The House of Commons agriculture committee, having spent the better part of the past year studying beginning farmer issues, is recommending governments tweak financial programs and improve education about farming.
In a report tabled in Parliament Nov. 19, the all-party committee recommended improvements to business risk management programs to make them more young farmer friendly, changes to the Statistics Canada agriculture census to compile more information about young farmers, more investment in research and a study of the impact of North American free trade on farmers.
And after months of hearings, a cross-Canada tour and weeks of closed-door debates over the report, MPs agreed that financial uncertainty and high entry costs are key reasons why the number of young farmers has been falling while average farmer age increases.
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“Witnesses indicated almost unanimously that lack of returns in the agricultural sector is the main reason why young people do not choose farming as a career or why established farmers often discourage their children to carry on and take over their farms,” said the report. “The committee recognizes that profitability levels are the main reason why someone will or will not invest in agriculture.”
Governing Conservatives said their own report was meant to correct the record “where the main report has omitted or erred.”
The main omission seems to be its farmer support programs, including negotiating free trade deals.
The main error seems to be that opposition parties did not condemn themselves for their “punitive efforts” to force young prairie grain farmers to market through the Canadian Wheat Board.
The Liberal report was a preview of their agriculture policy in the next election campaign – blaming the government for not supporting farmers enough, insisting they adopt the Liberal promise to rewrite farm safety net programs and supporting Canadian farmers as much as foreign governments support their competitor farmers.
The Bloc Québecois recommended that Ottawa adopt a more supportive stance toward financial support and called on Ottawa to transfer money to the Quebec government to help support young farmers.
The NDP’s 14 recommendations include creation of a cost-of-production support program and an examination of whether supply management would be appropriate for other sectors.
