Local farms and greenhouses rise to the challenge of serving the community during the pandemic

By Mike Renzella

The Haldimand Press

HALDIMAND—As warmer winds begin to blow in, this would normally be the time of year when the agricultural community would be ramping up their production – but this is no normal year.

“We have really felt the responsibility of growing food and helping to feed our community,” said James Richardson, who runs Richardson’s Farm and Market in Dunnville. “The learning curve is steeper than the COVID curve in terms of how to operationalize the new normal and have some sense of efficiency. We know our efficiency is compromised because you have to take those extra steps.”

The Richardsons were in the middle of the sugar bush season when the pandemic arrived and in “about 12 to 15 hours we went from sugar bush operator to produce delivery service. That gave us a bit of whiplash.”

The Richardsons, like other local farms, have offered community supported agriculture (CSA) programs in the past, so they were familiar with the concept of boxing up produce and delivering it directly to customers. The switch has certainly kept the Richardsons busy, but they are unsure of how the switch might affect their bottom line since home delivery is more costly.

Will Stoneman, a member services representative for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), spoke about the challenges the agricultural community faces: “Farmers and suppliers say the lockdowns are going to complicate the planting process, but that they’re optimistic that with precautions and planning they’ll be able to minimize the threat of illness and keep disruptions largely at bay.”

Stoneman said more machine-intensive farming like row-crops lend themselves well to safety and distancing guidelines, but the situation is more complicated for specialty crops.

“The greenhouse, tender fruit, and vegetable growers are facing a different situation. Time is of the essence for them. Spring is here, orchard trees pruned and thinned, fields prepped for the season, equipment fixed, and irrigation systems set up,” said Stoneman.

The major issue at hand is labour shortages. Although the federal government has approved migrant workers, Stoneman said that the majority of those workers have not yet arrived: “Without labour soon, many farmers will be switching from vegetables over to row crops. This could cause food shortages in Ontario, especially fresh vegetables.”

The Haldimand Norfolk Health Unit (HNHU) responded to the crisis by implementing a series of measures designed to keep both seasonal workers and local residents safe. This includes farm-specific isolation plans, which must be approved before workers arrive, with no more than three workers to a bunkhouse while they quarantine for two weeks upon arrival. As of April 20, HNHU reported that 2,175 migrant workers had been approved to work in Haldimand or Norfolk. This number is expected to at least double. There are 26 bunkhouses in Haldimand that house workers each year, which vary in size, but HNHU noted that the majority of migrant workers go to Norfolk.