After a wet summer, Quebec farmers are hoping the weather will cooperate with them for the next couple of weeks to ensure that their crops can finish growing.
Farmer Dominic Leroux says the rainy weather throughout most of June and July delayed the growing season and stunted the growth of his crop of feed corn.
"What we're more concerned about is the maturity of the grain," said Leroux.
Leroux says his biggest fear these days is the first ground frost. The first frost will kill the plant and if that happens before the crop has matured, his business will take a hit.
"If we cannot harvest the crop it means we're going to lose a lot of money," he said. "We still need two weeks of nice weather without ground frost to be able to harvest the corn."
Leroux has crop insurance, but he's not entitled to any insurance money unless he racks up losses totalling at least $30,000.
The current price for feed corn is $160 per ton. Leroux's costs have doubled in the last two years and he would need $200 per ton to ensure a profit.
Government programs will help him cover some of the shortfall, and to help make ends meet, Leroux's wife runs a side business.
Half of the crop from the family farm is corn; the other half is soy beans -- which are doing much better, and are ready for harvest.
Leroux says he remains cautiously optimistic about his corn.
"You could do the best you can, but nature has the final word."
