Energy independent farming (Part one): Wood Biomass Energy

In this series of articles we explore options to produce on-farm green energy in the form of fuel, heat and electricity to reduce one of the largest costs of a farm business as well as to work towards ending farm dependence on fossil fuels

*****************

Tree planting, Northumberland County, 1930
(Image: http://www.northumberlandcounty.ca/)

Before the green revolution extended into Ontario and traditional rotations were supplanted with more intensive cash crops, most farms here in eastern Ontario kept woodlots. Once the harvest season was over and the frost rolled in, woodlots provided off-season work for farmers, a source of firewood for heating, lumber for building, and even as a cashcrop for sale to sawmills or papermills during the boom years of the Canadian lumber trade.

While many such woodlots were merely selectively cut native forest, as early as the 1910s the government of Ontario began subsidizing and encouraging the establishment of tree plantations on farmland to prevent erosion and desertification. Such tree plantations could be established on land otherwise unsuitable for farming, and provided higher yield and higher quality lumber than unmanaged woodlots and were often used in multigenerational rotation with pastures after clearcutting. This system had very significant benefits - both economically as on off-season supply of income and ecologically in preventing dessication of both farmland and riparian land, as noted by an Ontario Department of Agriculture report on reforestation in 1908:

"The policy of putting these lands under forest management has many arguments in its favour. It will pay as a financial investment; assist in insuring a wood supply; protect the headwaters of streams; provide breeding ground for wild game, provide object lessons in forestry, and prevent citizens from developing under conditions which can end only in failure."

However, times have changed. Farmers no longer primarily rely on wood for heat given the affordability and availability of fossil fuel heating, they no longer fell trees for their own building lumber given the quality and availability of bought lumber and the increasing popularity of non-wood structures on farms, and the lumber trade has slowly died, with prices being too low to interest most farmers. Tree plantations, which take 2-3 decades before any return can be realized, are now mostly the domain of dedicated logging businesses or are established as permanent windbreaks with no direct value returned to farmers.

A 140MW generating station in Vaasa, Finland powered by
a mix of forestry waste and dedicated energy wood produced
by farmers (Image: http://www.power-technology.com/)

The same is not true elsewhere in the world. In northern Europe and the British isles, tree plantations are making a comeback in an unexpected form - energy wood. With increasing interest in renewable fuels many former fossil fuel generating stations are being converted to "biomass" generating stations which are fuelled by wood chips.

In Europe, however, farmland is a precious and limited resource. Turning over farmland to a crop which will only yield once every 20-30 years is infeasible given the price received by farmers for chipped wood fuel. European farmers have instead had to refine woodlot management techniques that produce significant amounts of woody biomass on a short rotation. These techniques, now known as Short Rotation Forestry (SRF) and Short Rotation Coppice (SRC), mainly supply large generating facilities in Europe. Eslewhere in the world, the mixing of tree plantations of cropland, known as Agroforestry is a popular system for the production of energy wood. Here in Canada though these techniques are mainly of interest for the on-farm generation of heat and/or electricity, especially here in Ontario given the economically lucrative Feed in Tariff system.

Short Rotation Forestry

7 year old hybrid white willow
(Image: http://silvanusforestry.com/)

While traditional tree plantations take up to 30 years to yield a harvestable amount of lumber, in recent years there has been developments of hybridized fast-growing tree species that can reach maturity in as little as 5-10 years. While such trees don't yield useful lumber for sale to sawmills, they can produce high yield woody biomass on a short rotation enough rotation to be a profitable farm crop for farmers. While the most popular species for this system are hybrid birch and hybrid poplar, which are harvested at 8-12 years of age, shorter growth hybrid willow can also be used for round wood production, harvestable in as little as 5 years. Such plantations can also yield valuable crops for farmers; white willow bark is a valuable natural pain relief tea which retails for up to $8.80/lb, birch can yield birch syrup which retails for up to $250/L, and poplar remains the most common tree for sale to the pulp and paper industry.

Short Rotation Coppice

Coppice sprouting from a willow stool
(Image: http://www.willowbasketmaker.com/)

"Coppicing" refers to a traditional English woodlot management technique used on some types of fast-growing trees of felling a tree, and then leaving its stump in the ground to sprout new smaller trunks which can then be later harvested during winter up to 10 times before the stump must be removed and the tree replanted. Traditionally SRC was used to harvest willow and hazel for basket-weaving, with dozens of farms in the UK still producing traditional coppice products today. However since coppice can be harvested once every 2-4 years, allowing for an incredibly short rotation without replanting after every cutting, SRC has also become the dominate form of wood energy production in the British Isles and the Nordic countries. The most common tree used for this purpose is hybrid willow planted in double rows, though hazel and hybrid poplar are also used planted in single rows.

While the woody biomass produced in SRC far outyields SRF to the acre, harvest is a challenge. Harvest of coppice is a tedious task that can only be done in the short period between complete leaf loss (and thus beginning of dormancy) for the tree and the first major snowfall, typically November to early December. While small plantations can get away with hand harvest, larger plantations use a variety of different mechanized harvest systems:

New Holland forage harvester with 130FB
coppice header (Image: www.wnif.co.uk)

Chip harvesting: The most widely used system, this one-pass harvest has the highest productivity and is preferable for the largest plantations. Essentially a modified forage harvester is used to cut the coppice into wood chips while harvesting, both smaller pull-type models and headers for self-propelled forage harvesters are available. While the most productive in the field, this method has a drawback. The wood chips have above 50% moisture content at harvest, and if left to store in open heaps will ferment and develop bacteria which can lead to losses of over 28% of the fuel value of the wood. In order to maintain the value of the chips long-term it is essential to build indoor storage facilities, preferably ventilated, and even then the chip will lose heating value moreso than other harvest methods stored outdoors. Additionally the chip system is more useful in shorter rotations (2-3 years) than longer ones, as larger coppice will lead to more frequent jamming of the harvester.

Salixab coppice billet harvester
(Image: http://agroenergie.ca/)

Billet harvesting: Using a modified sugarcane harvester, these self-propelled systems cut the coppice into 20cm or 10cm long logs. These "billets" store much better than wood chip, with fuel value losses of as low as 3% after a year's outdoor drying. However the billet harvest system is an expensive investment compared to other harvesting machines, and harvests less acres/hour than chip harvesters. Another drawback is the need for a second harvesting step: once the billets are dried and ready to be used, they have to be chipped using a stationary wood chipper. Additionally the system still loses some fuel value to fermentation compared to whole stem harvesting.

Anderson BioBaler
(Image: http://www.landwirt.com/)

Whole stem harvesting: These harvesters simply cut the coppice at the base and bundle the whole stem for later processing. While their productivity per acre is much lower than the other two systems, whole stem bundles have zero loss in fuel value even when stored outdoors in uncovered heaps for periods of over a year. As with the billet system, the bundles must be chipped before use. While not as productive for larger plantations this system is recommended for smaller plantations due to the ease of storage. There are three different styles of machine for whole stem harvesting; the first is the BioBaler, manufactured in Québec, which relies on using a 200hp+ tractor mounted with a ram to knock down the coppice and feed it into the trailed baler which produces round bales of coppice stems.

NB Stemster Mk III Harvester
(Image: http://www.nordicbiomass.dk/)

The second is a trailed harvester which can be hauled by a 75hp tractor manufactured in Denmark that cuts the coppice and lays it into a trailer, this trailer can then eject the pile of willow once full. Though the BioBaler system is the more productive of the two, the high-power tractor requirement may be a barrier to most interested producers, and the equipment to shred the biobales will need to be larger (and more costly) than a smaller wood chipper sufficient for the Danish system. The Danish system is also preferable for those doing longer rotations (3+ years) as it can handle thicker coppice than other
harvesters. Another similar piece of equipment is Weremczuk Aronia Cutter

Weremczuk Aronia Cutter
(Image: http://aroniaharvest.com/)

manufactured in Poland for an 80hp tractor. This machine is designed for the clearcutting of aronia berry plantation, which coppice readily and need to be re-cut every several years to continue producing. Unlike the Danish harvester which collects the coppice into a trailer, the aronia cutter knocks it into strait lines beside the rows. From there it has to be collected using a front loader or by hand. The aronia cutter may be more suitable to those who intend to do wide row spacing for co-use as pasture or for those who intend to store their coppice in the field and use it as needed, the heaps of whole stems will store outdoors with no loss in fuel value.

Naava Grip 1500 25-E Feller-Buncher
(Image: http://www.canadianbiomassmagazine.ca/)

The third is an energy header feller-buncher, attached to either tractor-mounted forestry arms or dedicated log wagons, are designed to grab, cut, and move coppice as whole stems. This is the least productive harvest system in terms of acres/hour, but it is also the cheapest, with a tractor mounted feller-buncher coming in at around $9,000, and with other headers these machines can be useful for other farm tasks as well. Also, like the Danish trailed harvester, these felling heads can accomodate thicker coppice from longer rotations.

Agroforestry

Ginseng among a tree plantation in Maryland
(Image: http://www.hardingsginsengfarm.com/)

Both SRF and SRC systems can be integrated with field crop production for mixed-use farming known as "agroforestry" instead of dedicating land to biomass production alone. Tree plantation strips within a field provide natural windbreaks that generate economic value while preventing erosion, particularly important for those of us with erosion prone sandy or muck soils. Tree plantations also provide shade to crops which require it, which would otherwise require costly artificial netting. Agroforestry may be of particular interest to ginseng producers due to the shade produced and the fact that ginseng is produced on a similar rotation length to SRC and SRF.

Another use for coppice plantations is as pasture for sheep. In England, traditional coppice plantations for basketry are usually stocked with sheep to "clean" the plantation of any grassy overgrowth before harvest. And the coppice is of benefit to the pasture too - in poorly drained or compacted clay and muck soils the deep tree roots can help improve the productivity of pasture. As well, nitrogen fixation by the pasture and manure from the sheep acts as a natural fertilizer to a plantation. Establishing an enclosed wide-row coppice plantation stocked with sheep can help add value to otherwise low-productivity land.

*****************

While tree plantations are a major source of on-farm bioenergy, they are not the only one. In later articles we will explore agricultural byproducts for energy use as well as dedicated energy crops, and how to turn all of it into environmentally-friendly cost-savings and even cash profit for your farm.

Against the conventional wisdom on pastured pigs

Pastured pigs at a farm in
Massachusetts
(Image: robbwolf.com)

As any farmer can tell you, consumers are becoming ever more aware of the supply chain that provides them their meat, and are becoming more demanding in what practices they expect in that supply chain. Largely the market has shifted against battery farming of livestock towards "free range" systems where livestock are given room to move about freely.

This shift in the market is leading to some interesting conceptions of "pastures". We have farmers talking about pastured chickens and pastured pigs, despite neither being capable of actually digesting roughages in pasture the way ruminants such as sheep, goats and cattle will. While chicken is to a degree capable of using pasture, as it will peck at forage grains and soil insects as well as tender sprouts, pigs aren't capable of getting any significant portion of their diet from a conventional pasture.

When left in pasture, a pig's primary behaviour will be to "root" at the soil, unearthing it with their nose, both to create areas to wallow and thermoregulate, and to search for any tasty big bugs and roots that the pig can find. This is the natural behaviour of all pigs, indeed both domestic pigs and boars have a specially evolved bone in their snout for rooting at soil. Farmers have even adapted this behaviour to their advantage in Europe, where trained hogs are used to root for truffles among tree roots.

But this behaviour is disastrous for farmers hoping to stock pigs in their cattle pasture, as the pigs will gradually tear apart the entire pasture and destroy productive forages without eating them. Hogs will rarely get any significant portion of their diet from a conventional pasture; their rooting will provide them with a degree of the minerals required in their diet and the hogs will occasionally eat any larger roots they encounter as well as young sprouts of certain highly palatable annuals like oats.

Just take a look at this simple guide to pig ration building for small producers in New South Wales:

While it is true that pigs love rooting in and eating pasture, they cannot survive on pasture alone. They need a balanced ration usually based on cereal grain. Pigs are monogastric (single stomach) animals and are inefficient digesters of fibre (only 50% efficiency).

Diets based on pasture are high in fibre... The more fibre in the diet the lower the digestibility.

Pasture should be 10% or less of their daily intake for best results.

Pigs on a pasture based diet have a reduced dressing % due to the increased gut volume for fibre digestion.

Pigs, as monogastrics, have a digestive system very similar to humans. Since we cannot adequately digest roughages, neither can pigs. As farmers it's time to stop stocking our pigs on pastures not designed for them, and keep the roughages for the cow. There are alternatives to pasture building for pigs, that fly in the face of conventional wisdom, that provide far more digestible pasture and better dressing out of your livestock.

A tuber crop pasture will provide your pigs much more useable pasture than simple forages. "Strip-grazing" (leaving your pigs in highly stocked pastures for a single day to forage) of some tuber crops was a once popular here in North America, and today we can improve such systems in either annual or perennial systems.

Annual pastures

If your farm uses pasture as a part of its crop rotation, a perennial pasture will not be your best bet as many perennial tubers are very difficult to eradicate once established and will not be deterred by simply being ploughed under. There are, however, many annual tubers with both agronomic benefits and high digestibility for your pigs.

Daikon (brassica family): this large taproot, related to radishes, is great for its decompacting effect on your soil and its tuber's high digestibility. This crop is a good choice for those of us with more clay-filled soils that don't take well to other tubers, as daikon is very competitive and will drill into less tuber-friendly soil. The young leaves are also fairly digestible for pigs. And whatever tubers are left over, feel free to harvest and eat yourself, this vegetable is a staple throughout East Asia.

Mangelwurzel or Fodder Beet (aster family): related to the red beets we eat, these larger, golden white beets are used primary for livestock feed in Europe. Though it is easily the best yielding of all the crops on this list, it is sensitive to compacted soil and grows best on sandier soils. The tops are not highly digestible to pigs, who will simply tear into the roots, however you may choose to strip-graze your cattle, sheep or goats on the tops at maturity as they are highly digestible to those livestock.

Peanuts (legume family): while not a true tuber, this unique plant we all know flowers aboveground before curling its stems and drilling its fruit below ground to form in safety. As a legume, this crop has the advantage of fixing nitrogen for other crops in your pasture or rotation. However it should not be overstocked as peanut shells are highly fibrous and this will impact the dressing out of your pigs.

Carrots and Parsnips (umbellifer family): these sweet vegetables, while they don't have the yield of the other options on this list, respond very well to muck soils and are an option to consider for those farming black soil. Care must be taken not to overstock these crops, as umbellifer family crops are full of chemicals known as furanocoumarins that can cause rashes and burns when overconsumed raw.

Note that for annual pastures it is not recommended that you sow potatoes. Potatoes, once unearthed by the pig and exposed to sunlight but still in the soil, will begin producing a poisonous chemical known as solanine and turning gradually green. This can cause serious health issues for your pigs and it's recommended that you plant and harvest potatoes yourself for feeding to pigs rather than allowing them to pasture-feed on potatoes.

Perennial pastures

If you intend to dedicate a portion of your land to being permanent pig pasture, it is much more economical to sow perennial tubers rather than the annuals we're more familiar with. All of these perennial tubers are somewhat uncommon crops you won't find in a supermarket, however they are hardy, high-yielding, and perfectly digestible.

Sunchokes or Jerusalem Artichokes (aster family): this little known vegetable is indigenous to eastern North America. A very rustic perennial tuber crop, sunchokes are nearly impossible to eradicate once established, even for your pigs. Sunchokes have a history in North America of being used as strip-grazed pasture for pigs. For pastures of a more permanent nature sunchokes are a primary choice.

Groundnut tubers
(Image: onlyfoods.net)

Groundnut or Potato Bean (legume family): this vine, also indigenous to eastern North America, produces both edible beans and large strings of edible tubers. As a legume, this crop has the advantage of fixing nitrogen for other crops in your pasture. This crop is somewhat drought-sensitive, so ensure you are planting it in soil where it receives adequate moisture year-round.

Hog peanut (legume family): another vine legume indigenous to eastern North America, like peanuts this crop forms its fruits underground. Both its seed pods and roots are edible, though it does not form large tubers like groundnut. Hog peanut is an option to consider in drier soils where the more sensitive groundnut may not thrive.

Oca or wood sorrel (wood sorrel family): this tuber indigenous throughout the Americas is regularly cultivated in the Andes as a vegetable crop. While high-yielding, oca is frost and moisture sensitive, and is not a good choice for those of us located further north.

Skirret (umbellifer family): a relative of carrots and parsnips indigenous to the UK, this vegetable forms rare fibrous taproots and repopulates itself year after year. Like other umbellifers, skirret are full of chemicals known as furanocoumarins that can cause rashes and burns when overconsumed raw, and so should not be overstocked.

Farm biofuels: a green solution to the peaker and off-grid problems

The centrale de Bécancour gas-fired generation
plant remains operable despite the wave of fossil-
fuel plant closures in Québec (Image: Le Devoir)

When it comes to electricity generation, Québec is a model to be followed. Hydro-Québec's massive high-north projets have ensured that 97.2% of Québec's total energy production is sustainable hydroelectricity, while simultaneously having the lowest electricity prices in North America. Coal and oil power plants have been completely abolished across the province.

And yet, Hydro-Québec hasn't been able to crawl that final few percentile to total sustainability. For better or worse it is unable to rid itself of its few remaining gas and diesel power plants, which together provide 541MW of generation capacity in the province - which, though it comprises less than 2% of total electricity generation, is essential to the provincial electrical grid.

There are two functions these remaining plants serve. The first is to produce electricity in remote locations off the main electricity grid. Hydro-Québec runs 24 such plants, mostly located in remote far northern communities but also including the centrale des Îles-de-la-Madeleine diesel generation plant which supplies the entire electricity needs of the Magdelan Islands, a chain in the Gulf of St Lawrence famous for its pied-de-vent cheese and extensive white sand beaches.

The second is as what is known as a "peaker plant". Hydroelectricity is not a form of power generation which can be turned on and off rapidly, and when rapid changes in electricity demand occur causing "peaks" the grid requires large amounts generated within a very short time frame. The only reliable method we have of doing this is thermal power generation from fossil fuels. Québec's current peaker station is the centrale de Bécancour near Trois-rivières, a 4-unit gas turbine plant using natural gas. As described by Hydro-Québec itself,

"Given the relatively high cost of fuel needed to run these facilities, they are used only during periods of peak demand. These generating stations have the advantage of taking only minutes to start and stop operations, compared to the longer time frames required by other thermal power stations."

And right now, while Québec continues to burn fossil fuels fracked from shale and rinsed from tarsand in other provinces, there exists a renewable, carbon-neutral source of electricity the province could utilize without any capital investment that can be produced in Québec nearly immediately and in doing so help revitalize the rural economy: the biofuels - biogas and biodiesel.

Anaerobic digesters like this one in Stirling, ON
can utilize waste manure as well as wet biomass
like corn silage to produce biogas suitable for
electricity generation (Image: Biogas Association)

Here in Ontario the idea of producing agricultural biogas to fuel gas turbine power generation is nothing new. Currently 35 farms across the province have installed anaerobic digester / gas turbine systems which derive biogas from manure, vegetable crop stalks and excess silage. The system is surprisingly efficient: a single tonne of cattle manure can produce 48KWh of electricity, while a single tonne of corn chaff produces 335KWh.

In the case of manure, with a single head of cattle producing 21.9 tonnes of manure a year, the entire Bécancour plant could be fueled by capturing the gaseous output of only 391 cattle - or, put otherwise, the output of only 7 average québécois dairy farms. The equivalent in corn silage, with average wet biomass yields coming out to about 20 tonnes to the acre, would require only 62 acres.

Biofuels can also help to deal with the Magdelan Islands' diesel dependency. The madelinots have had to contend with oil spills recently from the shipment of diesel to the plant, when instead it could be using some of the $1.1 million worth of cereal crops produced in the region annually to produce their own diesel, creating jobs in this region with some of the highest unemployment levels in Québec.

Creating value-added production such as biogas is not only ecologically sound it is economically stimulating. The simple reality is that when processing of agricultural products is moved to the farm, jobs are created, and agricultural communities flourish. For Québec - and furthermore, the world - to make the final leap away from fossil fuels, it will take biofuels to be possible.

Mythbusting the critique of the dairy quota system

It's hard to get straight facts about the much maligned quota system which governs Ontario dairying. Despite the fact that every single major farmer organization supports the system - from the National Farmers Union to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture to the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario - the major media outlets tell us time and time again just how awful it is. From staunchly conservative papers like the National Post and Maclean's to liberal papers like the Toronto Star, even in academia such as this paper from the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy, the average Canadian hears nothing but opposition to supply management.

It seems that everyone is against supply management except for farmers themselves, for whom it has done exactly what it was intended to do - keep milk prices consistent and fair. So where's the truth to it all? What is supply management really doing for Canada? We're going to break down some common misconceptions about the quota system, and what its real impact is on Canadians.


Myth: The quota system, with the total cost for a single head of milking cattle being above $20,000 in most provinces, makes it impossible for new farmers to break into the industry

"if you’re a new farmer, [supply management] is a major barrier to entry: as much as 75 per cent of start-up costs." - Maclean's Magazine 15/08/11

Fact: The reality is that the quota system has several options set up to provide a start-up quota to new farmers. As an example, Dairy Farmers of Ontario, the body responsible for transfer of quotas, offers the New Entrant Quota Assistant Program, which will loan new farmers 12kg of quota for up to 16 years without cost - which, in Ontario, is currently a $300,000 value.

Also, quotas are not the majority of start up costs for most new farmers. With average farm land prices at $4000/acre, a single pedigreed Holstein heifer at $2600 - $3400, and state of the art milking technology running a $210,000 price tag, dairying is a tough game to break into, which is why New Entrant program exists to lessen the burden.


Myth: Supply management is effectively a subsidy from the Canadian consumer to farmers, since dairy prices are much higher in Canada than in countries without supply management.

"Canadians pay up to three times as much for milk than their neighbours to the south... dairy production quotas alone cost the economy $28-billion per year. That’s thousands of dollars per household." - National Post 20/09/13

Fact: unlike most major dairy producing countries, Canada does not directly subsidize farmers a single nickel. The United States, a country without supply management, provides over $4 billion in direct subsidies annually to the dairy industry. In no sense of the word is supply management a "subsidy", it is in fact supply management which allows dairy farmers to continue farming without any subsidies whatsoever. And, the quota system itself does not cost the economy a single penny since quota exchanges are entirely farmer-run, farmer-operated, and farmer-funded, and are not government institutions.

As to the allegation that Canadian dairy costs 300% that it does in the USA, the current average retail difference between US and Canadian milk is $0.44/L or a 29% increase, the current retail different between US and Canadian cheddar is $0.93/kg or a mere 6% increase. This is actually lower than the general difference between the two countries in food prices, which are 57% higher on average in Canada than in the US.


Myth: Eliminating supply management would reduce the price of dairy products for consumers.

"There is no question that phasing out supply management brings benefits to almost all members of society, excluding the producers, through lower prices and especially to low-income people." - Professor Ian Lee, Carleton University Sprott School of Business

Fact: When Australia eliminated supply management of dairy in June 2000, the price of milk rose three times as fast in the proceeding 3 years as it had in the preceding three years - having increased only $0.9/L from 1997-2000, but having increased $0.27/L from 2000-2003. Over the same time period, milk prices in both Canada and New Zealand (Australia's neighbour which has retained its supply management system) remained near-constant. The only side effect that Australia's experiment in eliminating supply management has produced is making farm gate prices for milk more volatile.

Solving the seasonal agricultural worker crisis

Despite the federal government's new reforms in the use of temporary foreign workers following revelations in the media of abuse and misuse of the program, the agricultural stream of the temporary foreign worker program has remained practically untouched. In fact the program has been flourishing, having gone from 13,590 approved positions in 2005 to 39,700 in 2012 - with nearly 3/4 of total approved positions being through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP).

Many Canadians are starting to feel cheated by the temporary foreign worker program with the number of temporary immigrants admitted now being higher than the number of permanent immigrants. They feel cheated out of jobs that, in a weakened Canadian economy, could potentially be going to Canadians or be used to bring permanent new arrivals.

But to this, Canadian farmers can only shrug. After all the federal government seems to agree with them, there is enough a demonstrated lack of available seasonal agricultural workers to merit the protection of the SWAP. Just listen to Mr. Edwin Klassen, manager of a potato farm in Manitoba, as he tells of the human resource difficulties being faced by farms,

“If I got three skilled applicants today I’d hire them on the spot... Right now the labour market is very tight. I’m getting very few quality applicants for hire,” says Klassen. “I’ve been in this position for five years and in the past I would very often have had a list of anywhere from 10 to 20 applicants who would want to be grading potatoes, and since last summer that list is down to two or three.”


“I know that other potato growers and cereal farms are drawing labour from Winkler, Morden and other areas as well,” says Klassen. “Quite a few grain farms are operating 10,000 to 20,000 acres, so they have a workforce of a dozen or more. They’re all looking for the same skills — guys who can operate equipment or repair a piece of equipment.”

The catch of course is that the positions this company is having great difficulty filling are seasonal jobs, guaranteeing employment for a few months at best, and they are requesting workers with a fairly wide breadth of specific skills already under their belt.

It may be a hard pill for farmers to swallow, but seasonal jobs are not a liveable income for workers. The reason you can't find help is that no skilled, experienced worker is going to take a job with zero job security that will only provide for them and their family for a few months. A worker with marketable skills will only take work that, at the very least, provides a liveable income and a significant degree of job security.

So what are the alternatives? Let's break down a few.

1) Student summer jobs

With most seasonal positions needing to be filled over the summer season, an obvious choice is the one segment of the population who are available for hire during the summer only - students. And there's certainly no shortage of summer student labour. This summer alone 460,581 Canadian post-secondary students were looking for but unable to find a summer job, with the post-secondary student unemployment rate sitting at 16.5% percent this summer. Over twice the rate of the general population.

Around the end of the school year farmers should be trying to advertise a summer job in places where students can see it. Colleges and universities typically have summer placement centres of some sort that will be glad to take your job posting. It's also possible to hire students who enrolled in college programs with cooperative education components, especially in the many horticultural programs in Ontario colleges.

2) Apprenticeships and cooperative education

Most farmers are seeking out workers who already have the fairly wide breadth of skills required in agriculture under their belts instead of training workers themselves. This is a missed opportunity since training itself is a form of payment which costs little to the farmer but is invaluable to many, especially so young workers trying to get a start on their career.

A common route that many youth are happy to go is apprenticeships - with more provinces rolling out agricultural apprenticeship programs such as the dairy, swine and fruit farm apprenticeships in Ontario, the farm technician program in PEI or the "green certificate" programs in Alberta. Taking on apprentices is also rewarded with tax breaks and wage subsidies that offset the cost of taking on full-time workers.

3) Coopératives d’utilisation de main-d’œuvre

A popular system in Québec translating to "cooperative for the use of labour", it involves several local farms coming together to form an association which employs full-time, salaried workers collectively. The workers are shared between the farms, which are quite often involved in completely different facets of production than one another, allowing the workers to be engaged throughout the year working with many different crops.

The primary advantage to the farmer is that they have the benefit of multiple skilled workers available throughout the year at a fraction of a cost of engaging full-time workers; the primary advantage to the worker is that the employment is full-time rather than seasonal with high job security. This solution requires quite a bit of cooperation with your fellow farmers, but if you're on good terms with your neighbours this can save you a mint in labour costs.

*****

Agriculture is the basis of the rural economy. When agricultural producers are unable to provide an employment model which is viable for workers and are forced to rely on temporary foreign labour - who contribute nothing to the economy, and instead export their wages back to their home country - there is a crisis at hand.

Farmers have a responsibility to ensure the vitality of rural communities. Rather than depending upon a broken program extended by a government which is more than happy to introduce anything which dilutes the local labour market and thus the conditions of working class Canadians, farmers should be finding innovative and cooperative solutions to create viable employment opportunities, especially for the youth, who are the future of our rural communities.