Whew! I'm tired just listening to you there, Gillian.
I'm going to close things out here by talking about two things. First, what can 4-H do to encourage young people to enter into agriculture as farmers, and second, what can the Government of Canada do to do the same thing? We have some suggestions for the committee today.
Currently 4-H is facing similar problems with agriculture in that rather than facing an acute shortage of young farmers, we're facing an acute loss of 4-H members. To that end, we've developed a number of programs that directly and indirectly support AAFC's business development objective of providing for enhanced participation by young or new entrants and first nations clients.
I'll give you a couple of examples. I don't know whether you want me to elaborate on them. I'll name some of the programs, and perhaps you can ask questions afterwards.
We have one called the RBC 4-H rural-urban youth outreach program. As the name states, we're reaching out into urban centres to teach people about agriculture.
In the summer of 2011, we're going to be introducing the business development opportunities on-farm mentorship program, which is a partnership with Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers, where young people interested in going into agriculture, agricultural production, will spend two weeks on the farms of some of the winners of Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers to learn how it's done.
We currently have on our website a “Careers on the Grow” job board on which we're encouraging our stakeholders to advertise in terms of careers in agriculture.
For the last three years, we've been running an aboriginal 4-H program. We see urban centres, as well as the aboriginal youth community, as markets for 4-H.
In addition, one of the things we have identified that we need to do in terms of moving forward is to expand our partnerships with the Canadian deans of agriculture and veterinary medicine. In fact, I made a presentation to that group last week, and we're looking at partnering with them. The University of Guelph, for example, is piloting a project where there will be a university credit for becoming a 4-H leader.
As I said, we are partnering with Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers program, as well as with the Canadian Young Farmers' Forum.
We kind of see ourselves as the apprenticeship for young farmers, basically. We think our members will become Canada's outstanding young farmers or members of the Canadian Young Farmers' Forum.
I don't have to tell you about rural demographics these days. We see the growth of 4-H and the growth of agriculture in terms of reaching out into urban centres. That's a priority for us.
We would like to see ourselves develop a national strategy to partner with agriculture in the classroom. We see that as a critical element in respect to teaching kids about agriculture. As Gillian alluded to, we need to use means of communication for networking with youth. It's important that we're communicating with Twitter, Facebook, etc.
One of the things we see is that 4-H members like Ashley and Gillian will show cattle; they'll show a dairy cow for seven years of their 4-H program. By the time they get to be about 17 or 18 years of age, they've passed that stage. So what we need to do is develop programming for senior 4-H members that includes components of starting up a farm, writing a business plan, sharing different market ideas, or an “ask a professional” night that could cover technological advancements such as genomics or get into advancements in specific commodity production such as vegetable growing; beef production; sheep production; bioenergy production, in terms of hemp, corn, etc.; or transition, one market to another, or part time to full time. The key to this would be to include a major business component to all of these. We could have club weekend events, an intensive two- or three-day event with workshops, seminars, etc.
Now I'll just turn to some thoughts that we've shared with some of our colleagues across the country on what the Government of Canada can do to attract young people into primary production.
First of all, we think it would be a good idea to develop a new, crisp, clear vision for Canadian agriculture, focused on young people. Young people want, need, and respond to a vision that they can buy into and something that they believe can deliver the probability of a positive future. I think the greatest thing the Government of Canada can do is develop this vision and share it so that youth get behind it and grow with it.
We should be able to do that. Look at what Canadian agriculture has to offer: some of the highest-quality food products in the world; some of the sharpest, most committed producers in the world; world-class processors, although there are just not enough of them; a world-respected regulatory system; one of the most pristine natural environments in the world, with an abundance of fresh air and fresh water; and productive land that is the envy of the world.
Really, the focus needs to be on youth, because this is the generation that's going to be out in the field, if you will. I think the government needs to communicate this vision as well as implement support programs for beginning farmers using new social marketing technologies, but I won't beat that one to death. Government can promote the number of elements involved in agriculture beyond production and ensure that agricultural educational programming is in place for youth. The purpose of today's hearing is basically to talk about production; you have production, but there are other aspects of agriculture where you're going to need young people going into the business.
Government can continue to provide financial support for programs that focus on science, technology, and innovation in agriculture. That is a critical element. We can't be left behind in terms of science, technology, and innovation.
Government can seize upon the interest in locally grown food in all parts of Canada, especially in urban centres. I was reading the Ottawa Citizen today, and they're talking about people raising chickens in their backyards. There's an interest there. Vancouver, I believe, has the highest concentration of rooftop and empty-lot gardens in Canada right now. There's an opportunity for us to seize and for the Government of Canada to seize in educating young people about what a cool business agriculture is.
Government can research approaches and programs being used in other countries to encourage young people to enter farming and develop them as models for Canada. This was a suggestion made by one of my colleagues who was formerly with the Department of Agriculture. As an example, in New Zealand they have a popular production-sharing program in the dairy and livestock industry that is helping many young people to establish their own farms under the guidance of the current farm owners. This is just an example. There are probably other examples in other parts of the world.
You've been out west, and I think you heard from a number of young farmers and a number of groups what some of the issues are. They include addressing barriers to getting into agriculture, such as start-up costs and financing. One thing Ashley didn't tell you about her parents is that they got their quota six years ago and they're still working full time off the farm as well as running the farm. That's a significant commitment.
There's a lack of knowledge of the industry and the opportunities that exist. We can help you with that, in terms of creating awareness.
In terms of succession, government can review programs that perhaps don't go far enough in recognizing the needs of first-time entrants into agriculture. For example, the government guarantee for land purchases under the Canadian Agricultural Loans Act is limited to 15 years. In speaking with one of my colleagues about this, I've realized 15 years just might not be enough to cut it; perhaps it should be 25 years.
In conclusion, the Canadian agricultural industry is a vital component of the Canadian economy. The industry accounted for 8% of the total Canadian GDP in 2005. It provides one out of every eight jobs. It employs nearly 2.1 million people. The agriculture and agrifood system has been growing at an average rate of 2.4% per year over the past decade.
At the same time that the industry is experiencing this growth, there are also challenges appearing ahead. In particular, the agriculture industry needs to attract and retain a new generation of producers, and that's why we're here today. This is becoming more apparent, as the number of producers under the age of 35 is declining faster than in any other age range. In fact, from 2001 to 2006 the number of farm operators under the age of 35 decreased by 25% across Canada. That's not a good statistic.
To address that growing gap and the need for younger farm operators, the 4-H program in Canada can play a valuable and significant role. Young people interested in agriculture see it as a career with opportunity. They may be interested because their parents or grandparents were producers, but today's young farmer is a business person.
I won't ask those of you who are former 4-H members to say the pledge, but I'll refer to what the four Hs stand for: head, heart, health, and hands. Today's young farmers may enter the field with hearts and hands, but in their heads they need to feel there is a healthy future for them.
We have gone over our time, but thank you very much for the opportunity to make this presentation.
