There’s a lot of anger growing over fields that used to grow crops.
Some of Ontario’s best farmland is a flooded disaster area, and farmers are furious. For the second time in three weeks, a dike has let go. And farmers now say their season is over.
Several acres of farmland are now washed out, and on average are under about five feet of water.
Randy Riffert can’t believe it happened to his farm again, saying it’s hard to swallow what has happened, especially a second time. For Riffert, 40 acres of freshly-planted carrots and onions are now a lake. He says it’s a loss of up to $1 million.
“We fought to get it back, so we could get back on the ground,” he says. “We were ready to start again and it just broke again.”
About 190 acres of farmland in the Holland Marsh has been washed out, ending the season for three farming families, like Riffert.
Peter Marques has lost everything he planted this year.
“It’s all gone, there is no chance of a second crop,” Marques says.
Farmers are blaming the damage on Lake Simcoe, which flows through the Holland River and is controlled by the Trent Severn Waterway.
“We feel it’s not our fault,” Marques says. “Water levels are high and it puts extra pressure on the dikes, which are not designed for that pressure.”
He says “there is no reason in hell” water levels on Lake Simcoe should be as high they are.
Jamie Reaume, with the Holland Marsh Growers Association, says the levels on Lake Simcoe have to be lowered. He wants both the federal and provincial governments, and conservation authorities, to address the problem before it happens again.
“We should have a discussion with all levels of jurisdiction that says there was a mistake made, acknowledge it, and let’s get it corrected.”
Bradford isn’t willing to lay blame, but says the most pressing issue is getting money for disaster relief and an emergency clean-up underway as soon as possible.
