Federal policies lacking | Lender calls low young farmer numbers in Canada a myth
New Democrat MPs last week said a Conservative government failure to create policies that attract young farmers to the business is creating an industry crisis.
As delegates from the Canadian Young Farmers’ Forum sat listening in the House of Commons gallery, NDP agriculture critic Malcolm Allen said that in the past 25 years, the number of farmers under age 35 has fallen more than 70 percent.
“Without young farmers to take over, Canada is facing a crisis in agriculture and Conservatives are sitting on their hands,” he said. “The Conservatives’ inaction and lack of vision is making this problem worse.”
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Pierre Lemieux, parliamentary secretary to agriculture minister Gerry Ritz, argued the opposition was missing the point. Prosperity in agriculture will attract the young.
“The one main concern of young farmers is whether they can earn enough money on the farm to raise their families,” he told deputy NDP agriculture critic Ruth Ellen Brosseau. “Under our agricultural policies, they can.”
Net farm cash income in 2012 will be at levels not seen in almost 40 years, he said.
Earlier, delegates at the CYFF conference had heard a different perspective about the crisis over the decline in young farmer numbers.
It isn’t as dire as census of agriculture statistics suggests, said Farm Credit Canada operations vice-president Faith Matchett.
“There is a perception of a lack of young farmers,” she said. “FCC’s perspective is far different.”
Matchett said she wanted to dispel the lack of young farmers myth.
Younger farmers make up a solid block of FCC customers, borrowing almost $2 billion last year, she said after her speech.
“They are a significant part of the industry and from our perspective, there is no lack of young farmers.”
According to the 2011 Census of Agriculture conducted by Statistics Canada, 8.2 percent of Canadian farmers were younger than 35 and almost half were 55 and older.
The average age of a Canadian farmer was 54.
With the number of younger farmers dropping, the census results renewed the debate about whether enough young people are interested in the farm to keep the industry growing.
Matchett said there are reasons the farm population is aging.
Like most entrepreneurs and business owners, farmers do not retire early and with current high commodity prices, they are deciding to stay longer to take advantage of the boom.
“They tend to stay when things are going good,” she said.
But an improved economy also provides an opportunity for the next generation to begin the transition into farming, she said.
“The situation is not dire at all but it still is important that we continue to attract young people into the industry,” she said.
