Reading Time: 3 minutes Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has named the 25 young people chosen to sit on the inaugural Canadian Agricultural Youth Council. Members of the council (see list below) are expected to offer suggestions on government priorities and identify problems and solutions for Bibeau. “That was quite a challenge actually, because we received over 800 candidates,” Bibeau […] Read more
Agricultural Youth Council members introduced
Jobs for next generation also come online
650,000 blue jackets
Future Farmers of America brings more young people into agriculture, and gives them the tools to succeed
Reading Time: 5 minutes There are almost 650,000 of them spread across the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and they can be found everywhere from large, urban cities to small, rural towns. Every single one of the 650,000 is also a unique individual, with their own background and interests. But there is at least one thing […] Read more
Duration limit lifted from foreign worker program
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canadian farm groups are among the sectors hailing Ottawa’s decision to axe the cumulative duration rule, or “four-in, four-out” policy, which stood to sideline temporary foreign workers from the Canadian market. The federal government announced last Tuesday (Dec. 13) it would lift the restriction, effective immediately. The cumulative duration rule had been in place in […] Read more
The Millennial myth
It turns out the Boomers and Millennials aren’t so different, and they can form great teams
Reading Time: 4 minutes Every day we hear complaints about young people. We complain that they have a sense of entitlement. They aren’t motivated. They don’t have any loyalty to their employers… Not surprisingly, dozens of articles and books have also been written on how to reduce conflict between the generations. But are we making too much of generational […] Read more
Agriculture classes on university campuses continue to grow
It isn’t only a robust farm economy that’s driving post-secondary ag education, but job opportunities and heavy recruitment too
Reading Time: 5 minutes The story is the same across the country. “Our application numbers in all of our programs are up,” says Joe Varamo, manager of academic programs for Ontario Agricultural College, Canada’s largest ag university, where total ag enrolment has climbed to 2,600, up from 2,000 just four years ago. “We’ve gone from accepting approximately 450 students […] Read more
The young are on board, literally
In Ontario’s Northumberland County, young farmers make up the majority on many commodity and farm boards. Here’s how we do it
Reading Time: 5 minutes There’s nothing like an unexpected dinner invitation to get the attention of a person who is normally responsible for daily meal preparation. The invitation arrived by text, and it didn’t take long to figure out whether to accept. Accept first, I said. Ask questions later. When I did ask the question, I was right to […] Read more
Keeping small towns alive, building communities that thrive
Saving our small communities has less to do with keeping our kids at home than giving them reasons to return
Reading Time: 5 minutes Rural communities across Canada know the challenges all too well. Populations are shrinking, and services of all kinds are getting harder and harder to maintain, not only for businesses but also for new Canadians, the disabled, the elderly and those suffering from mental health challenges or addictions. It’s not all doom and gloom though. Doug […] Read more
Editor’s Desk: One boy at a time
Reading Time: 2 minutes As associate editor Gord Gilmour reports in the November 2014 issue of Country Guide, more women than men now attend our ag universities. I’m not being alarmist — at least, I hope I’m not — and I’m not a zealot for absolute gender equality in every job or every outcome. I note the irony too […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
