Page 36 - RealDirtENG2020

Donna Rogers/Dylan Wiens
Peach farmer cultivating between rows of peach trees
The farm labour challenge
A big part of the economics of producing food is labour. Just as with other businesses, farmers often need to hire extra people apart from family members to help get everything done. Technology and equipment are helping to make some work easier, but people are still the most important part of producing food on the farm.
Farm jobs aren’t like most other jobs. Cows have to be milked every day, and crops have to be harvested when they are ripe, or else they’ll lose their taste and quality, or even just rot in the eld or on the vine. That means workers can’t just stop working because it is the weekend, or because the weather is bad.
Career Pro le
Agriculture Student
Oresta Hewryk
Oresta Hewryk was raised in New York City, but when it was time to go to university, studying in Canada was an easy choice because of her dual citizenship. She was initially interested in becoming a veterinarian, so she enrolled in the Ontario Agricultural College’s Animal Science program.
Although Hewryk had little experience with
farms or with farmers, she appreciated the sense
of community and support she found with her
fellow “Aggies”. “Not many other programs have students that are so close-knit. We have so many opportunities to learn from each other and grow as a group,” she said.
Hewryk is currently in her third year of the program’s research stream, but shifted her focus to plant science after a rewarding summer job working in one of the University’s research labs. She plans to pursue graduate studies in plant genetics. Her goal is to teach students like herself in the future with the hopes of inspiring them to explore all of what the agricultural sciences have to offer.
Mechanical blueberry harvester
Myrna Stark Leader
36
The Real Dirt on Farming
More than just a job
Working in agriculture is much more than growing crops or raising livestock, though. One in eight Canadian jobs is linked to agriculture81; from communications, engineering, and economics, to food and animal sciences, tourism and the environment, the career possibilities are endless.
There are many more jobs available in Canadian agriculture than people to ll them. There are currently more than 60,000 vacant jobs in the sector, and in ten years, the industry could be short 123,000 people82. The Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph, for example, estimates there are approximately four jobs for every one of its graduates going into the agri-food sector.
Agriculture in the Classroom Canada, and its provincial member organizations across the country are working to introduce these exciting career opportunities to students to support the long-term sustainability of the sector. You can also read the career pro les throughout this magazine to see a sampling of the diversity of options available.