In that way, 10 years can seem like a lot of time. Yet in others, such as when managing a busy farm, it can pass in the blink of an eye.

And that decade is certainly filled with vast knowledge acquisition, unexpected surprises and important insights. To capture some of those experiences and advice, Country Guide asked a few farmers from across Canada to share the biggest lessons learned during their first 10 years in agriculture.

Lesson: Diversify

In 2014, Rebecca Papadopoulos and her husband George purchased Keating Farm, one of the oldest farms on Vancouver Island, with a goal of building a diversified farm. Although the property needed serious TLC, it had a lot of the infrastructure the couple needed to start farming.

“We had orchards that were already here,” says Papadopoulos. “It was pretty amazing to buy a piece of property and our first year here, we were harvesting apples and pears.”

During four years of extensive renovation on the 28-acre farm, Papadopoulos used the available resources to begin generating sales and focused on executing a long-term plan. Keating Farm started selling pressed juices made from the fruit growing in the established orchards and expanded into eggs, honey, turkey, chicken, pork and lamb in 2018. The farm is also an agritourism destination and offers lodging for overnight visitors.

A “farm angel” mentored the engineering project manager and paramedic turned farmers on how to raise livestock and develop products for the farm. A diversified approach helped Keating Farm overcome significant obstacles with individual crops, including storms that had an impact on their apple harvest and pests that decimated their beehives.

“Things that are very much outside of our control happen every year,” Papadopoulos says. “Every time something like that happens, I think, ‘I’m glad I’m not just a honey farmer because this year we would have been done,’ or ‘I’m glad I’m not just an apple farmer because we would be (in trouble).’ So, it’s really made me a strong believer in diversification.”

Diversification has also been essential in making the Keating Farm financially viable. Individually, none of the products that the couple produce generate enough revenue to run the farm. Expanding into multiple product lines and adding agritourism have been essential to their continued survival.

“Agritourism has actually been our absolute best possible marketing tool,” says Papadopoulos. “It turned out to be the best possible marketing strategy for direct-to-consumer sales.”

But diversification comes with challenges and Papadopoulos has spent the past decade learning to navigate them. Regulatory hurdles have been the hardest to overcome.

“Every product that we raise has its own set of regulations associated with it,” she says. “For diversified farmers like us with eight or nine products, I have to go out and familiarize myself with the set of regulations for every one of those products.”

Now that the farming operation is “dialed in,” Papadopoulos wants to help other farmers create diversified, sustainable farms, explaining, “There are a lot of great opportunities for collaborative workshops… and to share our knowledge.”

Lesson: Invest in the future

Morgan Smallman joined the family farm full-time in 2014 and quickly realized there were generational differences when it came to farm planning.

“I was 28 years old and pretty excited about everything and I wanted to expand,” Smallman recalls. “My father and my uncle are at the end of their farming career, so they’re thinking about an exit strategy, where I want to farm 20 years and make it profitable. It’s an interesting dynamic to be to be working in… because there are three of us and if we’re making decisions, everybody has to be on board.”

Smallman took part in a farm transition workshop offered through Farm Management Canada that helped the family come up with a plan and honed their communication skills. He calls it “the best decision we ever made as a farm.” Now, he meets with his dad and uncle once a week to talk through farm issues and ensures the lines of communication remain open during the transition.

The process helped Smallman advocate for changes he felt were important, including investing in new technology to make the Ola, P.E.I. potato farm more efficient and profitable. He had the experience to back up his plan.

The sixth-generation farmer graduated with a double minor in business and plant science and worked in crop insurance, GPS sampling and soil health before moving back home join J and J Farms.

Smallman helped the farm expand from 200 acres of potatoes to 500 acres. He was also part of the decision to scale back the acreage after recognizing it wasn’t feasible to farm on such a large scale with older equipment and older workers.

He’s focused on improving soil health and upgrading technologies to include a GPS-enabled tractor and new potato washer. “It’s taken the farm to the next level being able to work with these tools that are out there.”

Along the way, Smallman has dealt with challenges from hurricanes to potato wart to COVID. The struggles have solidified his commitment to embracing sustainable farming strategies, such as cover crops and slow-release fertilizer. He has plans to make additional investments over the next decade, including installing solar panels and selling power back to the grid.

These initiatives require upfront investments, but Smallman hopes they will offer significant long-term dividends — and could help expand their contracts with companies, such as Frito Lay, that have encouraged their growers to use green energy and other sustainable efforts.

“I want to be the early adopter on those environmental issues,” he says. “We’ve seen that it has an effect and that we’ll be incentivized to do it and I think it’s a good way to keep moving forward.”

Lesson: Be prepared to pivot

First-generation farmer Amber Rowse-Robinson was so excited about raising livestock on her East Sooke, B.C. farm that she introduced chickens, ducks and goats in the first year. Her plan was to farm as a hobby, not a business, but strong interest in her pastured meat led Rowse-Robinson to pivot.

“We started opening up sales just to friends and family. I realized that it was an amazing privilege to be able to feed people food that they really valued and felt like they had a connection with,” she recalls. “And that’s what really spurred the business on. I realized, ‘If I could do this on a bigger scale, that would be pretty great.’”

Brass Bell Farm has gone through significant changes since Rowse-Robinson started farming in 2009. She expanded the farm to include cattle and the demand for grass-fed beef on the island was strong. The farm developed a unique niche, but everything changed when a 2023 drought fried their pastures and made it impossible to purchase hay. Rowse-Robinson made the decision to sell the cattle.

“What it would have cost to bring in feed to keep them going was not in our budget and was not going to make sense from a business perspective,” she says. “I made the really hard decision of letting them go.”

Rowse-Robinson shifted her focus to sheep. While there had been a few ewes on the farm since the beginning, she recognized that sheep were well-suited to the climate and easier to sustain during drought. Sheep were also easier for Rowse-Robinson, who farms mostly solo with occasional help from her husband, to manage on her own. The fact that there were multiple revenue streams from a single flock was also attractive.

Brass Bell Farm purchased a flock in 2024, and Rowse-Robinson plans to establish a dairy, sell lambs to local farms and restaurants, and, eventually, market the fibre. The shift, she acknowledges, was difficult, but also exciting.

“Pivoting from the focus on beef to sheep was fairly significant,” she says. “In the moment it felt awful… I’d made all this progress and a lot of sacrifices over the years to build up what we had and then I saw it all driving away in the back of a trailer. Once I had my time to be heartbroken, I was ready to tackle the next thing.”

Her 15 years of experience has included a lot of trial and error, but Rowse-Robinson feels more confident in planning for the next decade.

“We probably have a clear idea of what we want to do and how we’re going to do it,” she says. “And if we can make these systems viable, we can support new and young farmers to get their start.”

Lesson: Never stop learning

Jim Lavers got the idea to grow Christmas trees from a tree farming friend in Nova Scotia who wanted to expand in Ontario. After researching the local market, he realized that many local Christmas tree farms had gone out of business and decided to fill the gap by starting the Christmas Tree Farm. There was just one problem: Lavers and his wife, Deni, spent their entire careers in the military and had no experience in agriculture.

“The learning curve was quite steep,” he recalls. “We joined the Christmas Tree Farmers of Ontario before we even bought a farm and spent the next two years basically learning everything we could.”

Taking a tactical approach to farming served Lavers well. He attended association meetings and field days, took business planning classes and met with mentors before the first saplings were planted at their Harrowsmith, Ont. farm in 2012.

Growing Christmas trees has proven challenging. Lavers has dealt with poor soil depth, gypsy moth infestations and climate change. A 2016 drought wiped out 2,500 trees — more than half of his plantings — and made him question whether to continue farming.

“It was really eye-opening for us,” he says.

The support of mentors and advice from other growers led to the decision to install an irrigation system that helped them get back on track. Even at peak production, the Christmas Tree Farm can’t meet the demand for locally grown Christmas trees.

The farm sold 1,750 trees in 2024, including 600 trees cut fresh from the farm with the rest shipped in from other growers. Tourism is a huge element of their business and the “Hallmark experience” draws thousands of visitors around the holidays.

Although Lavers has run a successful Christmas tree farm for more than 10 years, he still looks for opportunities to learn new things. He participates in association meetings and workshops, attends field days and reads about the latest agritourism trends.

Lavers is also eager to share his knowledge with the next generation of growers. He shares his contact information with new members of Christmas Tree Farmers of Ontario and has invited potential growers to the farm to get more information. Growing Christmas trees is a long game, he explains, and he wants to make sure that potential farmers have the information they need to make smart decisions.

“You have to learn your discipline before you start. You absolutely cannot walk onto a farm and expect to start raising Christmas trees without getting the required background,” he says.

“We’re always open for people interested in doing a like-minded thing to learn from us.”

The post Ten years on the farm appeared first on Country Guide.

Increasingly, the answer to consolidation and falling commodity prices is vertical integration. It isn’t for every farm, but value-added products are starting to play an important role in how grain growers remain competitive.

“We were farming 5,000 acres (in Leask, Sask.), and we either needed to get larger or do something different,” says Barb Stefanyshyn-Cote. “We decided that the something different was the route for us.”

Stefanyshyn-Cote and her husband, John Cote, sold their farm and purchased 80 acres (and rented an additional 160 acres) near Saskatoon to launch Black Fox Farm and Distillery, a farm-to-bottle distillery that makes single-origin, small-batch whisky and gin from wheat, triticale and oats grown on their farm. “We really wanted to build on our ag expertise,” Stefanyshyn-Cote says. “That’s how it got started — taking what we knew and turning it into something that consumers wanted.”

Black Fox Farm and Distillery is one of several farm distilleries across Canada, including Anohka and Pivot Spirits in Alberta, Kinsip and Wild Lot in Ontario, and Caldera Distilling in Nova Scotia.

Despite the explosion of craft distilleries, however, the process of going from grain to glass is complex even for producers who have mastered the art of growing crops.

“As farmers, we did our own selling,” Stefanyshyn-Cote says. “We called grain brokers, asked their prices and picked the better price and said, ‘I just marketed my grain,’ but that is nothing like marketing consumer packaged goods.”

Figuring out labeling requirements and mastering marketing also proved challenging for Angela and Tyson Devitt who began milling the grains grown on their Ripley, Ont. farm in 2020. “When the seed enters the facility, it’s an agriculture product but when it leaves, it’s food and the regulations are very different,” Tyson explains.

While the learning curve was steep when the couple started Stone Bridge Flour, the effort was worthwhile. Local bakeries fell in love with the stone-milled flour, so the Devitts purchased new equipment and increased their capacity several times to keep up with demand.

“In the first year, we were approached by potential customers who asked for astronomical amounts of flour per week… and we had to turn them away,” Angela says. “The market for locally sourced, less-processed ingredients has really grown and we haven’t had the capacity to supply those requests. With the new mill, hopefully we can take on a few of those customers.”

From commodity to specialty

The Canada West Foundation points to significant diversification in crops and changes in agricultural operations as a result of changes to grain policies. “Further diversification, value-added processing and improving the movement of agricultural exports will drive future prosperity” for Canadian grain growers, it says.

Provincial programs such as Alberta’s On-Farm Value-Added Grant Program and the Saskatchewan Value-added Agriculture Incentive provide funding and tax incentives to farmers including grains producers to grow sales, explore market opportunities and develop solutions to turn agricultural byproducts into new or upgraded products. These kinds of programs create pathways that encourage grain growers to prioritize diversification and generate new revenue streams.

Most of the Devitts’ grain is still sold to the local elevator, but they set aside an ever-increasing number of acres for varieties that are well-suited to milling into artisan flour. Unlike selling grain as a commodity, the couple sets the price on their stone-milled grains. Profit margins on stone milled grains are higher and diversification provides an additional source of revenue to the farm.

Similarly, growing grains for premium spirits has opened up a world of opportunities for Stefanyshyn-Cote. Black Fox Farm and Distillery has whisky and gin on store shelves in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario as well as Germany, Denmark and China. Their spirits are also on the menu at the Four Seasons Hotel in Abu Dhabi.

As the popularity of farm distilleries grows, so do the opportunities for farmers. It takes creativity, a commitment to lifelong learning and a willingness to adapt to new ways of thinking about farming to succeed.

While not all producers want to change their business models Stefanyshyn-Cote believes there is room for both approaches on Canadian grain farms.

“There are those who are expanding and continue to expand,” she says. “For those who, like us, want to take a different approach and do something that’s a little closer to the customer… it’s how we get the business to evolve and continue to grow.’

The post Milling grains into value-added food ideas appeared first on Country Guide.

These numbers tell their own story. We can assume that a portion of farmers working with advisors are not getting the most out of their relationship and would benefit from changing advisors — but a transition is not without challenges.

“It’s a hard thing because you’ve built up this relationship over the years and, in a lot of cases, your advisor is a friend and may understand some areas of your business almost better than you do,” says Thomas G. Blonde, partner at Baker Tilly GWD in Elora, Ont. “To find somebody new… to get them up to speed with the history of your business and all the people involved takes time and can be overwhelming.”

Advisors often have deep knowledge of a farm’s operations, so starting over from scratch with someone new takes time.

An advisor must understand practical matters like finances, skills and technical constraints but also the personal values of business owners. A 2019 study noted that even an 18-month relationship was too short to achieve this type of full immersion.

Why do farm operations even need advisors? “Farmers are now the CEOs, the main operators, the bookkeepers, the janitors,” says Evan Shout, CFO of Hebert Grain Ventures in Fairlight, Sask. “Farmers are overextended and that’s the main reason to bring on an advisor.”

So, the benefits of having an advisor are clear. But what if you have one and it’s just not working out?

Here are six reasons why it may be time to change business advisors:

#1 A change in business structure

The accountants, lawyers and farm advisors with the expertise to support small operations might not be the best resources as the farm grows. Blonde cites the transition from a partnership to a corporation or the addition of new operators to the farm as key times that farmers should consider bringing in new advisors.

“These are examples of situations where you may have outgrown your advisor,” Blonde says.

#2 Lack of industry knowledge

An advisor who lacks a deep understanding of agriculture, including market trends, crop-specific challenges and regulatory changes, will hinder your ability to make informed decisions.

When Liz Robertson was starting out as a farm advisor, she met with a couple whose previous advisors weren’t familiar with the Net Income Stabilization Account (NISA) or how it applied to their farming operation. Robertson, the executive director of the Canadian Association of Farm Advisors (CAFA), calls this a glaring example of an advisor who could harm, rather than help, farmers.

“A farm advisor understands farming, gets the business, gets the sector,” she says. “They have technical education and bring with them an intimate knowledge of farming.”

#3 Stagnant advice

Advisors are supposed to help farmers build their businesses, which means sharing advice on government grants, new technologies or changes to tax codes. That’s why Shout believes it’s time for a change if the phone stops ringing with updates or if your advisor’s advice is similar in all situations.

“Part of their role is to… give you the edge over those that don’t have advisors,” he says. “If you keep going to them with ideas, they get used to you doing the work. When (your advisor) stops coming to you with ideas, that’s the biggest red flag.”

While it’s not uncommon for farmers to read about new approaches to succession or tax planning on their own or to hear about them from their neighbours rather than their advisors, it should be the exception not the rule.

“It’s not a big deal if there’s just the occasional one-off thing (because) there’s always going to be something that your advisor is not familiar with,” Blonde says. “But if you keep hearing that over and over again, those are indications that you might not be getting the advice you should be getting.”

#4 Mistakes

Mistakes happen. Advisors should own up to their errors, offer solutions and ensure that it never happens again. Farmers should start shopping for a new advisor when mistakes are frequent or there are missed deadlines, accounting errors or ones that have an impact on the business and erode trust.

Robertson says mistakes are signs that advisors can’t be trusted, adding, “You’re paying an advisor good money; why would you stick with them if they are making costly mistakes?”

#5 Strained communication

Communication is essential in a professional relationship. When an advisor struggles to explain complex concepts or there are long lapses in communication, it can lead to misunderstandings and missed opportunities.

Shout suggests the issue with the advisor. “You have to have those upfront conversations,” he says. “Give them the opportunity to change. Maybe it changes expectations and it’s not going to be a problem… but if you never have that conversation, you’ll never know.”

Be aware your advisor needs you to be good at communicating too. If you aren’t — let’s say you withhold information, avoid calls or are slow responding to emails — it may be a sign that something isn’t great in the relationship and it’s time to change.

Blonde agrees it isn’t just the quality of the communication that matters. It’s the timeliness, too, Blonde adds. If it’s hard to schedule meetings or it takes forever for calls and emails to be returned, it might be time to move on.

“You could be dealing with someone who is quite knowledgeable and able to give quality advice,” he says. “But if they’re not returning your emails and it’s hard to reach them on the phone, it doesn’t help you at all.”

#6 Gut feeling

Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint a specific issue and it’s more of a gut feeling that an advisor is no longer the right fit.

You need to look for someone who feels right, someone with whom you’re going to be comfortable sharing everything about your business, trusting that they can come up with solutions,” says Robertson, adding, “You’re paying them a lot of money to provide a service and get results.”

Find the right fit

Once you’ve decided it’s time to look for a new business advisor, follow these steps to make sure the new advisor is the right choice for a long-term partnership.

Ask for referrals: Tap into your peer network. Ask about their experiences with farm advisors. Then research their recommendations. Focus on reviews from operations that are similar in structure and size to yours to ensure the advisor will have the background and experience to meet your needs.

If you prefer to keep your search for a farm advisor more confidential, the Canadian Association of Farm Advisors office can also help you identify potential farm advisors.

Schedule interviews: Selecting a farm advisor is similar to hiring for other roles within the organization. Evan Shout, CFO at Hebert Grain Ventures recommends you interview several candidates and ask pointed questions to make sure the match is good. Your list of interview questions could include:

• Tell me about your credentials and experience.
• What makes you a good fit for our farming operation?
• What services do you provide?
• Who else is on your team?
• How do you prefer to communicate?
• How long does it typically take you to return calls or respond to emails?
• Can you provide references?

Share some info: Providing background information about the farm business allows a potential farm advisor to demonstrate their skill. You can also gain insight into whether their recommendations are right for your operation.

In fact, the advisor may ask for that background. For his discovery calls, for instance, Thomas G. Blonde, partner at Baker Tilly GWD, asks for information about the history and structure of the business, including tax returns and financial statements.

“We want to identify right away if there were mistakes or some major planning opportunity that was missed. It’s the way that we demonstrate our value with a prospective client,” Blonde says. “If I can say, ‘I’ve spent an hour looking through your stuff and here are a dozen things that we immediately identified that… we would be able to help you out on’, it shows there is value in switching to us.”

Be patient: When you’re unhappy with your current advisor, it’s tempting to cut ties and then search for someone new. Blonde believes that’s a mistake.

“It might take some time to find a new advisor,” he says. “You don’t want to be in a situation where you’ve cut ties with your previous advisor and then you need them to file a tax return or prepare a financial statement because you haven’t found someone new.”

Instead, Blonde recommends signing on with someone new before breaking up with your current advisor. He adds that maintaining a cordial relationship can help with a smooth transition and ensures that your new advisor can get the information they need from the previous advisor.

– This article was originally published in the March 2024 issue of Country Guide.

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“Farmers should have all the same financial tools that a tech company or a mining company does,” Tom Eisenhauer tells us. “That’s what we provide. We’re helping farmers stay on the farm. We’re helping farmers be more profitable, and we’re helping them reduce their financial risks.”

The financial foundation for such a business is widely acknowledged. Farmland is pricey, and getting pricier every year. And farming has always been a capital intensive business, so if the expense-to-revenue ratio averaged 82.9 cents per dollar — significantly better than the long-term average — it’s still a tough business to build a career on.

Then, add on that farmers who want to expand, farm at scale, or reduce their debt often lack access to long-term capital, so investors believe there’s a gap that they can help to bridge.

Companies like Bonnefield, Area One Farms and AGInvest create long-term partnerships with farmers. Yes, they take different approaches to structuring deals but they explain their businesses the same way: their goal is to offer an alternative method of financial support.

Do farmers agree? That — plus more — is what we wanted to ask Eisenhauer. His answers, lightly edited for brevity, are below.

Country Guide: Tell us how Bonnefield got started.
Tom Eisenhauer: When we first started the business (in 2009), we were trying to solve a financial problem for farmers.

So many farms face a similar problem: They have a great business, great operations, their crop is in great demand but it’s such a capital intensive business and farming 5,000 acres means financing land, financing equipment and it can be $10 million or $20 million, so they have cash-flow issues or balance sheet issues.

Farmers, unlike most other businesses, have a limited set of options. Banks offer mortgage debt, equipment manufacturers provide financing for equipment and seed, and the input suppliers will sometimes provide financing… but it still leaves a huge part of the operation that needs to be financed — and that’s where we come in.

We were able to convince investors to invest with Bonnefield and we use those investments to purchase farmland and offer lease-back financing to farmers.

CG: Is there a “typical” scenario that leads a farmer to work with Bonnefield?
TE: There are a few different scenarios that we see most often.

Farmers have amassed land and amassed debt and the bank is knocking on their door, Bonnefield comes in and purchases a portion of the farm, but never the whole farm, and the farmer uses the cash to reduce their debt and we lease it back to them on a long-term basis to continue farming. They are still farming the same land but now have the capital to fix their balance sheet and get out of debt.

Younger farmers who have been farming a few hundred acres want to scale but purchasing the land would destroy their balance sheet. Often, they’ve identified land — maybe a neighbouring farmer is retiring and has offered to sell them land, but the bank won’t give them a loan — and we work with the landowner to purchase the land and lease it to the farmer. It gives the farmer the ability to farm at scale and better capacity utilization on their equipment, and it makes them way more profitable.

We also work with farmers going through the succession process. A farmer wants to retire, one child wants to take over the farm and the others have no interest, so that one person has to buy out their brothers and sisters and can’t afford it. Bonnefield will buy some of the acres — enough to allow the younger farmer who’s buying in to buy out their siblings — and lease it back to them.

CG: You mentioned that Bonnefield never purchases the entire farm, just a portion. Can you explain why?
TE: We want to have farm partners; we don’t want to operate as landlords and have tenant farmers. Buying only a portion of the farm ensures that farmers still have some skin in the game. To be honest, if a farmer came to us and wanted to sell the entire farm, our antenna would go up and we’d be thinking, “What’s wrong here?”

There was one exception. In 2013, a 6,500-acre parcel of land came available in Dufferin County, Ontario, that was owned by a hedge fund in Boston. We bought the land and went out to find local farmers to farm it for us. So we have six local farm families who are operating there now.

(Note: Eisenhauer told the Financial Post that the price was “more than $50 million” and it was recorded as one of the largest farmland transactions in Canadian history.)

CG: How do you determine the lease rate per acre?
TE: We’ve developed a sophisticated underwriting process that assesses how much yield can be produced on the land and the revenue that those crops will produce and the expected profit. From there, we consider what’s a fair share for the landlord to earn from that and it’s generally between 25 and 35 per cent.

If we price the lease rates so high that farmers can’t afford them and the farmer goes broke, we’re in a world of hurt. So, there is always negotiation but, in general, it doesn’t work for us unless the farmer is successful.

When we buy land, we often have money left that we can use to invest in irrigation systems or subsurface drainage or onsite storage, so we can add in those other investments and increase the rent slightly so the farmer can pay it off over time.

CG: How has the model changed since 2009?
TE: We’ve been around for a long time and quite a number of farmers have come to us and said, “We really like the farmland assistance you’ve been able to provide us but we need help with processing facilities or storage facilities or cold packing facilities. ”

Until recently, we had to say that it was outside of our mandate. In July 2023, we launched a new fund that we’re calling our Integrated Agriculture Fund to help finance infrastructure and we do that through a more traditional private equity approach where we take a non-controlling position in their facilities so our investment is paid back over time as their profits increase.

CG: How have the huge increases in farmland value and high interest rates affected the model?
TE: As farmland gets more expensive, so do the risks. We have to be very careful not to overpay for land and that means sitting down with farmers and making sure the price we pay is fair for them and fair for us.

Rising interest rates have increased the level of interest from farmers in what we’re doing. A few years ago, when interest rates were 3 per cent or so, their debt was manageable but in today’s interest-rate environment, farmers have to be cautious and de-risk their businesses and we can help them do that.

CG: Has Bonnefield targeted farmers as investors?
TE: We have a few farmers as investors because no one values or understands land better than farmers. The challenge for many farmers is that all of their capital is tied up in their land and their business operations, which means there is no capital to invest.

CG: What are some of your long-term goals for Bonnefield?
TE: We don’t have benchmarks or targets in terms of the amount of dollars or land or relationships, but our vision is to be the leading provider to farmers in Canada of an alternative to bank debt and to continue working with more farmers across the country to help them solve their needs in more interesting ways.

CG: What are some of the common criticisms of the model and how do you respond to them?
TE: There is a frequent misperception that investors like Bonnefield are driving up the price of land. In fact, the opposite is generally the case. We can’t go in and overpay for land and still make money for our investors. We have to be able to make a reasonable return for our investors by leasing it back to the farmers, so we have to be fairly price conscious.

There are also some people who have philosophical concerns and believe that the only people who should own farms in Canada are farmers. I’d like that too, but how are farmers going to afford it? 

– This article was originally published in the February 27, 2024 issue of Country Guide.

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Now the question is, will these double-digit increases continue into 2034? Is that likely, or even possible?

A quick glance at the plummeting prices that dominated the 1980s can shake anyone’s confidence. Dramatic shifts are possible, But that was 40 years ago. The world was different, which is why Country Guide asked market watchers to weigh in on what the next decade could have in store.

Country Guide: How does the market look heading into winter?

Ben Van Dijk: We’re still seeing strong prices for productive land that can produce good crops. Interest rates have had a bit of an impact on ranchlands and grasslands. These lifestyle properties have seen pressure on prices and fewer sales but premium, irrigated land is still getting high prices and the value keeps going up.

CG: Do you see the upward trend in the value of productive land continuing into the next decade?

BVD: I believe so. Ever since the Second World War, there has been an increasing market for farmland … and better farmland means better crops and an increased (farmland) value can be justified based on inflation and yield potential. The continued pressure from urbanization and more farmland that’s located near large population centres being purchased has put pressure on farmland and increased its value … I expect to see an annual average of seven to 7.5 per cent price increases for farmland.

CG: Will farmers keep buying?

BVD: Yes. There are a variety of reasons why farmers are still purchasing land right now: If the prices go up, it gives them more equity to leverage for more land. Having more land also enhances their operation by allowing them to expand into specialty crops or improve crop rotations and it makes their equipment more useful across the whole operation.

Some farmers are also buying because their rented land has passed down to the next generation and been put up for sale, and their option is to purchase it or lose access to it.

CG: So land won’t become unaffordable?

BVD: A lot of farms have become big business. It used to be that farmers borrowed a couple hundred thousand dollars or half a million dollars and paid it back within their lifetime. Now, many operations take on $20-, $40- or even $60 million in debt and don’t expect to repay it during their lifetime, and those larger farms that operate as corporations will continue purchasing.

CG: What should farmers do now, based on your prediction that the value of farmland will continue to rise?

BVD: We’re seeing a lot of estates being sold and land coming available that hasn’t been on the market for generations and that land can provide significant returns. In the hot areas, irrigated land values are around $25,000 per acre; if there is seven per cent return, you’ll almost double the value in the next 10 years. In my opinion, there is no better place to put your money than land.

CG: Explain why the current value of Canadian farmland is problematic.

J. P. Gervais: What makes farmland so expensive right now isn’t just the price per acre; it’s interest rates and the revenue that farmers are getting from that land that’s made the price of farmland the highest it’s ever been. Farm income hasn’t matched the increase in land values. Across the country, coast to coast, we are at a high when it comes to the price of land relative to what you could grow.

CG: What does this mean for farmland values in the future?

JPG: Looking to the future, I don’t think we can expect land values to continue going up and exceeding the pace of increases in farm income; it’s not sustainable. But that doesn’t mean that land values are going to decline.

People point to what happened in the 1980s and 1990s when we had a lot of farms under financial stress and farmers had to sell their land. I think the future is different — and what’s different is how Canada has a unique position as a small and mighty exporter of commodities with a major role in supplying the food that the world needs in a sustainable way. The reason land values are so high right now is that the future looks bright.

CG: Does this mean we’ll see steady increases in farmland values between 2024 and 2034?

JPG: Farming is a cyclical industry and land values are also cyclical. But it’s hard not get excited about the positive long-term outlook — the 10-year outlook — because farmers will continue buying land and the demand for what they grow is going to remain robust, so there is a bright future.

CG: What does the projected increase in farmland values mean for farmers?

JPG: I think we’re squeezing out the mid-size farms. The data (from the 2021 census) suggests we’ve got a number of small farms that are providing specific products to the market for those who want food that is local or sustainable as opposed to being produced on a larger scale.

But scale matters in the farming industry because it’s a highly capital-intensive industry. There are some concessions that farmers can make like farming with more technology, but this is literally a job that cannot be done without the ground. So, how do our farmers keep up (with farmland values)? They have to go more into debt.

CG: How are farmers feeling about the future of land values?

JPG: Some operations are a bit more cautious and, with current interest rates, I don’t blame them. Farmers want to own land; they want to farm it, lease it, hold onto it because they still see value in the asset. At the end of the day, it’s the asset the entire farming industry farming relies on, and that demand makes it very resilient to any type of fluctuations — and that means (farmland values) have a pretty bright future.

CG: How do you see farmland values changing over the next decade?

Kim Passmore: The pool of buyers, particularly for farmland, needs to be top of mind over the next decade. It’s not just farmers buying farmland. Nationwide, farmland consistently outperforms other investments, attracting non-farmers, investors, private equity funds and speculators, and that can drive up values. Between the growing population, pressure to expand urban boundaries to meet housing demand and increasing global concerns around food security, we should continue to see increases in farmland values over the next decade.

CG: How will this affect farmers’ ability to start farming or purchase land?

KP: The strong market conditions over the last decade have certainly favoured the asset-rich, larger, consolidated operator. They were more nimble and able to make quick decisions at a short-term premium with a more long-term vision for their operations’ growth.

Farming is a capital-intensive industry and the anticipated rise in farmland values will make affordability for small or new farmers even more challenging. Inheriting land from previous generations will become increasingly crucial.

CG: What must farmers keep in mind?

Brandon Wilcox: Farmers still need to bite if a parcel comes available close to the home farm or if expansion is a part of their growth plan. Typically, farmers strategize for the long game … and will still purchase what’s best for their family farm.

Farmers often say, “I wish I bought more land or got in the game sooner.” Farming will not disappear, and it certainly has never been easy, so we need to evolve and find crafty ways to be successful.

– This article was originally published in the November 2023 issue of Country Guide.

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What does it all mean for Canadian farmers? Well, it might mean they should consider jumping on board with these fast-growing trends.

1 Going collaborative:

Collaborating through partnerships, joint ventures and even co-ops may seem like an idea that ran out of steam a long time ago on a lot of Canadian farms. Now, it’s making a comeback. Research shows that collaboratives have greater negotiating power, better access to farm technology, and more efficient operations.

They’re also able to access more funding.

Dalhousie’s Jolene MacEachern believes high interest rates and input costs have led to renewed interest in collaboration with arrangements ranging from farm amalgamation and equipment shares to hiring out more custom work.

“We have to think about … doing things a little differently due to the fact that the price per unit just keeps increasing and the price we receive isn’t keeping pace,” MacEachern says.

Collaborative farming works best when farmers have complementary skills, similar management styles, and a shared need for infrastructure or equipment. It can be a challenge on any farm, and may prove especially tough for producers under supply management who face additional red tape.

“You have to be pretty progressive in order to make that work when you’re used to generations of being your own boss,” says MacEachern. “But I think it’s possible.”

2 Prioritizing climate adaptation:

Record drought, flooding, wildfires and warmer temperatures have forced farmers to adapt their practices, making climate adaptation a top trend in agriculture.

“We have to keep our farms resilient,” the RBC’s Mohamad Yaghi says.

Earlier this year, Canada published a National Adaptation Strategy that established goals to adapt to a changing climate, noting that agriculture was one of the industries facing the greatest risks from climate change.

Planting genetically modified (GM) crops has already been shown to generate higher yields and require less pesticide; GM may also reduce tillage, sequestering more greenhouse gases in the soil and boosting carbon sequestration.

The need for crops that can withstand the changing climate led Canada to issue new 2023 guidelines that relaxed the rules around gene-edited seeds. Researchers in several Canadian universities have received grants to study more climate-resistant seed varieties. For example, the University of Calgary received $6 million to use genomic technologies to produce hardier pea varieties; researchers at Dalhousie University are testing Kernza, a variety of wheatgrass that grows deep roots, making it more resilient to climate change.

“At the moment, investors and stakeholders across the supply chain are demanding more science-based evidence about the different practices … and how they are performing (on farms) across the country,” says Yaghi. “This isn’t a threat, it’s an opportunity … a moment to get ahead and define what are the opportunities for the industry.”

3 Recruiting the next generation:

It’s no secret Canadian farmers are getting older with the latest data showing 40 per cent of farmers are set to retire by 2033, and it’s already being pointed to as “one of the biggest labour and leadership transitions” in Canadian history.

The next generation of farmers needs high-tech skills in data analytics, automation and climate smart practices, which requires building a new pipeline of farmers, according to a 2023 RBC report. Canadian colleges and universities are working hard to fill the gap.

“The use of technology and data management and all these cool things that will enable farms to be less labour-intensive may inspire a different generation to come back and be part of (the industry),” MacEachern says. “A lot of work is being done to bring those who have traditionally not been part of the story, like our Indigenous communities … to ensure that there’s a pathway for them in agriculture.”

University Affairs magazine notes that full-time enrolment in agricultural programs at Canadian post-secondary institutions declined from 1999 to 2007 but rebounded, hitting an “all-time high” of 6,700 students in 2016. Now, RBC reports, “a fourth agricultural revolution is underway” as schools emphasize agriculture technology.

4 Transition to regenerative agriculture:

In some circles, regenerative agriculture is a buzz phrase. In others, it’s the future. McCain Foods, Maple Leaf Foods and McDonald’s Canada have each adopted regenerative agriculture practices on their land and so have a growing number of our farmers — especially smaller farmers.

Regenerative agriculture emphasizes practices that improve soil health and pull greenhouse gas emissions out of the atmosphere so they can be sequestered in the soil. In the process, farms become productive and profitable carbon sinks.

Some estimates say regenerative farming could see Canadian farmers sequester 78 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2050 — an accomplishment that would shoot the nation beyond net zero. But Antonious Petro, executive director of Regeneration Canada, notes, “there are financial barriers, there are knowledge gaps and there is a whole network of support that needs to be in place … Farmers can’t go green if they’re in the red.”

A growing number of financial incentives could help. In addition to new waves of federal and provincial funding to support regenerative agriculture, private investments from companies with huge public exposure like McCain Foods and McDonald’s Canada are also promoting the transition.

The regenerative agriculture movement also needs a support network to facilitate knowledge transfer. Organizations like Regeneration Canada provide information and technical support to bolster the trend toward more sustainable agriculture.

“We need to raise the bar higher and higher to advance to more regenerative practices,” Petro says. “There are farmers who are doing their part and more who want to follow the course. The momentum is there.”

5 Build carbon markets:

In 2021, the Canadian government published new standards for carbon pollution pricing for 2023 to 2030 as part of a climate plan designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The next step is turning a nascent carbon market into a robust industry, according to a new report from RBC.

The federal government established a national carbon emissions market in 2022, allowing participants, including farmers, to sell credits for carbon dioxide emissions. Registered participants receive one credit for each tonne of emissions reduced or removed from the environment.

Since then, Canada’s market for voluntary carbon offsets, which could top $4 billion by 2050, has experienced momentum with the CBC calling the Cboe Canada exchange the “most public venue” in North America for companies selling carbon offsets.

The RBC report estimates this growing trend could result in “tens of thousands of dollars in fresh revenue streams for some operators.”

6 Embracing technology:

Innovation in agriculture is nothing new. Farmers have innovated as long as there have been farmers, but we also have to recognize that next-generation technologies have expanded the scale and speed of farm equipment, allowing farms to be more productive and profitable than ever.

Here are three good reasons automation is now being called “the future of farming.” First, it covers more farms from start to finish, changing practically every job on the farm; second, it means more non-farm employees are getting hired for on-farm careers; and third, it is injecting serious cash (and expenses) into farm balance sheets.

In fact, full automation may boost Canada’s net crop incomes by $400 per acre a year, according to a report from McKinsey & Company.

The rising cost of inputs and shortage of farm labour are also driving demand for automation, says Jolene MacEachern, dairy farmer and director of strategy and strategic projects at Dalhousie University, who believes there is another advantage to adopting more tech tools on the farm.

“Thirty years ago, the likelihood of hiring (workers) who grew up on farms was higher,” says MacEachern. “Now, farmers are hiring people who have an interest in food and need to be taught the rest.”

However, technology may also change the shape of farming in Canada.

While automation has been shown to provide significant return on investment, including up to 80 per cent reduction in herbicide costs when farmers use precision sprayers, the upfront cost of the equipment is a significant barrier in adopting these trending technologies. This means the trending tools will take longer to adopt in smaller operations.

7 Advancing gene editing:

Concerns about climate change and greenhouse gas emissions have put a focus on innovations that can help livestock (and farmers) adapt. The genome-editing tool CRISPR has emerged as a popular option.

In 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave the green light to gene-edited beef. CRISPR created a genetic trait to give cattle short, slick coats to allow them to better tolerate hot weather. More recent research includes a US$70 million initiative at the University of California to explore how CRISPR could alter the gut microbiome of cattle to produce less methane, cutting greenhouse gas emissions from cow belches via an oral medication.

Mohamad Yaghi, agriculture and climate policy lead at the RBC Climate Action Institute, believes that gene editing has enormous potential for adoption because it’s simple to use.

As Yaghi explains, “It doesn’t require a month of education or training; it can be added to their work stream, making it super accessible.”

– This article was originally published in the December 2023 issue of Country Guide.

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If it’s a new and even more volatile world for farmers (which it is) and if success on the farm has got to include a new approach to risk management (which it does), just how does a farmer figure out how to get on board?

For answers, Ontario pork, chicken and cash crop farmer Amy Cronin headed to the airport. Her plan: talk to cutting-edge farmers in 11 countries on four continents as part of a research project through Nuffield Canada. (Nuffield is a unique farmer-led nonprofit that backs international travel and networking missions into emerging challenges and opportunities for farmers.)

From her travels, Cronin wanted to know: how are these farmers identifying their risks? And how are they determining which risk mitigation strategies work best?

Now she’s back in Canada, and Country Guide checked in with Cronin with the following questions.

Country Guide: Why are you so focused on risk?
Amy Cronin: Risk is something that every single farmer faces. It’s something we hear about a lot, but as I was trying to figure out whether I had the strongest management plan for my own business and I was looking at the tools and resources available to me, I still had a lot of questions.

CG: Why go overseas to learn about risk? Don’t we need Canadian solutions?
AC: The interesting thing about this research was that every farmer I visited around the world operated in a different way. No two farmers were the same. Their business models varied, their commodities varied, their markets varied… but the risks that can have huge impacts on a farm were the same no matter where I went.

CG: What do these farmers share?
AC: It starts with the basics: insurance, strong standard operating procedures and documented policies and protocols to empower decision-making.

Around the world, too, being involved in provincial or national boards or other leadership roles also helps mitigate risks on the farm by influencing decision-making at higher levels.

On my travels, I talked as well with a lot of farmers who work with business consultants. These are third-party individuals who are able to ask thought-provoking questions and help farmers understand their numbers and data in order to help them put goals in place. Farmers recognize that these consultants are a vital risk management tool.

But when it comes to external risks, I did not meet a single farmer that had external risks under control.

CG: On the topic of external risks, what did you learn about how COVID-19 has changed the picture?
AC: Researcher Andria Jones-Bitton (University of Guelph) has done a lot of research on farmers and mental health. Her research found that COVID increased the stress in farmers, and that’s connected to risk management.

During COVID, farmers were dealing with many external risks. Processing plants were shut down, there were logistical nightmares and it was more challenging to get products across the border and to bring in temporary foreign workers. Farmers work hard and they work long hours. All of a sudden, during COVID, there was all of this extra stress and extra risk and it took a toll on their mental health.

CG: After talking to farmers around the world, what would you put on the list of things that farmers AREN’T doing that they should be to manage risk?
AC: We need to develop a risk mindset — and we need to help each other do that using peer groups.

It’s not always well received to have a risk management expert standing at the front of the room telling you what to do. Often, they can’t relate to what it’s like to be a farmer, to have skin in the game, to face gut-wrenching challenges. There’s a real benefit in hearing from a fellow farmer who’s working on the same things, who is also facing the same challenges. Farmer-to-farmer conversations and learning from other farmers are really helpful for risk management.

CG: What are some of the mistakes farmers make when it comes to managing risk?
AC: Farmers must have an active approach to risk management; they have to be able to think about risk on an ongoing basis. It’s never a one-and-done.

There are so many third-party organizations that advise getting a risk management plan, but it’s not that simple. It’s extremely difficult to write the plan and to constantly refer to the plan and consider it an active file, but risk management is all about continuous improvement.

There are so many demands on our finances when we’re in agriculture. Farmers need to think about the potential impact of risk on their operations and how to create a financial buffer to manage it.

CG: You looked at the role governments can play in helping farmers mitigate risk. What do you think the Canadian government is doing well in this area?
AC: Canada has some strong programs in place, like crop insurance, that are valued and important to farmers and help them build a risk management plan.

CG: What would you like to see the government do more of, or to start doing, to help farmers mitigate risk?
AC: The government needs to consult farmers to understand the true impact of policymaking and to provide industry an opportunity to collaborate.

Government also has to communicate from the top to the bottom. When communication between federal, provincial and municipal levels is poor, it makes implementing workable policies extremely difficult.

When the levels of government don’t communicate well with agriculture, we end up with policies that have unintended consequences.

CG: Your Nuffield report identified three main kinds of risk that farmers face: preventable risks, strategic risks and external risks (see ‘Understanding Risk’ at bottom). Which type of risk has the potential to have the biggest impact on a farm operation?
AC: All three are equally important. Two of them — preventable risks and strategic risks — are commonly addressed but external risks aren’t considered nearly as much.

External risks are those big scary things that farmers don’t have a plan around because it’s really difficult to put a plan in place for things that you don’t know are coming. We’ve seen so many examples of external risks in the last five years, including COVID and the Russian-Ukrainian war and its impact on the cost of production around the world.

There are a whole lot of consequences that come with external risks that make it extremely important for farmers to have conversations about mitigating those risks.

CG: What do you hope farmers learn from your report?
AC: I hope that farmers will look at the recommendations and use them as a starting point to think through their approach to risk management and to remember that a risk management plan doesn’t have to be perfect from the get-go but it’s something that we need to be doing, one step at a time, to get better at managing risk.

We also need to be working together and encouraging each other on this journey of continuous improvement.

Understanding Risk

Nuffield scholar and Ontario farmer Amy Cronin identifies three different categories of risks to the farm:

• Preventable risks are internal risks that farmers can control, eliminate or avoid. Examples of managing preventable risks include using strict standard operating procedures to prevent breakdowns in operational processes and purchasing crop insurance.
• Strategic risks: Not all risks are bad. In fact, strategic risks like diversifying into new markets or taking out loans to invest in property or new technology can lead to real gains. Even so, risks need to be contained.
• External risks: Risks that are outside of the farm operation or beyond farmer control are considered external risks. Political disasters, pandemics and major macroeconomic shifts are external risks and it’s more difficult to establish risk management strategies to mitigate them.

The complete Risk Management: Partnering for Prosperity report is scheduled for posting online at nuffield.ca.

– This article was originally posted in the February 2024 issue of Country Guide.

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“A reduction in production is a small price to pay to make staff feel appreciated,” says vice-president of sales and marketing Jonathan Schow.

Employee appreciation has long been a priority for Big Marble Farms. The Medicine Hat greenhouse grower also hosts anniversary parties, Stampede events, spring flings and Christmas parties.

It may not be a typical farm, but increasingly, human resource experts recommend such celebrations for farm businesses of practically every size and complexity.

“The more we’ve grown, the more parties we throw,” says Schow.

Making employees feel valued is critical to company culture, he says. Employees are more productive and they feel more engaged when they receive regular recognition.

Employee appreciation has also been linked to lower turnover and to greater job satisfaction, and it increases the likelihood that employees will recommend the farm they work on as a great place to work.

Employee appreciation can take many forms. During the pandemic, when the 80-plus employees at the Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA) were working from home, the association mailed succulents with the message, “Thank you for helping us grow.”

The Winnipeg-based association hosts events throughout the year, which have included candle-making classes and cookie baking events. But, says Larysa Motruk, CCGA’s vice president of human resources, they aren’t only about employee appreciation.

“We are fostering a culture of learning, knowledge sharing, respect and trust. We are celebrating our successes, whether big or small, and we like to have fun,” she says. “We want to create a culture of appreciation (and) believe that you should say thank you to your employees on a regular basis.”

More farms these days are buying tickets to sports events for their teams, or paying for a night out on the town in a nearby city.

While all forms of employee appreciation are valuable, though, there’s something special about a party. Celebrations bring everyone together and provide opportunities to build company culture and relationships, celebrate successes, foster communication and reward staff for their work.

In 2023, CCGA hosted an employee appreciation event that included breakfast; it gave staff a chance to take a break from their responsibilities and to connect with each other.

“Having food together provides a great opportunity to connect, collaborate, share, learn about each other,” Motruk says. “When people have opportunity to get together it helps them to get to know one another and to develop respect and appreciate each other, and that in turn helps to build a more effective and inclusive workplace environment. It’s important that we recognize that we’re all working together to contribute to our success.”

Farms across Canada host parties for their employees. The events range from casual catered picnics on the farm to elaborate offsite events. Big Marble Farms allocates several hours at the end of the workday for their employees and their families to participate in activities, enjoy a catered meal, listen to live music and spend time together without the pressure of checking items off their to-do lists.

“During the workday, our operation is so big that we don’t often see each other,” says Schow. “An employee appreciation event fosters closer relationships between management and staff in other departments.”

• RELATED: The new farm leader

And while that may not be quite as true on more traditional family-based farms, those farms also benefit from the chance for team members to deal with each other as whole people, not just cogs in the wheel.

Management does all of the work to co-ordinate the annual anniversary party at Big Marble, and at the event, the president gives the “state of the union” address and management expresses gratitude to the employees for the role in the farm’s success.

“We go out of our way to let our employees know that they are part of our family and to make them feel appreciated,” Schow adds. “We can say it all we want, but if we don’t follow it up with actions, it doesn’t mean much.”

Ready to celebrate with your employees? Here are five ideas for summer parties

1. Picnic: A summer picnic can be simple or elaborate. For a low-key event, hire a local food truck, set up chairs and blankets and a few games, and encourage staff to grab a bite and relax. Or, go all out with catering that includes picnic tables with matching linens and tableware, themed cocktails and mocktails and a s’mores bar.

When planning a menu for any summer event, Schow suggests including foods that are traditional or culturally relevant to the workers.

2. Scavenger Hunt: Create teams made of people who don’t usually get much chance to work together and hide clues all over the farm so employees have a chance to explore different areas of the operation. Scavenger hunts encourage teamwork and friendly competition, especially if there are prizes. Consider offering appropriate gifts or an afternoon off to the winners.

3. Office Olympics: Similar to a scavenger hunt, farm olympics are an opportunity for teamwork. Create a station for teams to customize their jerseys and let the games begin. Send teams to the fields, see which team can throw a boot the farthest or putt a ball closest to a flag, or host a farm or local-community trivia contest, or co-ordinate egg-and-spoon races.

4. Ice cream social: Summer and ice cream go hand-in-hand so set up a sundae bar with several flavours of ice cream and frozen yogurt. Include multiple types of toppings and encourage employees to get creative. Or, hire an ice cream truck to stop at the farm to serve cones and cups for a few hours.

5. Offsite adventures: Outings to mini golf courses, go-kart tracks or scenic boat cruises are all field trip options. Although offsite parties can be more expensive, the venue provides all the necessities, meaning all you have to do is show up and have fun.

Regardless of the type of summer celebration you choose, HR specialist Larysa Motruk suggests making it a priority to express appreciation during the festivities, adding, “Recognition and appreciation can come in many different forms and are unique to each organization. However, it needs to be sincere so the employees know that they genuinely matter.”

Celebrations are not the time for farms to be thinking about a return on investment. Sure, parties help generate goodwill and created culture conducive to growth, but, says Marble Farms VP Jonathan Schow,

“It’s about doing something for the staff that does so much for your business.”

The post Time to celebrate appeared first on Country Guide.

The VanDeVeldes, both 40, transitioned out of tobacco into a diversified farming operation that includes U-pick strawberries, raspberries and pumpkins, a bakery and a market stocked with seasonal, local products from fruits and vegetables to meat and cheese.

Their farm, Wholesome Pickins Market & Bakery, isn’t just a successful example of diversification, it represents a nationwide shift in how young farmers are entering the industry.

“When we were all in that 25 to 30 age range, there were fewer of our peers going back to the farm,” says VanDeVelde.

The 2021 Census of Agriculture found the average age of Canada’s farmers that year was 56, compared to an average age of 49.9 in 2001. Over those same years, the number of farm operators under 35 declined 43 per cent.

The so-called “greying of Canadian farms” begs the question: does Canada have enough young farmers?

“We are seeing a downward trend in the number of young farmers,” says Allan Melvin, president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture. “It’s a bit concerning, obviously, that there doesn’t seem to be the uptake of interest in the profession. We need to ensure there’s a … sustainable future of agriculture and food supply in Canada going forward and … we need to have the talent and skill set in place to make that happen.”

Attracting the next generation

It’s not the first time there has been a downward trend in the number of farm kids returning to agriculture.

Jake Ayre, vice-president of Keystone Agricultural Producers and cash crop farmer in Minto, Man., points to a period in the 1980s when interest rates were high and interest in farming was low.

“Interest rates as high as 20 per cent made it tough to farm back then,” Ayre says. “It squeezed out a lot of farms … a lot of people didn’t come back because there weren’t a lot of opportunities in those years.”

Unlike the farm kids who left the farm in the 1980s and never returned, Ayre believes today’s next generation recognizes there are opportunities in agriculture and significant numbers of young people are returning to the farm. It’s happening in Manitoba where 11.45 per cent of farmers are under 35, the highest percentage in the nation.

“The (tools) that are required for farming today versus those of 20 years ago are a night-and-day difference in regards to technology,” says Ayre. “That’s appealing to the younger generation because there’s opportunity for growth.”

Olds College of Agriculture and Technology in Alberta continues offering programs in agricultural management to train the next generation of farmers, but the college also introduced a new bachelor’s degree in digital agriculture in 2022 in the hopes of attracting new talent to the field.

“We’ve got some creative stuff happening and we’re hoping that is going to be the link to the next generation in terms of trying to pull them in (with) technology,” says Jay Steeves, dean of the college’s Werklund School of Agriculture Technology.

Preparing for the worst case

Technology might also be the key to ensuring food security if the number of young farmers continues trending downward. In fact, the industry has already started shifting in response to larger farms and the dwindling number of farmers.

Between 2016 and 2021, the number of farms decreased 1.9 per cent. Fewer, larger farms mean less need for farm operators; it’s a worrisome trend that could continue if the next generation opts out of agriculture.

“When there’s consolidation, it inherently pushes people out,” Melvin says.

At Olds College, balancing the need to attract the next generation of farmers with the shifting numbers of new farmers is top of mind.

“We’re seeing the need for this efficiency with technology because we’re worried that there won’t be as many producers,” says Steeves. “Creating efficiencies with technology (would) require less bodies to produce the same amount of food. At the same time, we know we have a responsibility to try and increase the number of producers … and draw the next generation into production.”

Melvin points to the capital intensive nature of farming, uncertain interest rates and the high cost of inputs as some of the barriers preventing the next generation from pursuing farming careers, adding, “The risk-reward profile doesn’t quite line up for a lot of people when they’re looking at it from the outside.”

Practising patience

VanDeVelde wonders whether her children, now ages 13 and 15, will want to farm and, she adds, her concerns about transitioning Wholesome Pickins to the next generation are already having an impact on her farming decisions.

“It’s a battle we talk about every day,” she says. “Do we continue to expand and continue to invest in the business so that in 15 years, there’s a viable business for them to come into, or do we take a pause? It’s a tough one.”

Despite the challenges, Statistics Canada reported that the number of farms with succession plans increased from 8.4 per cent in 2016 to 12 per cent in 2021. The largest share of farms reporting a succession plan were grain and oilseed farms and intermediate farms with operating revenues from $50,000 to $99,999 annually.

There are opportunities ranging from government policies to creative lending strategies that could help overcome the obstacles and bolster the number of young farmers. But for Melvin, the need to “sound the alarm bells” and prioritize attracting a new generation of farmers is especially important for new entrants to agriculture who lack access to land and capital needed to produce food.

“It would be very difficult for a young person to come in and take over a full-scale farm at fair market value,” he says. “There can certainly be some financial engineering … from the outgoing generation … to make it possible. Otherwise, it’s not going to work.”

Ayre hopes that engaging post-secondary institutions and industry partners to spread awareness about the immediate and ongoing need for labour and opportunities in agriculture could help attract young farmers. But the biggest solution might be patience.

For those under 30, succession might not be realistic, and working for mom and dad, and perhaps grandma and grandpa, too, might not look like an attractive option.

“Some youth don’t want to come home and work for mom and dad and don’t want to do it like mom and dad did it,” says VanDeVelde. “When you’re 25, you have all these ideas. If everything (on the farm) is staying the same, it’s really difficult at 25 to come in and be anything other than an employee of your parents.”

But that doesn’t mean young people won’t return to the farm.

VanDeVelde noticed that her peers in their 30s and 40s who returned to the farm had different experiences; their parents were closer to retirement age, which created a more imminent need for succession planning and more openness to diversification. The returning farmers in that age group also had opportunities to build up the capital needed to buy into the family farm.

“Over the last 15 years we’ve seen a shift,” she says. “In the 10 years (between age 30 and 40), a lot more of those farm kids that had gone and found off-farm jobs were coming back to the farm with unique ideas … and adapting their farm business into something more modernized.”

Although VanDeVelde admits that she doesn’t know whether Canada has enough young farmers to take over agricultural production, she isn’t worried.

“Agriculture certainly has some of the best and brightest,” she says.

The post Does Canada have enough young farmers? appeared first on Country Guide.

“I’ve been in this business for decades and I’ve never seen the amount of shifting of consumer patterns to this degree,” says Jo-Ann McArthur, president of Nourish Food Marketing in Toronto.

“Obviously, things have changed,” agrees Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics lab at Dalhousie University.

It’s been a jolt, Charlebois says. Among the big changes:

1. More food disappears

The higher prices that mean fewer Canadians can afford groceries also mean more are resorting to theft to put food on the table.

Walmart Canada told CTV News that the retail giant was experiencing “a historic uptick in theft” and Charlebois estimates that an average-sized food retailer could have up to $5,000 in groceries stolen per week.

On the positive side, inflation might help curb food waste. Canadians waste an average of 79 kilograms of food each year, according to a 2021 report.

While data on the impact of inflation on food waste isn’t available, Brenna Ellison, an associate professor in the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University in Indiana, participated in a webinar on the topic and said, “Historically, higher food prices are associated with less household waste because households want to better manage resources that cost more.”

McArthur agrees, adding, “Everybody’s hyper-focused on food waste … because that’s just money that you’re flushing down the drain.”

Inflation and rising food prices aren’t the only pressures Canadian food producers are facing, though. Charlebois points to avian flu, which had an impact on more than seven million birds and hundreds of flocks — extreme weather events, changing packaging requirements and more heterogeneous markets as other factors straining the food system.

“A lot of things are happening all at once,” he says. “Consumers have been quite demanding, wanting the safest food possible, the most environmentally friendly foods possible, the most local food possible (but) all of these things will come at a cost.”

Even producers receiving high prices for commodities that are in high demand have few options but to capitalize on the market, according to von Massow.

“Often farmers make more margins when prices are really good,” he says, “but that’s not happening as much as we might have expected with these higher prices because of the higher costs.”

2. Changing purchasing habits

A quick peek into Canadians’ shopping carts makes it clear that McArthur is right. A recent poll from the Angus Reed Institute found that four in five Canadian households are changing their menus to adjust for rising costs. Switching to cheaper store and private label brands was the most frequently cited strategy for slashing food budgets but 35 per cent of Canadians also cut back on meat and 21 per cent aware purchasing fewer fresh fruits and vegetables.

At the same time, sales of frozen foods have surged with some data showing that frozen foods exceeded fresh food sales by more than 230 per cent in 2022.

“Consumers are becoming smarter and more frugal at the same time,” Charlebois says. “They’re budgeting, they’re looking at apps, and in the store they’re trading down or trading sideways, compromising on proteins or with dried goods.”

3. Less resistance to GMO

Canadians spent more than $8 billion on organic products in 2021, according to the Canada Organic Trade Association. As food prices rise, though, their willingness to pay the price is going down.

Due to tight budgets, shoppers who prefer organic food fell from 15 per cent to 10 per cent. Dairy Farmers of Ontario announced a decrease in organic milk production allocation from August to December 2022.

Similarly, the percentage of adults who prefer to purchase non-GMO foods also decreased, declining almost 40 per cent.

“As those prices go up and stay up, we will see people go back to the ‘base model’ of some of those food products,” says Michael von Massow, food economist and associate professor in the Ontario Agricultural College at the University of Guelph.

But, adds von Massow, “I think, without a doubt, (those changes will be) temporary.”

McArthur is watching. “The overall trend to more sustainable agriculture is there (but) it’s going to take more time in a high inflation market,” she says. “We need an industry solution for transitioning, some kind of bridge financing model, to help farmers transition to more sustainable agriculture in the high-interest environment.”

4. Fluctuating food supplies?

Canadian interest rates are the highest in three decades and farmers are struggling with higher input costs. Unlike grocers and food manufacturers who raise their prices and pass their cost increases on to consumers, farmers typically have to absorb the pain.

“If you look at the whole food chain … who’s benefiting the least or being hurt the most in a high inflation environment, it’s the farmers,” says McArthur.

In the U.S. and abroad, it appears farmers are scaling back production to adjust to high inflation, rising costs, fertilizer shortages and changing consumer purchasing habits.

It’s unclear whether Canadian farmers will follow suit.

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