Saskatchewan agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud has asked seven young farmers to help him help others like them.
The agriculture youth advisory committee will meet eight times a year to discuss how to attract more young people to the industry.
Chair April Nichol, who operates a 2,000-acre grain farm with her husband near Qu’Appelle, said the committee wants to create awareness, develop a positive environment for youth to enter farming and help create policies to meet the specific needs of young farmers.
“It’s our job as a young committee to discuss how to recruit young people into the industry and share with them some of the passion that we feel,” she said.
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Many farmers are nearing retirement age and the transition that has to take place is top of the mind for most.
Nichol said the committee has met three times and has some ideas.
Bjornerud noted that the seven members, between the ages of 18 and 35, farm on their own or with family and some work off the farm.
For example, Nichol has an agriculture degree in crop science and works for Syngenta Crop Protection.
The other committee members are Daryl Frank of Southey, Max Halyk of Melville, Jeff Prosko of Rose Valley, Landon Swityk of Spiritwood, Derek Tallon of Lafleche and Colin Wilgenbusch of Halbrite.
“We need their advice on how we get more young people into the farming industry,” Bjornerud said.
“What is the future of agriculture if we don’t start go get more young people involved?”
The solutions won’t all lie with government, but the minister said some of the stumbling blocks might be overcome.
“We’ve got to try and do more if we can,” he said.
Nichol said the committee will discuss issues it thinks are pertinent and provide recommendations to the ministry.
The committee was chosen after Bjornerud asked government MLAs to put forward names from their rural constituencies. It has no definite timeline.
“I’m hoping possibly by fall that they can start to give me some indication of some of the things they came up with,” he said.
