Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Do you want your kids to farm?

Gredig: From the Fencerow
Bookmark and Share
Do you want your kids to farm?

As a farmer and father with a young son, it’s a question that has started to creep into the back of my mind. The old saying is, “farmers farm for their sons and daughters”. The inference is that for a family farm to succeed, each generation builds onto what came before and passes it on in better shape. This pattern has served us well for the past 150 years or so, but is it an out of date way of thinking or does this approach still have merit?

I never felt any pressure to come home to the farm. I was encouraged to find summer jobs off the farm to get some exposure to other ways of making a living. I laid a few million yards of sod (well, it seemed like millions) for a landscaping company for a couple of summers, harvested tobacco, and worked at a golf course. After high school, I went to university chasing a degree in agricultural economics. At home, the message was, if you want to come home after university, the farm will be here.

When I took a job in the big city as a policy researcher after graduation, I could tell that my parents still held out hope that I would farm, but either way, they were moving forward and the farm was evolving.

After a couple of years of fun in the city the light bulb went on and I knew I wanted to give it a shot at home. It was an easy decision that took 24 years to become apparent. I guess I learned from my parents that it’s important to encourage the next generation to consider all the opportunities available to them, including agriculture. And this could mean primary production or a job related to agriculture.

By the time I came home, the hog operation had been shuttered and a progressive apple orchard was added as a new enterprise. If I had shown interest earlier, there is a good chance that there would have been more land and more pigs, but there would also have been more pressure to follow that model. Because my parents had moved forward with enterprises that were right for them, there was room for me to start my own direction when I started farming.

Now I am the farmer with a kid. Some days the boy thinks living on a farm is the best ever (go-carts rock!). Other days, he wonders why we can’t live in town where the kids play street hockey every day after school! I think I was the same way.

Some people say the economics of agriculture today make it very difficult for farmers to keep the farm viable and available for the next generation. I think this has always been true, but I agree that high asset values make it more difficult for some to forego cashing in, especially if there are numerous siblings that must be considered in succession planning.

I guess at this early stage I’ll do my best to be a positive influence and to keep as many options open as possible, both for myself and my son. I’m not as concerned about building a certain scale or kind of operation. My experience is that the next generation should be encouraged to consider new enterprises and new approaches.

What do you think? Do you want your kids to farm? What are the opportunities/challenges? 

Peter Gredig
Farms.com Media
Peter.Gredig@Farms.com

Follow me on Twitter. I’m Agwag.
 
 
 
This commentary is for informational purposes only.  The opinions and comments expressed herein represent the opinions of the author--they do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Farms.com.  This commentary is not intended to provide individual advice to anyone.  Farms.com will not be liable for any errors or omissions in the information, or for any damages or losses in any way related to this commentary.

Views: 1183

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Robert Hillman on December 13, 2011 at 11:43am

because of selfishness

the dad should have said NO

the dad should have been a man and done what he wanted



Roadrunner said:

I was talking to a friend the other day....the son wants to farm but the challenges of succession between the 3 generations of the family made it impossible....they needed to sell the land and operation to satisfy the siblings...still bitter feelings between everyone.
Permalink Reply by Robert Hillman on December 13, 2011 at 11:45am

we just want to farm one hundred acers

 

there is three of us to work full time

 

we will live in the country and work for  free for ten years  for a farmer that will help us get   our own hundred acers

i can make  25 thousand a year with a hundred acers and thats all we want

 

▶ Reply to Discussion

RSS

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Farmers Urged to Sell Rallies

Current crop prices and farm returns may be weak but there will still be rallies and selling opportunities in the days and months ahead that producers must be ready to cash in on, an analyst says. Ben Buckner, chief grains analyst for AgResource Co., said at the Ontario Agricultural Conference earlier this month that such factors as the weather could come into play to lift crop markets out of the doldrums. The key for farmers, he said, will be recognizing and jumping on those rallies. “I don’t think the markets will be without opportunities,” he told the crowd. “But as your neighbours may start to see rising prices, thinking this is maybe the start of a long-term, sustained bull trend, I want you. . . to sell those rallies.” A weather problem somewhere in a major global production region will often spark a rally in the markets, and Buckner said those instances are becoming increasingly common. Prior to about 2017, it was only about once every 10 or 12 years there was a major drou

Bountiful Year for Corn and Soybeans

United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service, also known as NASS, has released its annual crop production summary. In Iowa, 2024 was a bountiful year for corn and soybeans. Corn production in the state was estimated at a remarkable 2.63 billion bushels, marking a 4% increase from the previous year. Iowa’s corn for grain yield reached a record-breaking 211 bushels per acre. Though the harvested area decreased slightly to 12.5 million acres, the impressive yield more than made up for it. Additionally, corn for silage production was up by 7%, totaling 8.16 million tons. On the soybean front, Iowa farmers harvested an estimated 598 million bushels, a 4% rise from last year. The average soybean yield was 60 bushels per acre, with a harvested acreage of nearly 10 million acres. The state saw an increase in both planted and harvested soybean areas, contributing to the overall production boost. Turning to hay, all hay production in Iowa surged by 19%, rea

Revolutionizing Farming Through Sensing Technology

A Lethbridge researcher is leading the effort to accelerate the digital transformation of the Canadian agriculture sector. In modern farming, innovation is key to addressing both biotic and abiotic stresses. Exciting research being done out of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Remote Sensing and Phenomics Lab (RSP Lab) at the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre is harnessing data-driven tools to transform farming practices, including helping accelerate the development of new crop varieties. Keshav Singh, who leads the RSP Lab group, has dedicated several years to developing cutting-edge technologies that empower farmers. Over the past three years, Singh’s lab has worked to develop digital tools that help producers make better decisions using advanced technology. One of his projects, supported by Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR), focuses on spectral imaging technology to estimate nitrogen (N) fertilizer-use-efficiency to optimize grain yield and quality in

Consider high-flying seeders

 It was a clear, dry day when Tony Kurt welcomed a small group of neighbors, local officials and media personnel to his fields near Cascade for a drone-seeding demonstration. The fourth-generation farmer has a strong historical connection to his land and its past. But in hosting the event featuring cutting-edge technology he was looking ahead to the future. During the demo, a professional drone pilot on the ground flew small unmanned aircraft with four arms and eight propellers about 20 feet in the air over corn stalks that were.then yet to be harvested. Kurt was among the first farmers in the county to take part in a drone-seeding program that was new in 2024. The machines can hold about 100 pounds; they dropped seeds between corn and bean rows. Those seeds would become cover crops. “I’ve had (seeds) flown over in airplanes before, but this is the first time for drones,” said Kurt as he walked his land several weeks after the demonstration. By then the corn had been picked and radi

Be strong; ask for help

As a society we’re learning about variants in mental health – and consequently how to treat the diseases as well as the stigmas associated with depression and anxiety. Every facet of our culture is prone to mental illness, but the agricultural and farming communities are an at-risk segment. Karen Endres is the Farmer Wellness Program coordinator at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. She looks for ways to help Wisconsin farmers with their mental health. She’s not a psychiatrist or therapist. Rather, she said, she likes to consider herself a bridge between farmers and mental-health connections. Her job requires a lot of public speaking to farmer organizations as well as speaking at expos. “I’ve been in the agricultural industry since I graduated college,” she said. “I worked at a dairy co-op for 10 years as head of communications.” Her husband is a farmer; she said being around farming every day has helped her recognize how the industry provides in

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service