Gwen Donohoe from a farm near The Pas in northern Manitoba showed the kind of optimism and enthusiasm the touring MPs wanted to hear.
She told members of the House of Commons agriculture committee April 29 when they visited Manitoba on a young farmer tour that she sees a future in the business despite advice from family, community and teachers that farming is not a good choice for bright educated students.
Donohoe said she is tired of hearing negative views about agriculture as a career.
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“We are the solutions you seek,” said the youth director of the Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council as well as a University of Manitoba student involved in the family farm.
“We just need the support and resources necessary to deliver those solutions.”
She advocated leadership training, mentoring, more access to credit and capital and a risk management program designed to let young people make mistakes but survive to learn from them.
“Give us responsibility and the tools to become leaders,” she said.
Donohoe urged MPs to recommend compensation for the goods and services farmers provide beyond food production.
“That (program) has to be designed to make us more profitable.”
Other assessments were negative.
Drew Baker, a 23-year-old with five years of farming with his family at Beausejour, Man., has found it tough slogging since he decided to follow his heart into the business. Finding capital and credit to buy land was difficult and returns are low.
“My dad warned me about it repeatedly but I’m more stubborn than my dad thought,” he said.
Baker doubted whether he would tell his own children to farm someday.
In an interview, he said he could make more money elsewhere but would rather make less doing what he loves.
“But for the long term, I’m hoping things get better but I’m looking at the trends and it doesn’t look good.”
Kate Storey, an organic farmer who promotes a smaller scale farm model, has an educated 23-year-old son who wants to farm.
“Unfortunately, my son cannot afford a business that does not provide a fair wage,” she said. “The question is do you want young farmers? Do you want our food to be produced by farmers or employees?”
Kyle Foster, 34, from Arborg, Man., criticized the slow pace of payments from government support programs that are based on comparisons with historic averages and are calculated after the tax year is complete. Payouts can be two or three years behind.
He cited one neighbour who had to sell his farm and received an AgriStability cheque 11 months later.
“If he had that money earlier, he might still be farming.”
Witnesses demanded that Canadian competition law and the Competition Bureau be strengthened to reduce the power of agribusiness suppliers and buyers in the marketplace.
