Thanks for the question.
I'd really like to get away from the demarcation between low-skilled and high-skilled, because with the types of machinery out there now, which not everybody uses but most farmers do, people are working with global positioning systems, with electronics. In future, say, if you have a business plan and it doesn't involve a cellphone, throw away the business plan, because everything is moving that way. It's digital technology.
I'd like to get away from that notion, but you're absolutely right, there needs to be training and adequate training. Whether it's people coming from outside of Canada or from inside Canada, there needs to be skills and skills development.
One of the things that makes it difficult is the very nature of farming and the fact you are dealing with the environment and the climate, so one of the things I say is that I'm supposed to have 45 years in farming. I've been farming for 45 continuous years in the same operation. I should have 45 years of experience, but I don't. I have one year of experience 45 times. You can't possibly teach that type of understanding in a few classes or a four-year course, but it is essential that there be extension programming and educational and training programming.
During the 1990s and early 2000s, farmers, especially in western Canada, lost a whole generation of new farmers to other walks of life.