It sounds like the opening line of a joke at a farm succession conference.
Did you hear the one about the Canadian, the American and the Englishman assigned to design a farm succession policy?
Actually, that was a theme Aug. 8 as speakers from the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada addressed a farm succession conference in Ottawa about the policies of their respective governments.
The contrast in approaches was striking.
British academic Matt Lobley said that despite financial support available from the European Union for farm transitions, the U.K. doesn’t really have a policy and doesn’t support funding of succession planning.
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The industry has tried to fill the gap by establishing some Fresh Start academies to teach aspiring farmers some of the entrepreneurial basics, to provide mentoring services and to connect potential new entrants with older farmers who wish to exit.
But despite the popular image of bucolic English countryside populated by farmers, Lobley said the U.K. government doesn’t really care all that much about farm renewal and getting new, innovative farmers on the land.
“My view is that since the government refuses to support this despite EU money available, they really don’t care about the structure of the countryside,” he said in an interview.
“Their view is that whatever the farm structure, there will be no abandonment of land and food will continue to be produced. If it is from a family farm, an innovative farm or a corporate farm really makes no difference.”
In the U.S., according to Mark Falcone, deputy director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s farm loans program, the American government and Congress began to recognize the problem of aging farmers and the need for a transition policy in the late 1980s.The response has been to throw money at the problem.
Helping hand
Falcone outlined a dizzying array of congressional bills, programs and farm bill provisions that instruct government to provide low-interest loans, capital advances and other programs aimed at helping farmers considered special needs – minorities, women and now, young farmers.
“It has been the grassroots and political pressure rather than USDA that have been leading the way and pressuring for programs,” he said.
The Canadian approach has been a middle ground.
It includes a renewal program through the federal-provincial agricultural policy framework that has just recently started to fund part of the cost of professionally assisted farm succession plans, as well as offering programs such as the agricultural skills service funded by Agriculture Canada.
Lois James, director of the Agriculture Canada renewal division, told the conference that 377 farmers have completed succession plans with the aid of the government and hundreds more plans are being developed.
