Meeting Farm Labour Challenges will
Benefit all British Columbians
Most British Columbians don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the business of farming, but they have a major stake in the health of the agricultural sector.
“When people talk about why they moved to B.C., they talk about the environment – and that green fields and orchards are as important to them as the mountains,” said Christine Koch, policy manager for the British Columbia Agriculture Council (www.bcac.bc.ca).
“People are also more aware of food security and the role local agriculture plays in providing high-quality, safe and nutritious food in their daily lives.”
That’s why all British Columbians will benefit from a new effort to tackle one of agriculture’s biggest challenges – a serious labour shortage, said Koch.
“Finding workers is the biggest competitive issue in many of our farming sectors today,” said Koch. “It’s getting harder and harder to find the people you need – whether that’s people to harvest crops or whether it’s finding the skilled people you need for highly technical work in greenhouses, dairy and other sectors.”
B.C. has already taken a number of labour initiatives in recent years. This includes a federal-provincial effort that has funded programs ranging from helping Okanagan orchardists find seasonal labour to skill development and training for the nursery and landscape sectors.
But more is needed, said Koch, adding that’s why she became a director of the newly launched Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council. It’s known as a “sector council” – one of 32 federally funded, industry-driven organizations that work with employers, employees, educational institutions and governments to help address the human resource challenges facing Canada’s businesses.
“The Council is working to develop and implement programs and activities that deal with agriculture’s most pressing challenges: recruitment, retention, skills and training,” said Danielle Vinette, executive director (www.cahrc-ccrha.ca).
“We’ve started by debunking some misperceptions that people may have about farm production that prevents them from considering it as their career choice.”
The Council is also working with educators to ensure leading-edge training is available and accessible across Canada – and that employers and employees are aware of the value of (and need for) skills development and other training, said Vinette.
“Many agriculture businesses in Canada are encouraging on-going skills training for their employees,” said Vinette. “Increasingly, agriculture employers also see value in keeping their skill set up-to-date to meet the changing demands of consumers. This is a win-win for all Canadians.”
Pairing with the national human resource council will also produce a win-win, said Koch, because it provides B.C. farmers with access to national initiatives and resources that can be adapted locally.
“There’s a tremendous amount of diversity in our province, including crops that aren’t grown anywhere else in Canada,” she said. “So we want to learn from the national perspective, but also drill down and come up with our own made-in-B.C. plan.”
Part of that plan will be getting out the word, especially to young people, that modern agriculture offers a range of jobs from manual labour to cutting-edge, high-tech career positions.
“Our farmers are also looking for head growers for multi-million-dollar, computerized vegetable greenhouse operations,” said Koch. “They need experts in integrated pest management – that’s using good bugs to eat bad bugs, as well as specialists in areas such as food safety and environmental planning.
“As an industry, we need to address and overcome our labour challenges. The benefits will flow not only to agricultural employers but all of society, because it benefits from the rural landscape and wholesome food that agriculture produces.”
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