Grainswest - Spring 2024

Spring 2024 grainswest.com 27 How one family found certainty, satisfaction and direction in farm succession planning BY TREVOR BACQUE • PHOTOS BY ZOLTAN VARADI JUST DO IT I n 2024, another slew of Canadian farmers will transition out of farming while the next generation takes over either in part or whole. It’s a fact of farm life: eventually the farm changes hands. For countless reasons, farm transitions take many meandering paths. Depending on business and family dynamics, the trip can be smooth going or a rough ride. The country’s farm economy continues to grow while the farm workforce out in rural Canada continues to shrink, and rapidly at that. Twenty-three years ago, the average Canadian farmer was 50 years old and there were 346,000 of them from coast to coast. While there is no official number for 2024, Statistics Canada data from 2021 showed the farmer average was 56, representing 60.5 per cent of all practitioners. The total number of primary producers dropped by 84,000 to 262,000 over that two-decade span, a decrease of 24 per cent. What’s more, a recent RBC study demonstrated that 66 per cent of Canadian farmers do not have a succession plan in place. The study’s lead author is Mohamad Yaghi. As part of his research, he surveyed more than 500 Canadian farmers, and discovered two-thirds had no plan for generational transition. The report predicts that in nine years’ time, 40 per cent of Canada’s current farm workforce will have turned over, with or without a plan. It will also drive a 24,000-worker shortfall unless action is taken. This affects the family farm, but also more labour-intensive farm operations. Having heard from so many farmers, Yaghi understands the gravity of the transition process and knows it’s a big task for many to complete. “On an emotional and personal level, a lot of people don’t like to have this difficult conversation,” he said. “But if we don’t have the right measures in place to ensure the next generation can take over, it’s going to present some real issues to the country. Succession planning is really important because when you’re handing the farm down, you want to make it as clear and transparent as possible.” It may pose a challenge to sit down as a family or bring in third parties who can assist in the process, but Yaghi labels it as necessary and insisted it’s a non-negotiable for any farm. Of course, not all farm children want to pursue agriculture as a career. Some may be more reluctant than their ancestors to do so, given the high cost of doing business in 2024. “ Succession planning is really important because when you’re handing the farm down, you want to make it as clear and transparent as possible.” —Mohamad Yaghi