Planting seeds for next crop of farmers

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This article was published 22/01/2025 (428 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After burning out in her social services job, Victoria Radauskas decided to give farming a try. The apprenticeship program offered by Young Agrarians was instrumental in making that happen.

The educational resource network connected Radauskas to the Dogs Run Farm, a small Manitoba operation near Clearwater, that produces pasture-raised pork, lamb, chicken, turkey and eggs.

Radauskas moved from her home in St. Thomas, Ont., to work alongside Dogs Run Farm owners Colin and Katie McInnes from April to November 2022.

“It was an amazing immersive experience,” Radauskas said. “They were super open with all aspects of taking care of the animals and the kinds of projects and infrastructure involved with maintaining the farm and how to actually make it into a livable business.”

Connecting new farmers with industry veterans willing to help them is what the Young Agrarians apprenticeship program is all about, according to Justin Girard, Manitoba program manager.

The paid apprenticeships, which last four to 12 months, include tours and workshops at other farms, one-on-one support and networking opportunities with fellow apprentices.

Participants are typically between the ages of 18 and 35, though the program is open to aspiring farmers of all ages.

“We’ve heard from apprentices that they would not have made the leap if they hadn’t found our program and realized (they) can do this with a little bit of help and support,” Girard said.

Established in B.C. in 2012, Young Agrarians is a program of Agrarians Foundation, whose mission is to educate the public by providing courses, seminars and workshops about agriculture, farming, food processing and environmental sustainability.

The organization has a presence in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario — and started a Manitoba office in 2021.

In addition to the apprenticeship program, its offerings include a business mentorship network that helps newer farmers achieve their business goals through one-on-one consultation with more experienced farmers.

When Colin and Katie McInnes added a cattle herd to the Dogs Run Farm, the business mentorship network was a valuable resource. Young Agrarians matched the couple with Don and Diane Guilford, experienced farmers from Guilford Hereford Ranch.

“(Getting an) understanding of that market has been one of the most helpful things,” Katie said. “The Guilfords are good business people, so they’ve been good people to work with in that sense.”

Meanwhile, being a mentor in the apprenticeship program has profoundly affected McInnes because it’s made her think critically about being the best employer she can be.

“It’s also meant that we’ve been able to pass on the skills we’ve learned in our short time as first-generation farmers,” she said.

“Starting a farm is really pretty incredibly hard and takes a lot of resources and risk. We’re happy to be able to help folks learn those skills without having to take on all the risk themselves.”

Canada’s farming population is shrinking and reached a historic low in 2021. Statistics Canada reports in 1971, one in 14 Canadians was a member of the farm population. By 2021, that number decreased to one in 61.

Overall, from 1971 to 2021, the farm population declined by 62.2 per cent to 590,710 people.

Statistics like those are why Young Agrarians want to inspire a new generation of farmers to grow food. It’s hard to make farming viable and the organization wants to help.

“Young Agrarians is kind of like a switchboard to the agriculture sector for young folks or people who are new to it,” Girard said. “If you’re interested in the food world and the farming world, there’s probably something for you.”

The organization is currently accepting applications for both its apprenticeship and business network programs (youngagrarians.org).

The support of Young Agrarians has given Radauskas the confidence to strike out on her own: she recently moved back to Southern Ontario, where she purchased 25 acres of land to raise sheep.

“One of the things that does keep things in perspective for me … is the contact with people who have been where I am,” she said. “I think it would be a lot more overwhelming and scary without that support and community to reach out to.”

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca