Okay.
I farm about 70 kilometres north of Saskatoon, close to the little town of Laird. I've been there for seven years now. I moved back home after having a life outside of farming for several years. I decided to come back to see what I could do to make a difference in my community, and what I could come up with on the farm. It has been nothing but learning and amazing experiences since the beginning.
I am here as an individual, as a young farmer. I have invested a great deal of the last four years of my life working with the National Farmers Union, and I can't separate myself from those experiences. I've had opportunities to spend a fair amount of time abroad in other countries, talking with young farmers from developing countries and around Europe about a lot of the things we're discussing here today.
It's my impression that the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food would not be conducting a nationwide study on young farmers and the future of agriculture if we weren't in an absolutely dire situation. Unfortunately, it is my opinion that this study is being conducted about two decades too late. We are in a crisis situation with our young farmers. We have all the statistics to prove it. We have lost 62% of farmers under the age of 35 in 15 years--between the 1991 and 2006 agriculture censuses.
There isn't an industry on earth that would tolerate that kind of drop. It doesn't matter what kind of model of agriculture you're following, that kind of drop is unsustainable. We are losing our farmers.
I would like to start by outlining what I see from my experiences as some of the major problems. Then I will talk about what I see as short-term solutions that can possibly make a difference.
It is no surprise that young farmers and new farmers start out small. It's exactly the same principle as in any other career. It would be akin to asking any member of Parliament where they started their political career. It likely wasn't in the House of Commons. So when we are talking about young farmers and new farmers, we are also considering small farmers. We're considering this group of people who have been highly underrepresented in government and industry. They're the ones we need to think about here.
The young farmers who are here today and the young farmers in Canada--approximately 29,000 of us are left under the age of 35--are people who have grown up watching the elimination of these small farms. This has been our life. This is the only example of agriculture we've seen in our lives. As a result, we are among the most resilient, creative, risk-taking people in Canada today.
Unfortunately, the mechanisms that support small farmers are being eliminated all over the world, and Canada is no exception. We're sitting at about $62 billion in farm debt in Canada today. If that is going to be transferred to the next generation, we really have to consider some creative financial solutions.
For financing on a small scale, we need regionally administered programs that allow young people in rural communities to access the capital they need to start their small operations. If they choose to grow big, that's their choice, but they need that opportunity to be small.
In terms of crop insurance programs under provincial legislation, we need to get some programs in for young farmers that guarantee the cost of production for the first five years. If you can do five years, it should be done. We need a land transfer system that is finished making money for the banks. We are putting so much money in the form of interest into this system, and that's what is subsidizing agricultural production right now.
We also need to really look at lowering the AgriStability cap to $500,000. There is no reason that we need a $3 million cap on the AgriStability program. It's quite ludicrous, really, so I don't think I need to explain that any more.
In conclusion, Mr. Chair, the writing is on the wall, the evidence is clear, and the numbers are dropping. It's a few decades too late to be doing this, but I thank you for the opportunity to be here and to represent my peers across Canada. I really acknowledge the fact that the standing committee has made the effort to come out to do this tour. I think it's high time.
Thanks.