SAINT JACINTA – The adage goes that sometimes you have to think outside the box. This is exactly what David and Charles Beaudry did in their early twenties. They diversified the family farm by starting a business in the ornamental conifer sector.
“Our parents have a sheep farm and we wanted to take over the business, but with all our brothers and sisters we were too many successors for the size of the business. We looked at purchasing land and growing corn and soybean crops. We had calculated it, but with the price of land here it wasn’t profitable,” says David, who has just graduated as an agroeconomist.
The latter adds that in ornamental horticultural production, higher profit margins make purchasing land profitable. “Tree production resonated with us,” says Charles, who holds a degree in agronomy. “We saw cities that wanted to become greener, that wanted to introduce more vegetation and we said there was a market. Our parents know a cedar manufacturer. Alain Brodeur showed us what he was doing and we said, “This is what we want to do with our lives.”
This is how in 2021 they acquired cultivated land totaling 36 hectares in Saint-Paul-d’Abbotsford, in Montérégie. The following year a portion was planted with cedars, offering a first harvest in 2024. Today, their land is already 50% planted with conifers and will reach its maximum production rate in its eighth year. But the Beaudrys are already making a name for themselves.
Determined to carve out a place for themselves
Above the Arbora Nursery stand at the Expo Québec Vert, which took place from November 20 to 22 in Saint-Hyacinthe, the Beaudry brothers placed the words “new producer”. Earth found that this attracted the attention of several potential customers. Their presence was all the more noted as succession is very rare in horticultural production, underlines Nathalie Deschênes, deputy director of Québec Vert, the association of ornamental horticultural producers.
In fact, it is difficult to find your place among the already established big players. David and Charles Beaudry intend to achieve this by offering a high-end product with exceptional service.
We want to specialize in large-caliber cedars, where there is a little less competition. We also want to produce spruce and hemlock to offer a whole range of ornamental conifers. We want to be able to supply garden centers and landscaping contractors who will come to pick up large orders. This is our niche.
Charles Beaudry
Faced with risks and uncertainties
Planting trees that will be sold seven years later comes with its share of risks and uncertainties. To reduce uncertainty, the two brothers develop their business plan by setting realistic goals based on real figures, those of their mentor, Alain Brodeur.
The other thing that gives them confidence in the future is their ability to develop their customer base, says David. “Many people have told us that our trees are A1. What we are doing now is making a name for ourselves with the service,” he explains. The brother adds: “This summer an entrepreneur called us. He missed the trees. My brother and I have it loaded personally a truck on Sunday morning at 7, and is now a regular customer. »
The very low interest rates during the pandemic, which they benefited from when purchasing their land, helped them breathe and made their goal of marketing 25,000 conifers a year achievable. They are working with their network of contacts to export some of this production to the United States. “We don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket, but the American East Coast market, four or five hours away from here, is huge, and with the exchange rate, we can get even higher margins. So we explore it,” explains David.
How do the two producers see themselves in 10 years? “For now we want to make the most of what we have. We think that horticulture is an industry of the future and therefore we definitely want to do it, emphasizes Charles. We started quite young. We have a beautiful horizon ahead of us and the projects that come our way, we will seize them immediately. We are not taking away any possibilities. »