Thank you, Mr. Chair, for this great opportunity to present in front of you.
I'm Paul Glenn, chair of the Canadian Young Farmers' Forum. There's been no greater need to encourage and support our young farmers. Stats Canada has found that there are fewer young people going into agriculture compared to every other sector. The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council has found that the shortage of Canadians working in agriculture is going to double by the year 2025, a very short time. This is going to create a lot of challenges for our young farmers in the future.
There's a need to increase funding federally and provincially to support young farmer initiatives. This needs to be a priority under the next policy framework. We need to create a solid foundation for our young farmers and to encourage new entrants as well.
On the business risk management side, if AgriStability was restored as an income stabilization program, I think that would have a great impact on participation from young farmers, especially the small producers.
We have identified access to land, access to capital, and access to labour as our main hurdles for many young farmers. Programs to overcome these hurdles should be a priority in the next policy framework.
Thank you.