A catalyst for adaptation, advancement and innovation within the agriculture and agri-food community.
News Release - 2008
The Changing Face of Farmers
(Guelph, ON – September 4, 2008) What does a farmer look like? The traditional
image of a tough, proud fellow in coveralls and rubber boots is no longer valid.
Instead picture a group of young, urban-bred and multicultural individuals.
You’ve now met the new generation of Canadian farmers.
This new group is important because currently in Ontario, the number of farmers
under 35 years of age has declined by more than 50 per cent in the last 10
years. Today, the average age of current farmers is 52 and, according to a 2002
study completed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 80 per cent are planning to
sell or transfer their farms in the next 10 years. At the same time, there is a
need for more farmers to meet the growing demand for locally grown, ecologically
produced and culturally appropriate fresh produce in southern Ontario.
An organization based in Guelph, FarmStart, is currently working with future
farmers, including both urban and rural youth, new Canadians and people wishing
to start a second career on the land. As described by Mike Shook, FarmStart’s
Program Manager: “We encourage new farmers to be entrepreneurs, to creatively
turn challenges into opportunities. Our projects focus on developing different
types of farms, including cooperatives. We also encourage our farmers to explore
new market opportunities, ecological production methods, innovative business
models and value-added products.”
One challenge identified early on by FarmStart was a lack of farm business
management training courses geared specifically towards new, small-scale farmers
as well as new Canadians wishing to start agricultural enterprises. So in 2007,
with $40,000 in funding support from the Agricultural Management Institute
(AMI), FarmStart implemented a “Farm Business Planning and Management Training”
pilot project.
Seventeen prospective farmers completed the initial course offered in two
locations, Guelph and Toronto, and which consisted of eight modules specifically
geared towards the needs of the participants. The Guelph group, made up
primarily of Canadian farm interns, examined issues around cooperative
production and marketing approaches, while the Toronto group, the majority of
whom were new Canadians from Africa, spent more time discussing the Canadian
farming and food distribution system.
The course helped participants identify goals, develop production, marketing,
and financial plans, and ultimately build a business plan for them to take to a
bank, or to apply to the FarmStart Incubator Farms Program. Workshops and farm
tours supplemented the classroom theory with practical tips about planning and
running a farm.
The pilot course indicated a need for more training for participants as well as
for more flexibility in how the course was offered, Shook notes. “We hope to
eventually offer the course with groups of potential FarmStart applicants, as
well as through community colleges, agricultural organizations and youth groups.
We also would like to make the course modules available to all farmers through
our website.” (www.farmstart.ca).”
Peter Vander Zaag, Chair of the AMI, believes that “although business management
skills are important for all farmers, the needs of new farmers and new Canadians
wishing to farm are unique. Not only are the course participants coming in with
little to no knowledge of our agriculture and food system, the programs must be
delivered by facilitators familiar with cross-cultural communications. FarmStart
has done a remarkable job of developing and promoting this program.”
The Agricultural Management Institute, administered by the Agricultural
Adaptation Council, is funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs through the Agricultural
Policy Framework, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.
