Canada’s dairy industry is a stable source of good and cutting-edge skilled jobs, but that’s not something a lot of young people realize, says Canadian Dairy Commission chair Alistair Johnston.
“When you go to high schools now and you … ask them, ‘what are you going to do when you’re done high school,’ who says they want to be a dairy technologist or a dairy scientist or a food scientist, even?” Johnston said at the recent Manitoba Dairy Conference.
“It’s a tough row to hoe to get these kids out and into our organizations to build the next generation of what we’re trying to build as an industry.”
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Johnston said the problem with dairy’s lack of interest to young people is compounded by the shrinking of academic support for dairy education and research. At one time dairy education was common in Canada, Johnston said, with “probably 12 dairy faculties across the country” when he arrived 30 years ago.
Now the number of “full service” faculties for both on-farm production and processing can probably be counted “on the fingers of one hand.”
The commission is planning to fund a number of initiatives to try to reverse the decline in support and interest in dairy education and research.
“We’re actually going to donate money,” said Johnston.
Some will be for scholarships. Other funds will help develop “world class scientific curricula.”
Johnston said students helped with scholarships tend to stay within the food industry.
Getting those people into the industry in the future requires helping them now.
“If we’re going to build this new age, contemporary industry that is suited to Canada and helps it be competitive around the world and domestically … we are going to have to have capable young men and women working in our industry,” said Johnston.
