A new report is suggesting that aging farmers are hanging up the tractor keys, with no-one to take the wheel.
The study by the University of Guelph and commissioned by the Royal Bank of Canada, said 40 per cent of farmers will retire in the next ten years, and 66 per cent of farmers do not have a succession plan.
Crispin Colvin, vice president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture board of directors, said fewer farmers means domestically produced food will be harder to find.
“If a company or a factory loses 40 to 50 percent of its employees, it’s going to have trouble meeting production targets,” explained Colvin. “Agriculture will be no different. We’ll have trouble meeting our production targets to feed Canadians.”
Colvin believes senior governments should offer financial support, in much the same way they do with other businesses.
“Land in the Middlesex, Elgin, Oxford areas all around 40 to $45,000 an acre. So a hundred acre farm, you’re looking at at least $4 million,” he said. “That’s a big challenge for young people to get in to. One of the things we probably should be looking at is some type of small business loan.”
~Bryan Bicknell~
CTV News
