Jobs and wages that farms provide to rural communities are fading away, report warns

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THE CANADIAN PRESS

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HALIFAX - A new report paints a bleak picture of the farm economies of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

The report released this week by GPI Atlantic says the jobs and wages that farms provide to rural communities are in danger of drying up.

The Nova Scotia-based research group adds that local farmers are going deeper into debt as their income no longer covers expenses.

The report says the cost burden includes wage payouts that have more than doubled in the last 35 years, and the increasing prices of fuel and fertilizer.

The fact that Maritimers are consuming increasing amounts of imported foods only exacerbates the problem.

The report contains a litany of woes, such as a sharp reduction in the number of people employed on farms - including a record low number of jobs in Nova Scotia.

Since 2001, jobs in agriculture have dropped by 36 per cent in Nova Scotia - from 7,300 to 4,700.

On the Island, the report says the sharpest job loss occurred somewhat earlier, falling from 6,100 in 1986 to 3,900 today - also a drop of 36 per cent.

And the proportion of young farmers in both Nova Scotia and P.E.I. is now at its lowest level in recorded history.

"As farming becomes less viable, it's also less attractive to young people," said Jennifer Scott, the report's lead author. "What young farmer is going to take on a huge debt and go into an occupation where you can't make ends meet?

"The sad part is that this is leading to an exodus of talented young people from rural communities, which in turn reduces the resilience, strength, diversity and vitality of these communities."

GPI found that currently, only seven per cent of Nova Scotia farmers and nine per cent of P.E.I. farmers are under age 35, while 45 per cent of Nova Scotia farmers and 39 per cent of P.E.I. farmers are 55 or older.