How Alberta farmers are planning for the future amid concerns around succession plans

Mike Wind says he's spent two decades getting his farm's succession plan in place.

He's a hay, grain and potato farmer nearPurple Springs, Alta., a hamlet about 70 kilometres east of Lethbridge. He and his wife started Windiana Farmsin 1989.

One day about 21 years ago, sitting around the dinner table, he asked his five daughters and two sons if any of them had an interest in taking over the family business. After a week thinking it over, his two sons said yes.

"They went to school, graduated, and the plan was that if they wanted to farm, they had to work for me as an employee for five years, after which we would revisit the plan of whether they would like to farm or not. And they did."

It's a discussion that's lacking at a majority of Canadian farms, according to a report released earlier this month by the Royal Canada Bank, Boston Consulting Group and researchers from the University of Guelph. Itshowed about 66 per cent of Canadian producers don't have a succession plan in place.

The report also predicts that by 2033, 40 per cent of Canadian farm operators will retire. It suggests 30,000 new permanent residents will be needed in the industry over the next decade to fill the gap.

Todd Lewis, first vice president with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and a grain and oilseed producer in Saskatchewan, said they've seen these trends, too, as the average farmer'sage rises.

"We've seen a large consolidation, especially in Western Canada, of farmers that have retired, maybe their sons or daughters don't carry on, they exit the industry. So we're seeing larger farms in many cases," he said.

Farm values are high right now, which offers some operators an appealingexit strategy.

For those who do have family to whom to leave their farm, transferring land can be complicated, and expensive, making succession planning achallenge.

"We're great planners when it comes to next year's crop or next year's calving season succession planning is maybe something that's always put on the back burner," Lewis said.

More needs to be done to keep producers in the industry, or encourage news ones to enter, the report says, by promoting agricultural education, boosting research on technology and creating national strategies.

'I just wanted to be a farmer'

Some young farmers are still forging ahead with plans to keep their generational farms going.

Valerie Ehrenholz, 31, took over her family's cattle and vegetable farm in Barrhead, Alta. about 120 kilometres northwest of Edmonton six years ago.

"Some people want to be a teacher, some people want to be a nurse. I just wanted to be a farmer," she said in an interview with CBC Calgary News at 6.

She said farming is financially and physically demanding, so that might stop young people from entering the business.

"Certainly when I was deciding what I wanted to do, it was very much discouraged and looked down upon if somebody wanted to be a farmer," she said.

WATCH | Valerie Ehrenholz explains why she wanted to be a farmer:

Young farm owner talks about changes to the industry

1 year ago

Duration 5:01

Valerie Ehrenholz is a third generation farm owner and operator. She runs a cattle and vegtable farm in Barrhead, Alta., called Ehrenholz Farms. She joined CBC Calgary News at 6 host Rob Brown to speak about what it's been like to take over the family farm.

David Bishop owns a generational farm in Barons, Alta., about 45 kilometres northwest of Lethbridge, growing oilseeds, cereals and some pulses.

His son plans totake over the farm, but Bishop says he's heard of many other operators who don't have anyone to replace them. It's also hard for new farmers to start in the industry because costs are so high.

"So I can predict and see that there will be less farmers and bigger farms down the road," he said.

Some farmers like Mark Miyanaga still don't know what they're going to do when they retire. He currently runs Triple M Farms, which produces potatoes, nearTaber with his two cousins.

Miyanaga's three daughters decided on different career paths, and his cousins don't have children.

He says they'd like to keep going for the foreseeable future, maybe hiring management and handing over more responsibility to employees.

"So that's where we are today. In three or four years, that whole situation may change."

Optimistic future

Increased automation could be a helpful solution to some farmers, said Joy Agnew, associate vice president of applied research at Olds College.

Anecdotally, she saidshe'sseen many young people still interested in the technological and entrepreneurial elements of agriculture, but not the traditional farming roles.

Olds College runs a smart farm, and for the past few years, it's used an autonomous seeder, sprayer and granular spreader system.

"Five years ago I was a skeptic, thinking that OK, robots in the field or robots who actually do farm tasks are decades away yet. But they aren't," she said.

"The advancements are quite tremendous to watch and they're going to be a scalable economic solution for farmers far sooner than I think they realized."

Of course, the human aspect of the operation will never go away, she said.

The college is also looking at increasing on-demand micro-credentials, allowing farmers to keep pace with a rapidly changing industry.

"Short courses, short bursts of really focused information that they can mix and match to their needs," she said.

For Lewis, with the CFA, finding ways to reduce costs would also help the industry grow.

"It's really important that we get policy around some of these farm transfers and attracting new entrants into agriculture," he said.

"The family farm is the backbone of agriculture in this country. ...It's really important that governments help us along in this transition period because it's too important not to get it right."