Greater Toronto Area farmers are feeling an added frustration this growing season with the high fuel price.
“We just have to buy it and use it,” farmer Bill Eek, who grows carrots and onions on 90 acres of land in Holland Marsh, told CTV News Toronto Wednesday.
The price of diesel has been steadily increasing since last spring and is now around two dollars a liter, taking more money out of pockets.
“It all depends on how much we have to irrigate. If we get enough rain, it won’t be that bad, but if we have to irrigate like we did last summer, it will have an impact,” he said.
At nearby Hillside Gardens, beyond fuel, add in the increased cost of fertilizer and packaging, like cardboard and plastic bags, into the mix, and the 1,000-acre farm is seeing a 40 percent increase to grow crops such as carrots, cauliflower, onions, and celery.
Farmers aren’t just paying more upfront this season. Some fear that once the food is ready for the store, retailers won’t pay the higher prices to cover the cost of growing it.
Source: toronto.ctvnews.ca