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Picture of the agri-food sector
The Outaouais has about one thousand agricultural operations and around thirty processing companies.
The majority of Outaouais farms raise feeder cattle. In the last
few years, many beef producers have abandoned the auction
and turned to on-farm marketing. In the Pontiac, a slaughterhouse
/ point of sale will soon be operating: the Outaouais
Fine Meats Cooperative will strengthen the marketing
and development of the region's beef production. The
region encourages finishing feeder cattle in order to create an added value
to this type of production. To know more about finishing, you can access
additional support for finishing feeder cattle in the Outaouais from the
agricultural service centre of the Ministère
de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation
du Québec (MAPAQ) nearest you.
Quebec feeder cattle farms must conform to environmental regulations. Besides the framework and financial support from the regional MAPAQ office, the region has developed a tool to allow producers to broaden their knowledge of sustainable practices. Consult the environmental management guide for beef farms on the Agri-Réseau website.
The Outaouais is trying to diversify its production, notably in organic agriculture, agri-tourism and other extensive productions (sheep...). Horticulture is also an important growth target for the region.
In the Outaouais, all the conditions are combing to favour the start-up and expansion
of horticultural operations:
- Farmland at competitive prices;
- Large variety of soils and climates;
- A nearby market (1.1 million residents in the large Gatineau-Ottawa region).
To know more about horticultural production, get acquainted with the document "En Outaouais, l’horticulture prend l’affiche!" ("In the Outaouais, horticulture is being noticed!").
In addition, there is considerable development of organic production in the region which responds to a growing demand. Furthermore, this applies to all extensive productions mentioned (as opposed to intensive productions with their integrated marketing), which we recommend.
The Outaouais encourages food processing. There are a few companies already in place, and they are contributing greatly to defining the originality of our region. Their development and start-up of new businesses is strengthening the agri-food sector in general.
To end this tour, the Outaouais is remarkable for being an area of broad-leaved trees with the potential for maple syrup production. In 2002, the region did an evaluation of this potential.
It's for you to play in and to become engaged in the story about farm produce in the Outaouais!
We invite you to visit the regional MAPAQ site for a more complete and detailed picture of the agri-food industries in the Outaouais.
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