Farming in Canada is changing. Young people say they can’t get a foothold

Julie Maxwell says it’s not true that people her age don’t want to get into farming, but shifts in agriculture trends have made it financially harder to get a start in the industry.

“I talk to young farmers all the time who want to start farms, who dream of farming … but they just don’t see how it’s possible or how it’s viable,” said Maxwell, a small vegetable farmer and president of the youth branch of the National Farmers Union.

“Anyone that wasn’t born on a farm or born into some kind of wealth can’t get into the game right now,” she told The Current’s Matt Galloway.

Maxwell runs her farm in Waseca, Sask., a province often referred to as the breadbasket of Canada because it makes up about 40 per cent of the country’s farmland. But farming in Saskatchewan is slowly changing, with big investors and large agricultural companies buying up land and then leasing it back to farmers.

Experts warn that that approach is contributing to increased costs and prompting smaller family farms to expand their operations, putting farming out of reach for those just starting out. 

Robert Andjelic, one of the largest investors in Saskatchewan farmland, says that assertion is “totally false.” Andjelic started investing in land in the late 2000s and now owns and rents out close to 250,000 acres (about 101,171 hectares), most of which is in Saskatchewan.

“Most of the sales that come to me are much larger, quite often 2,000 up to … 10,000 acres,” he said. “No young farmers are going to buy that anyway.”

According to the most recent figures available in Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census of Agriculture, the average farm size in Saskatchewan is about 714 hectares (or 1,766 acres) — almost double the national average of about 327 hectares (or 809 acres). 

Data analyzed by CBC last year shows that the average farm size in Canada increased by 19 per cent from 2001 to 2021, while the number of individual farms dropped 23 per cent. The data also showed a more-than-fivefold increase in the average price of farmland per hectare over the same period.

In a statement emailed to The Current, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture said approximately two per cent of the province’s farmland is owned by “non-family corporations.”

“There is a mistaken public perception that farms are owned by big corporations and a family farm is a thing of the past,” the statement said. “In fact, the majority of Saskatchewan farms are family-run businesses and the vast majority of farmland sales remain farm-to-farm.”

Maxwell argued that investor activity “has played a huge role in driving up the price of farmland” and making smaller farms less financially viable.

She said a lot of the young people she talks to don’t want to run large-scale operations. 

“A lot of these folks just want to feed their communities. They want to have small farms where they grow livestock and vegetables,” she said.

“Just simple, noble goals [that] aren’t feeling possible for most young people.”

The Saskatchewan ministry acknowledged in its statement that the value of farmland continues to increase, but said prices are “impacted by a wide variety of economic factors, mainly based on expected returns from agricultural operations.”

Economy forcing farms to expand

Andjelic said the trend toward bigger farms is about more than just land prices, pointing out that farmers also want to maximize returns on investments into equipment.

“How do you have the latest equipment, the most efficient equipment, and do only 2,000 or 5,000 acres? You have to have it go to that next size,” he said.

Andjelic believes “there’s room for everybody,” and smaller farms can still succeed “if they use proper farming business practices.”

Fourth-generation grain farmer Terry Boehm agreed that market pressures are playing a significant role, pointing to high equipment costs and stagnant commodity prices.

“My father in the ’70s could sell canola or flax for around $12 a bushel. Currently, that’s the price right now — and the costs and expenses have increased astronomically,” said the farmer from Colonsay, Sask.

“That certainly drives a tremendous pressure to scale up because margins are very thin.”

Boehm’s great-grandfather started their family’s farm with about 65 hectares (160 acres) in 1903, and it’s now grown to about 1,600 hectares (or just under 4,000 acres). But as he approaches retirement, Boehm is grappling with the fact he has no one to take it over.

“We’re entering into a demographic crisis of how do you attract people back into agriculture? We’re an aging population, and I’m part of that statistic,” he said. 

Maxwell’s parents own a farm in Maidstone, Sask., which she’s often imagined taking over.

“I’m one of the lucky ones that has access to land when so many aspiring farmers don’t. But what I don’t really have is community,” she said.

She explained that as farms have gotten bigger, the people living on them end up being more dispersed. That’s eroded rural communities, making it harder to sell produce locally — or even just avoid feelings of loneliness. 

“I don’t really have any friends out there. I just talk to my dog all day,” she said.  

Young farmers need more support

Maxwell thinks young farmers need more government support, especially small-scale farmers who want to provide produce directly to local markets. She said too much government focus is on bigger operations that supply international markets. 

“I’ve heard it said we don’t really have an agriculture policy, we have an [agricultural]-export policy,” she said.

The Current contacted the federal ministry responsible for agriculture. In an emailed statement, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) said jurisdiction over the ownership, use and protection of farmland lies with the provinces, but the federal government does track the challenges facing farmers and would-be farmers.

“Youth and young farmers are the future of the agriculture and agri-food sector,” the statement read. AAFC pointed to the Crown corporation Farm Credit Canada, which offers loan products to young and beginning farmers; and the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a $3.5-billion, five-year funding initiative that includes support and training for new farmers. 

Boehm said solving the problems may involve asking some tough questions about how Canada’s agricultural sector is structured, and what’s prioritized. 

“You have to ask a basic question: what will it take to attract people into agriculture and to make it possible for them to thrive and for communities to build?” he said.