RED DEER – It’s been a long time since babies and children were seen at an Alberta farm meeting, but more sleeping babies and squeaky toys might be what’s needed to encourage younger farmers to attend meetings.
“Farming is all about family. If you want to have young families involved, you have young families,” said Lisa Anderson, 35, at an Outstanding Young Farmers Forum with her 21/2-week-old baby.
Anderson wasn’t the only one with a baby at the Jan. 7 meeting.
April Bauer and her husband Monty brought their six-month-old baby, Megan, to the meeting.
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While the parents listened to speakers talk about farm management or agriculture farm policy, the babies slept in their mother’s arms or sat on the floor and played with toys.
Seeing others juggling families with a farming business is the encouragement needed to keep going, said Bauer, 28, who said she and her husband, 35, feel like a visible minority in agriculture.
“Even in a minority there are people out there doing the same thing. It puts things in perspective for you,” said Bauer of Thorhild, Alta., during the young farmers forum held in conjunction with the Wild Rose Agricultural Producers annual meeting and seminar.
Holding meetings across the hall from Alberta’s general farm organization is a way to recognize that young farmers have different issues and needs than older farmers at the WRAP meeting.
Younger farmers face different challenges and generally have less experience and fewer resources, said Anderson, co-chair of the Alberta region of the Outstanding Young Farmer program. She and her husband were named Alberta’s Outstanding Young Farmers in 2000.
“I feel there’s a need for a forum that looks at the issues facing young farmers,” said Anderson, who wants the fledgling group to be a source for mentors for young farmers and to deal with issues affecting young farmers.
Because of the success of this first joint meeting, the two groups will hold another meeting this summer in conjunction with the Outstanding Young Farmer awards.
Recognizing that it’s important for young farmers to be connected to a political farm organization is the goal of Mark Richards, chair of the Canadian Young Farmers Forum.
As part of his role with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Richards has travelled across the country helping establish youth farm organizations connected to each province’s general farm organization.
“In every province there was enthusiasm for a young farmers organization,” said Richards of Dresden, Ont.
Quebec, the province with the most powerful farm lobbies, already has a youth organization with 1,200 members connected to its general farm group. Through young farmer meetings, individuals can develop political skills and learn how to bring their issues forward to the main farm organization and eventually to federal and provincial government leaders.
“The goal is to provide young farmers with a link to the general farm organizations,” said Richards. He has recently met with young farmers in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Ontario and Manitoba.
Rod Scarlett, executive director of WRAP said the organization is pleased to be working with the Outstanding Young Farmers organization.
“They were the only organization out there that were youth oriented,” said Scarlett.
In the past, the OYF program focused on selecting and promoting young farmers who excelled in agriculture. By making a focus change, the group can now help young farmers see the need for their voice in agricultural politics.
For WRAP, struggling to expand its membership base, it’s an opportunity to rejuvenate the farm organization with young people.
“The spinoff is that it attracts young people to ensure our organization remains viable in the future.”
Even though Anderson and her husband were named the province’s Outstanding Young Farmers, she said it’s still intimidating for them to walk into an established organization and make their concerns heard. Many members have been coming to meetings for years, know each other and how the meeting works. It takes a brave person to stand up in a crowd of strangers and voice a dissenting opinion.
“You find you’re in the minority. It’s intimidating,” said Anderson.
