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Farmers react to wild weather

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HUNTSVILLE, ONT. -

The Muskoka region broke a century-old rainfall record last month, according to Environment Canada.

According to David Phillips, a climatologist with Environment Canada, the popular Ontario vacation spot was drenched with 204 millimetres of rain in July— nearly triple the usual amount.

"If you look at the last 100 years in modern history, this is the wettest July, and last year was the wettest August with back-to-back extremes, but May and August have been as dry as June and July were wet," said Phillips.

The wet weather has taken a toll on many farmers.

Mark Hinbest, the owner of Utterson Valley Blueberry farm, walked CTV News through his crops and said the rain in July destroyed several bushes.

"I had to use a fungicide on the plants because they developed— as you can see the redness on the leaf— they developed a blight and root rot because of the rain," said Hinbest.

Hinbest said overall, the summer was successful, and they managed to produce plenty of jam and other products for customers, but the loss of several bushes is concerning.

"There's an old saying, 'that's farming,' and you just have to suck it up," said Hinbest. "You just deal with it and keep going along and hope next year is better."

Although the extreme weather has negatively impacted some farmers, others with different crops have benefited.

"We realized that it was essential to build the beds so the rain would runoff. We have lovely social that has a good amount of clay in it, so that holds the water but can also lead to rot, so we had to balance that," said Marni Martin McTavish, the owner of Indigo Rain Flower Farm in Huntsville.

The work that farmers like McTavish and Hinbest are doing is not going unnoticed by other local farmers.

On Sunday, a group is coming together in Utterson for an event titled Muskoka Farms Matter. They will showcase and explain the process of developing their products to other producers, locals and tourists.

"People need to see how much work goes into it so they can appreciate that food in their fridge," said Tom Hollinshead, a local farmer and Muskoka soil and crop board member.

The event will take place at Winding Fences Farm in Utterson from 10 am-4 pm on Sunday, according to Hollinshead.

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