Blog Category: Essays and Opinions

Prior Street Bees on beekeeping on leased land

Posted by Michalina Hunter on November 14, 2019

Jess and Corbin are participants in the B.C. Land Matching Program (BCLMP), which provides land matching and business support services to new farmers looking for land to farm, as well as landowners interested in finding someone to farm their land. Visit the B.C. Land Matching Program page to learn more about the program and to find a Young Agrarians Land Matcher in your region. ~ Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your farm: I’m Corbin and my partner and I keep bees. I worked for a commercial beekeeper for 5 years in the Okanagan, and when we moved to the Island we … Continue reading Prior Street Bees on beekeeping on leased land →

Chris Thoreau on Growing Seed on Leased Land

Posted by Michalina Hunter on September 23, 2019

Chris of the FarmFolk CityFolk Research and Education Seed Farm is a participant in the B.C. Land Matching Program, which provides land matching and business support services to new farmers looking for land to farm, as well as landowners interested in finding someone to farm their land. Visit the B.C. Land Matching Program page to learn more about the program and to find a Young Agrarians Land Matcher in your region. Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your farm. I’m Chris Thoreau – former Seed Security Program Director at FarmFolk CityFolk. Our farm is a 3.5 acre site in Abbotsford, BC that is dedicated … Continue reading Chris Thoreau on Growing Seed on Leased Land →

Late Bloomers Flower Farm on Farming Leased Land

Posted by Michalina Hunter on August 15, 2019

Photo by Damaris Riedinger Elly of Late Bloomers Flower Farm is a participant in the B.C. Land Matching Program, which provides land matching and business support services to new farmers looking for land to farm, as well as landowners interested in finding someone to farm their land. Visit the B.C. Land Matching Program page to learn more about the program and to find a Young Agrarians Land Matcher in your region. ~ Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your farm. I’m Elly Rakhmetouline, and I own and run Late Bloomers Flower Farm. The farm was started three years ago in Richmond, moved to … Continue reading Late Bloomers Flower Farm on Farming Leased Land →

Short Film: Counting on a New Crop

Posted by Dana Penrice on July 12, 2019

Can two unconventional friends keep a decades-old family farm from disappearing? COUNTING ON A NEW CROP is a short documentary directed by Brina Romanek, produced in partnership with CBCShort Docs. The film follows best friends, Sixty-six-year-old farmer Jim Giffen and quiet, 23 year-old electrician, Jonas they struggle to keep Edencrest Farm alive. Before Giffen met Jon, he feared he would lose Edencrest Farms, a staple in the Minesing community since the early1900s. With his four children uninterested in the family business, the question of who would take over the property was looming and the idea that he would have no … Continue reading Short Film: Counting on a New Crop →

New farmers & Food Policy in Canada – Survey Results

Posted by Michalina Hunter on May 14, 2019

Photo courtesy of farmlove.org We dug up the results from a national new farmer survey conducted a few years ago. A paper was recently published on the study, and we want to share the results with you! Pour yourself a cup of tea and delve into the challenges and opportunities for Canadian farmers with us. Below is a summary of the paper with a few highlights. Please download the whole paper for more detail here: New farmers and food policies in Canada By Julia Laforge (Lakehead University), Ayla Fenton (Farmer and on Board of Directors, National Farmers Union), Virginie Lavalée-Picard (Farmer), Stéphane McLachlan (University of … Continue reading New farmers & Food Policy in Canada – Survey Results →

Land Matching for the Next Generation of Farmers: Okanagan Update, April 2019

Posted by Tessa Thompson on April 08, 2019

By Tessa Wetherill, Okanagan Land Matcher in our B.C. Land Matching Program Listening to people is just as fascinating as listening to plants. For the first growing season in 12 years, I won’t be farming as my primary occupation, instead I’m joyfully continuing on in the role of the Okanagan Land Matcher with the B.C. Land Matching Program delivered by Young Agrarians. Watching and nurturing these new collaborations between new farmers without land and property owners wanting to see their land farmed is both enlivening and encouraging. Not much different than my other much loved spring activity, caring for seedlings. After kicking off … Continue reading Land Matching for the Next Generation of Farmers: Okanagan Update, April 2019 →

Don’t Miss a Step When it Comes to Ladder Safety!

Posted by Moss Dance on July 23, 2018

By Wendy Bennett, CRSP, Executive Director, AgSafe Falls from ladders are one of the leading causes of workplace injuries. Sprains and strains are the most common types of injuries associated with ladder use resulting from overreaching, shifting weight or body position, and lifting or carrying ladders. Tripod ladders, also known as orchard ladders, are commonly used by workers to harvest tree fruit and by landscape workers for pruning and hedge trimming. This type of ladder should never be used like a step ladder or an extension ladder because it is not designed to be set up on firm, smooth ground and may … Continue reading Don’t Miss a Step When it Comes to Ladder Safety! →

Petition to WorkSafe BC: Create a New Class of Small-Scale Vegetable Farming

Posted by Moss Dance on June 18, 2018 3 Comments

John Hofer, a farmer in our Young Agrarians network, is calling all small-scale veggie farmers and supporters of local agriculture to sign his petition. The petition is asking WorkSafeBC to set a lower insurance rate standard for small-scale vegetable growers. WORKSAFEBC – BACKGROUND The WorkSafeBC website describes how industries are classified in order to set premium rates. This is an excerpt from that description: Our classification system groups employers in similar industries with similar levels of risk, so we’re able to set fair rates and charge your industry an appropriate rate that reflects the rate of injury and illness in your industry. … Continue reading Petition to WorkSafe BC: Create a New Class of Small-Scale Vegetable Farming →

GROW YOUR OWN JOB – New farmers seeking agriculture careers in Ontario

Posted by Moss Dance on April 25, 2018 1 Comment

EDITOR’S NOTE: In this article, Stephanie Gordon follows the stories of several young farmers getting started in agriculture careers. She explores the barriers faced by new farmers in Ontario, including rising land prices, and equipment costs — and the differences between those who have grown up in farming families, and those new to farming. She also notes smaller-scale farming enterprises can be a good entry point for new and young farmers. AGRICULTURE CAREERS: GROW YOUR OWN JOB Can a young person get into farming today? By Stephanie Gordon On Dylan Sher’s first day of his summer job at the dairy farm, a cow had fallen ill. … Continue reading GROW YOUR OWN JOB – New farmers seeking agriculture careers in Ontario →

Letters to an Elder Farmer

Posted by Dana Penrice on April 05, 2018

Inspired by Stone Barns Centre for Food & Agriculture’s recently published book Letter to a Young Farmer: On Food, Farming and Our Future, Young Agrarians invited young farmers to write Letters to an Elder Farmer. As young farmers, we walk in the footsteps of those that have come before us caring for the land and cultivating a community that values organic and ecological farming. You may have noticed too, that young farmers have also been blazing new trails to adapt to our changing society and changing planet. We hope, like the book Letters to a Young Farmers, that the stories in these … Continue reading Letters to an Elder Farmer →