While the agriculture industry continues to effectively cope with volatile commodity prices and increased costs, it still struggles with an outdated image of the farmer which makes it very difficult to attract young people to agriculture.
Young farmers speak out to the Canadian press regarding what needs to be done to avoid any further reduction in young Canadian farmers. They state that the industry’s image will need to be revised and the public will need to be educated about the realities of food production.
“In an attempt to attract young people, we have to set a positive example and make it sexy,” said Leona Dargis, 23, a member at large of the Canadian Young Farmer’s Forum.
“[Farmers] are going to have fun, it can be profitable, there are definitely opportunities but it takes creativity to make it work,” Dargis said.
Canada’s farm population continues to decrease and reached a historic low in 2006, according to Statistics Canada. While one in three Canadians used to live on a farm in 1931, that number plummeted to one in 46 in 2006.
The average age of people who still live and work on a farm has also increased according to the statistics. “One of our major plans is to keep the young people we have on the farm,” said 28 year old Ian Richardson, the forum’s President. “When we loose a young farmer it is very difficult to get them to ever come back, so we try note to lose them in the first place.”
Moving past the family farm
Many people have a misperception about what farming looks like, said Brigid Rivoire, Executive Director of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
“Consumers really have a kind of American gothic idea of farmers who have straws in their mouths and have a couple of cows and a couple of pigs,” she says, referring to focus group data.
“They don’t understand how sophisticated farm operations have become and the type of work they do in terms of environmental programs, food safety programs, and the incredible contribution that agriculture makes to the economy.”
One way to change this is to convince people that farming is a viable way to turn a profit, Richardson said.
“In agriculture, there used to be quite a mindset that you farmed because your family had farmed. Somebody was always going to take over the farm and live there as well as work there,” he said. But the young farmer of today does not want to farm for the sake of farming. “We want to farm to make a profit and to be respected, earn a good living and support our families.”
While Richardson grew up on a family hog and beef farm in Prince Edward Island he decided to take another direction when he was ready to branch out. After he analyzed the needs of the market he purchased a dairy farm in Newfoundland.
“We’re trying to get people to diversify and try different things outside “the box”. We’ve got to become more dynamic as farmers to increase our income potentials and just make agriculture a place that people want to be,” he said.
Flexible education
That mindset is reflected in changes to agricultural programs at Olds College in Alberta.
Starting in the Fall of 2009, the college will offer an Agricultural Management Diploma that gives student’s experience in everything from animals and soils to technology and business. It is a change from traditional programs that usually have a more narrow focus.
“It’s reflecting that the traditional agriculture program was focused on the production and sale of products and now it is more focused on the consumer. They want to understand what the market needs before they produce it,” said Joel Gingrich, Chairman of the college’s school of agriculture, land and environment.
Students will “have the flexibility to change their jobs as their career evolves because of their background in each of those areas,” said Gingrich. Dargis. Gingrich, who has run her family’s farm with her younger siblings since her parents died last year, said it never occurred to her to take another path in life. She said she feels lucky her parents encouraged her to take part and helped her to understand the vast potential that farming has to offer if it is chosen as a career path.
“I think the next generation and the generations to come are more entrepreneurial,” Dargis said. “They want to own their own business, and even if they are not necessarily from a farm they are faced with a challenge and they can help manage a farm or be part of an innovative-type group, or a farm that is really stretching out there, trying something new, diversifying.”
It’s important to get these concepts across to people who may see agriculture as weak or in trouble, says Rivoire.
“This is a very viable industry, and yes there are some hiccups, but it’s worthy of ones personal investment,” Rivoire said. “It’s not always, ‘oh, it’s an industry on its knees and needs to be bailed out.’ It’s an incredible industry that’s worthy of significant investment.”
