APAS president says future of Saskatchewan agriculture is bright

Many Canadian farmers are aging, but young farmers are stepping up to take over.

Ian Boxall, the president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), thinks the agriculture industry is in good hands.

“I’m not at a panic state yet,” Boxall told Gormley guest host Taylor MacPherson this week. “There’s lots of young producers in the province that are going to continue on with this important sector for Saskatchewan and for Canada.”

According to a report done by RBC in 2001, the average age of a Canadian farmer was 50 years old. That number has risen to 56 as of 2021.

For the past 10 years, APAS has offered the APAS Young Leaders (AYL) program to help address that.

The program is aimed towards agriculture producers between the ages of 18 and 40. The goal is to get young producers passionate about policy and to gain experience.

“It’s been a good way to encourage young people to get involved in policy and also for the future of Saskatchewan agriculture,” said Boxall.

According to Boxall, 98 per cent of Saskatchewan farms are still family farms. He thinks the rise in average age could be due to people having children later in life so the transition between ownership is pushed back, or people going to school later and subsequently returning to the farm later.

“I think it’s a change in the generations,” said Boxall. “People aren’t coming straight from high school to the farm. They’re going to experience a bit of life outside of the farm, making sure it’s what they want to do then coming home.”

Participants in the AYL program are paired with a farmer over the age of 40 as their mentor. The younger producers learn valuable skills, attend APAS meetings and meet with MPs in Ottawa to talk policy.

For more information and applications for the program, head to the APAS website.