Latest Challenge Predicted for Farmers

We keep seeing the same articles coming out about looming labour shortages in our agriculture industry. Another article was released last week from the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council specifically identifying an expected management crisis in the dairy, poultry and egg farms. I know the issue of skilled labour shortages is one affecting various industries, but when I read about the specific affects for our farmers, it gets to me in a different way. I was a 26 year old who envisioned my life as working on my family’s farm. But my father passed away and did not have the proper financial plans in place. Our family faced the consequences of the right things not being done and our farm was lost. The skilled labour shortage is a greater complex challenge facing all of us, but I am a firm believer that we can start the process of transferring our knowledge to our young farmers and help to alleviate some of these expected shortfalls. The report notes of the jobs forecast to go unfilled by 2025; 90 per cent will be at the manager and owner-operated level. It’s our responsibility to take these numbers seriously – to look at the challenges ahead for our farmers and figure out what role we can play today in helping to train the younger workforce on our farms. – DW