Young Farmers... For the Canadians!

[BIZIN]

Hey guys, I am posting under the Breeds Board cause I find it gets more traffic. For all the Canadians out there I would like some input. On April 28th I will be speaking on a panel for the House of Commons Standing Committe on Agriculture and Agri-food about securing the future for young farmers. Wondering if there are anything that some of the Canadians think would be relevant to address? My speech is 7 minutes and so far I have addressed AgriStability, difficulty of obtaining capital, a livestock insurance program, and the governments and lending institutions idea of a young farmer having only farmed for 6 years. To me that is a biggy because most young farmers are 35 and under in my opinion and at 25 I have already been farming for more than 6 years. All thoughts welcome!

 

[Aaron]

Hey guys, I am posting under the Breeds Board cause I find it gets more traffic. For all the Canadians out there I would like some input. On April 28th I will be speaking on a panel for the House of Commons Standing Committe on Agriculture and Agri-food about securing the future for young farmers. Wondering if there are anything that some of the Canadians think would be relevant to address? My speech is 7 minutes and so far I have addressed AgriStability, difficulty of obtaining capital, a livestock insurance program, and the governments and lending institutions idea of a young farmer having only farmed for 6 years. To me that is a biggy because most young farmers are 35 and under in my opinion and at 25 I have already been farming for more than 6 years. All thoughts welcome!

You have quite an opportunity. I think a producer could talk an MP to complete madness over AgriStability and their formulations.

I think you touched on the big problems. Although I should have additional ideas (if I can remember them all after 20 years of cursing the government with every step) :cowboy:

 

[Willow Springs]

There are a lot of important issues, however the underlying problem is the near monopoly control that big companies have over agriculture and nearly every other industry in the world. They squeeze the margins down so tight pushing others out of business and sell on volume. This sytem does not enhance our rural economies; farms have to get bigger and more automated to survive and fewer people remain in the rural areas. If you could somehow convince the MP's that the guys who bank role them are not working in the best interests of society at large then we would get somewhere. Capitalism worked great for a large number of years; but has now tipped past equilibrium and we have become serfs to these big companies.

 

[BIZIN]

haha dad said the exact same things about being serfs! Thanks guys