How farms in the region are preparing for the busy season

Here’s how the busy season is kicking off for Simcoe County farmers now that spring has sprung.

The maple syrup season is about one third of the way complete and so far so good.

Tom Shaw of Shaws Maple Syrup in Oro-Medonte says they would like a few more sunny days but says the sap has been flowing well. Even the heavy snow amounts still in the bush is helping.

“Having lots of snow in the bush is a cold reserve. As the season progresses, we know we are going to get the warm days we don’t know if we are going to get the cold nights so having that snow in the bush is a good thing,” says Shaw.

Shaws produces about 1,500 gallons of finished maple syrup every year. It needs about 60,000 gallons of sap to get that much finished product.

Agriculture generates over $1.2 billion in economic activity in Simcoe County alone every year. One in eight jobs are in the industry. The Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture says most local farmers are about one month away from getting crops in the ground.

“It’s been a good spring so far as long as it stays that way,” Dave Ritchie, president of the Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture. “We keep a steady pace on the track we’re on, we should be pretty good.”

Over at Barrie Hill Farms, workers are pruning apple trees before the busy season arrives.

“We’ve got to cut them back and take away the excess growth,” says Morris Gervais, owner of Barrie Hill Farms.

Morris Gervais says the heavy snow amounts in bush and on fields is a good thing for future crops.

“What this means for your strawberries, your apples, your blueberries, all the stuff that is in the ground right now it means they are not going to start growing too quickly,” says Gervais. “Spring isn’t going to come too soon and then everything isn’t going to get hammered with the frost that we know is going to come at the end of May.”

So asparagus is up first for most local farmers with a start date of around May 10. After that, it’s strawberries around June 20 and blueberries around July 20.