A farmer survey has detected a need for more training for people interested in agriculture.
“I believe at this time, there’s a new generation of young people with a high interest of being in business,” said Ty Faechner, executive director of the Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA).
The web-based survey of 130 farmers made several observations:
- Ninety percent said there was a need for farm training for new people wanting to get into agriculture.
- Ninety-three percent believed there was a need for training farmers who want to move to a different aspect of farming.
- Seventy-five percent said there were not enough resources for new or transitioning farmers to begin the process.
- Eighty-nine percent said they would attend training opportunities to either enter or transition within the farming business.
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Faechner said those in the 25 to 35 and 45 to 65 age groups wanted additional training.
More than 40 percent of the people interviewed had university education and still wanted to know more about the business of farming, he added.
ARECA comprises 17 Alberta organizations and focuses on applied research, demonstration and extension with forages, annual crops and livestock production.
Faechner said by showing a need for more agriculture education, the organization hopes to tap into provincial education funding.
Many of the survey respondents wanted farming to be more like an apprenticeship program with a combination of education and mentoring and less formal time in traditional classroom education.
“If I was to read between the lines, they want to be more engaged and have more one on one,” he said.
Faechner said ARECA will use Ontario’s FarmStart program, Green Certificate and other existing programs when designing its education proposal.
“We don’t believe we can do this alone.”
