop farming that has dominated the area for some time received resistance from some members of the community when he first started talking about agritourism years ago.

“It’s not all farmers that want to be part of it, because not everybody wants to host the public on their farm,” said Gillespie.

He also noted that the high-input, debt-intensive, small-margin farming model is becoming less and less accessible to young farmers looking to build an agricultural business.

According to Gillespie, an agritourism model makes farming more accessible.

“Younger people are starting to come up here, and they don’t want 3000 acres and a whole pile of debt,” said Gillespie. “You can get a quarter acre in veggie production and make over one quarter million a year.”

Gema Villavicencio owns Pure Conscience farm, an organic mixed-production operation in Bristol.

Her business model depends, in part, on the marketing of niche products such as yak meat to customers interested in healthy and sustainable agriculture. This summer, she will expand her business to include on-farm educational activities.

She had no trouble buying her first 80-acre piece of land on Ragged Chute Road, but this type of small, stand-alone agricultural property is becoming harder to find.

While land prices in the Pontiac are still considered cheap when compared to other regions of the province, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find land that hasn’t been absorbed by the larger industrial farms.

Once amalgamated with larger pieces of farmland, these smaller agricultural properties cannot be redivided without considerable administrative hoop-jumping.

The Commission de Protection du Territoire Agricole du Québec’s (CPTAQ) agricultural land protection policies have historically made it difficult for any farmer to sell off small portions of their land.

While the intention behind these policies is to protect active agricultural land from being subdivided and developed out of production, it is making it difficult for first-generation farmers to join the industry.

Villavicencio experienced this first-hand when she decided to purchase a second, 200-acre property from a local farmer to expand her business. It took her and the owner ten months before their application had been accepted.

“So if you’re a small farmer who wants to purchase a piece of land, you’re expected to one, qualify for financing, and then you need to be ready to wait a year before you can actually finish that transaction,” said Villavicencio. “On top of that, you need to have a solid plan for that land.”

Both Gillespie and Villavicencio said it is time that the CPTAQ adapt these policies to current farming realities.

“CPTAQ is an organism that was created a long time ago and has not been updated so yeah, I think it’s probably a good time for them to modernize their policy,” Villavicencio said.

Gillespie echoed this sentiment.

“The land commission needs to change its mindset, but they know now it’s coming,” he said, adding that lobbying provincial ministries and agencies to change the agricultural land protection policies will be an important step in bringing agritourism to the Pontiac.

The coming months will be busy for Gillespie on the agritourism front.

In May, he will be co-hosting a roundtable event with the federal Minister of Tourism as part of MP Sophie Chatel’s ‘For a Green and Prosperous Outaouais initiative’.

In August, he will be participating in the International Workshop on Agritourism happening in Vermont. There, he will present his proposal for an international culinary trail that would connect the Pontiac region to agritourism centres in Ontario, Vermont and New York, bringing tourists from the nation’s capital to the doorsteps of Pontiac farmers.

“This is an important industry down the road for Pontiac,” Gillespie said. “The potential is here.”

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