Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, for the invitation and the opportunity to provide input into your proceedings today. And of course welcome to Saskatchewan.
On behalf of the thousands of agricultural producers who make up APAS, all farmers and ranchers in the province of Saskatchewan, I commend the standing committee for travelling to our province, which we see as the very heart and soul of agriculture, to hear from and about young farmers.
And I commend and thank today's speakers and presenters for taking time away from their farms, because I know what it's like out there.
APAS is Saskatchewan's general farm organization, formed to provide farmers and ranchers with a democratically elected, grassroots, non-partisan, producer-based organization based on rural municipalities. The mission of the Agricultural Producers Association is to improve the economic well-being of Saskatchewan's agricultural producers and to support viable rural communities and infrastructure through lobbying for progressive agricultural policies. Our vision is of a future where agriculture is profitable, rural communities are viable, and the role of agriculture in our society is recognized and appreciated.
I think it's appropriate to begin by pointing out that I am not a young farmer, as the standing committee has requested, which I believe you define, for your purposes, as a farmer under the age of 35 or 40. In truth, I don't farm. And I have been involved in farm policy for far too long to call myself young any more.
However, it is spring, it is Saskatchewan, and as long as there is no snow on the ground, almost every farmer I know, other than the ones who are here, is hauling grain, moving cattle, repairing equipment, or preparing to seed. So that means that every member of the board of directors of APAS is already either in a tractor cab or eagerly preparing for the 2010 crop season.
Our president, Greg Marshall, is in Ottawa attending the CFA board meeting and sends his regards.
However, I do have some ideas to share and would be prepared to share them with you now.
In December 2008, a resolution was adopted at the annual general meeting of APAS and ratified at the February 2009 annual general meeting of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture in support of improved intergenerational transfer programs to attract young people to agriculture.
In order for APAS's directors and representatives to fully understand the scope of programs tried or considered across Canada and around the world, APAS commissioned A.N. Sholz & Associates of Saskatoon, in the spring of 2009, to undertake a comprehensive study, with the stated objective of providing an overview of the intergenerational transfer, new entrant attraction, and immigration programs currently offered across Canada, with recommendations for the Province of Saskatchewan.
Sholz & Associates presented the study's findings, “Strategies and Recommendations for New Entrant and Intergenerational Transfer Program Needs”, at the December 2009 APAS winter mid-term meeting. It became obvious early in the study that there are no quick answers or solutions evident in the existing new entrant programs across Canada or internationally. Improving the atmosphere and climate to attract new entrants to primary farm production is a complex and long-term process. There are different funding support models across Canada for new entrants to farming. Alberta, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia have crown financial credit agencies attached to the ministry of agriculture that lend to farmers at reduced rates. Ontario and Quebec provide reduced interest rates and funding through a subsidized lending function provided by industry-based farm organizations. The supply managed sectors are internally financing pilot projects, with financial assistance for new entrants to obtain a quota.
Programs in Australia and the U.S. are moving away from subsidized interest rates and loan guarantees towards investing in management training, business skills development, and succession planning.
The magnitude of need for new entrants to replace retiring farmers is elusive. Some farm leaders believe it's an urgent need and others feel that the situation will resolve itself on its own. Nonetheless, the truth is, the average age of farmers is increasing and the number of new entrants is declining.
The agriculture and agrifood sector is also changing quickly, driven by new global competitors, trade restrictions, climate change, and consumer demand for local foods that are safe, healthy, and nutritious. It will be important for new entrants to have the business skills and marketing abilities to adapt to continuous change in order to be successful both today and in the future.
In the past, it was the general belief that farming was the best option for those who couldn't finish high school or do anything else, whereas today the skill sets and competencies required of a successful farmer are astounding and surpass the capabilities of most professionals. The entry skill set that's required of a beginning farmer is much higher today. Government and industry support programs must help them attain the required business skill sets as their first priority.
Recommendations to governments for policy change and programs must be forward-looking and anticipate the needs of the industry five to ten years from now. If new intergenerational or new entrant attraction programs were planned and initiated today, it would take several years for tangible results to flow out of the pipeline. Therefore, the needs five to ten years forward must be anticipated, rather than developing programs on the needs of today that are based on the past five years of experience.
While attracting new entrants to farming has been identified as a near-crisis situation, there seems to be an unfortunate leadership gap in addressing this challenge. It's one we thank the standing committee for addressing through meetings and proceedings such as this.
So who takes the lead? Another way to ask the question is, who has the most to gain or lose in farm ownership?
The government should and must play a role in developing policy and appropriate legislation, but it's only one of several key stakeholders. The agricultural industry itself, in its myriad of purchases, must also take leadership responsibility to meet the challenges and seek solutions. While it will take a collaborative and committed approach by all stakeholders to fully address the challenges and develop a thoughtful and effective long-term solution, there are numerous things we believe we can do and can be started immediately by farm organizations, the government, and industry today to attract new people to become the farmers of the future.
There is no silver bullet to attract new entrants of any age to agriculture, but our recommendations, directed collaboratively to groups like APAS, both levels of government, and the agriculture and agrifood industry as a whole, do address the key elements of a multi-faceted approach to making a difference.
These recommendations were presented under a number of key headings, the first being succession planning. We believe we need to make succession planning a priority program. Our other key headings--and you can read about them on our website--business training, mentoring and apprenticeship, messaging and imaging, financial tools, first nations and immigration, and coordination.
Most importantly, we believe that the federal government and the provincial ministries of agriculture must work on a strategy to quickly improve the inter-agency communications and coordination amongst all stakeholders directly supporting programs in attracting new entrants to agriculture, facilitating intergenerational transfers, and imaging and messaging.
Subsequent to the study's official release and adoption at our 2009 meeting, APAS has printed and distributed copies of the report to the Canadian Young Farmers Forum and all members of the CFA. We are encouraging other interested parties to download and review a digital version of the study or the executive summary at our website. We are working independently and cooperatively with various industry partners to develop a number of new opportunities that can address the more timely recommendations.
I thank you once again for the opportunity, and I encourage you to get the executive summary and complete report under the heading of “intergenerational transfer” in the policy section of our website at www.apas.ca.
Thank you.