Finance committee  We can definitely provide you with that.

Finance committee  That is one of our recommendations, to reduce demand for safety net payments by championing orderly marketing institutions. The hog sector is mentioned specifically in our longer submission as to how the removal of the single desk selling boards affected hog farmers. Those who did manage to not lose their businesses are now subject to huge price volatility, and they are more and more likely to be tapping into the safety net programs.

Finance committee  Going back to what I said earlier, for many kids who have grown up on the farm, this comes back to how we're raised, how we go to school, how we do all of those things. We heard, “Don't go into farming, don't go into farming, don't go into farming.” I think the rhetoric they've heard for many years from family—grandparents, uncles, and parents perhaps themselves—has really resonated and I think that's one of the reasons we're seeing that 70% of new entrant farmers are from non-farming backgrounds.

Finance committee  Similar to Ted's...bringing back research and emphasizing that Agri-Food Canada used to be such a global leader in agricultural research and at this point has taken such a step back that we are no longer competitive. Our research is being cost-shared fifty-fifty with institutions.

Finance committee  We did not discuss the issue of Internet access in rural areas, since we wanted to limit our presentation to five minutes. We did not go into suggestions aimed at improving quality of life in rural areas, which would include Internet access, for instance.

Finance committee  Seven people from all over Canada sit on our board of directors. Since there are hills everywhere in New Brunswick, in order to get a signal so as to be able to use his cell phone, one of these people has to climb a hill, on his neighbour's property, and another one has to stand on his toilet bowl.

Finance committee  I can find it and send in the link. The National New Farmer Coalition in Canada was based on the National Young Farmers Coalition that was created in the States. They did a major survey in 2012. This survey gave such good and interesting data that they've been able to move it forward to concrete policy recommendations, including removal, exclusion, or forgiveness of student loans to new farmers as a public service.

Finance committee  Thank you. I don't think a single solution will solve everything. In my opinion, the strategy should include the three avenues you have just mentioned. Immigration is very important in New Brunswick. We are a particular case, in the sense that our agricultural lands are not expensive compared to the rest of Canada.

Finance committee  I just wanted to weigh in from the agriculture perspective on the skills gap. As I said in our presentation, we talked about new farmers and the need for more new farmers. Within the next 10 years, we can expect 70% of our current farmers to be retiring. That number is already significantly down from previous years.

Finance committee  My name is Amanda Wildeman. I'm the Executive Director, and this is Ted Wiggans, President of the National Farmers Union in New Brunswick. We are making this presentation today on behalf of our national organization. The National Farmers Union, NFU, welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the finance committee's pre-budget consultations.

Finance committee  The average age of farmers in Canada is rising, and the number of farmers under the age of 35 is falling. For example, in New Brunswick we have only 235 farmers under the age of 35. We are in the midst of a crisis in intergenerational farm transfer. There is an urgent need for measures to assist young people to begin and to continue farming.