OLDS, Alta. — Student loans, farm debt and financial unpredictability loom over young people considering an agriculture career in Alberta.
Many are going to the polls for the first time April 23 and they foresee a future of off-farm jobs and careful planning to juggle debt.
A mature student at 27, Joanne Solverson of Camrose wants more support for business risk management, research, technology and innovation. She graduates this spring from Olds College with a diploma in agricultural management with a major in marketing.
“Agriculture is a very big risk to be in,” she said. “You don’t know exactly what is going to happen to affect the profits you are going to get. Programs are needed to encourage people to come to the farm and (get) back into the country life.”
Read Also
Ag in Motion speaker highlights need for biosecurity on cattle operations
Ag in Motion highlights need for biosecurity on cattle farms. Government of Saskatchewan provides checklist on what you can do to make your cattle operation more biosecure.
The Wildrose Alliance Party has promised to dismantle the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency, but she objects to that because it directs grants for research and technology.
Twenty-year-old Rebecca Joseph of Lakeland College welcomes any assistance.
“It would be really nice to see if we can get some help for these young farmers who want to go off on their own but they can’t afford it,” she said.
“That is a big setback for a lot of kids. Yes, they do want their own farm, but there is no way to get the money to start a farm.”
The Progressive Conservatives promise to support youth through 4-H, but Joseph, who is a former member, calls that initiative too little too late.
“There needs to be more money in a young farmer program for people who are in the 18 to 30 age category,” she said.
Nathan Serena, 21, who grew up on a farm near Bow Island, is waffling about returning to the farm. He doesn’t see how he can afford to start. It took him three weeks and several tries to get a bank loan for $10,000 to buy a car. It would be impossible to get a $1 million line of credit.
Sereda would like the political parties to offer tax credits or more flexible young farmer loans to allow young people to farm.
“They’ve got to make it easier for young farmers to start out.”
The parties catch his attention when they talk about university tuition. The cost of education is a big expense for the third year physical education student at the University of Alberta’s Augustana campus.
“A lot of students are catching hold of the idea to reduce tuition costs to even zero,” he said.
While the Wildrose, NDP and Liberals have all announced tuition fee reductions, Sereda is worried that cash-strapped universities will just tack on “non-instructional” fees for the cost of school and that students would then end up paying the same.
“The only way to have post secondary cost less is more money going to the universities,” said Sereda, who sits on the school’s student association.
Another great need, but not often talked about, is better infrastructure funding, he said.
“I’ve noticed the roads are becoming more and more deteriorated.”
