New generation of farmers face rising costs of land, climate change

Ontario chicken farmer Patrick Verkley loves the diversity of his profession.

“You’re a business person, you’re taking care of the land, you get to play with stewardship. And you get to make food for people,” he said to CTV Your Morning on Monday. “And I get to play with really cute little chicks.”

At the age of 31, Verkley is part of a new generation of young farmers who are stepping into an industry rendered unpredictable by the rising cost of farmland and the crop-damaging weather patterns of climate change.

According to Statistics Canada, the average price of farmland rose 22.7 per cent over five years. “The market value of owned land, buildings and fixed equipment increased by 19.1 per cent from 2016, to $420.9 billion in 2021,” says Statistics Canada.

“It’s always very expensive to get into farming no matter where you’re at in time,” Verkley said. “However, the current environment we’re in, it’s just changing so quickly that it’s hard to adapt.”

Verkley explained that the financial assessment model farmers use to determine costs and profitability of farmland would need to be re-evaluated today.

“In our neighbourhood, land values have nearly doubled. So has a lot of the other costs with starting a business. It’s so much change and we need to figure out how we do it.”

He then added, “But we have to.”

In 2021, 60.5 per cent of farmers were aged 55 and older, according to Statistics Canada, which says, “The price of land is an important factor in the investment and management decisions of farms, particularly in an environment increasingly defined by large market players.”

Amidst these rising costs, farmers like Verkley are left with the mounting responsibility of feeding a country.

This is further complicated by climate change, which is forcing farmers to focus on drought-resistant crops.

Verkley said, in order to attend to problems such as climate change, Canadian farms need new farmers and new ideas.

“Right now the farmland is treated as an investment for retirement,” he said, “and we probably need to make it so your retirement fund as a farmer comes from someone else actively managing your business versus you just living off the returns.”

This way, he said, Canada can ensure the succession of more farmers taking over land.

“We’ve got to bring it closer to today so we can make decisions now that benefit society in the long-run.”