Why aren’t more young people farming?

 

It’s the perennial question.

Last month this paper ran a profile on the young family at Puddle Duck Farm, an organic operation in Millbrook producing honey, maple syrup, vegetables, cut flowers and more. While stories like theirs aren’t popping up in the same abundance as dandelions in spring, younger generations do have an appetite for digging into the world of agriculture.

Tim Murphy, originally from urban New Brunswick, has helped young people get into farming for the last 10 years. His is a story of the rural-urban divide.

Growing up in residential Moncton, “the closest I came to spending time on a farm,” Murphy recalls, was that “my uncle grew hay and kept horses.”

It wasn’t until Murphy moved to Montreal to study at McGill University that his interest in agriculture took off. While slightly ironic that this change happened in the middle of a big city, it is not uncommon among young people.

As he puts it, “the need for sustainable agriculture was an oft-taught subject, so I suppose this is where my initial interest in food production came from. I also had various sets of friends who were starting farms, so I was spending time with them and slowly getting hooked. My real entry point however was working on urban agriculture projects. As I learned how to grow food in the city, I became interested in learning how to do so on a larger scale.”

His interest in food won out over more protest-focused interests. Murphy notes he “quickly burnt out from climate activism,” saying it “didn’t quite fit my personality.”

After working on projects in the city for years, including setting up gardens on the McGill campus, Murphy ventured into what he calls “peri-urban agriculture”, referring to farmland around cities. From there, he moved farther afield. “I spent the past year helping with the set-up of a private farm in Hemmingford, Quebec [near the Quebec – New York border]. The wealthy owner purchased a large property and hired a staff to manage it. He was interested in investing in sustainable agriculture, with a particular interest in helping young people start their own farming ventures. I was mainly helping prepare the field for vegetable production by building permanent beds, adding soil amendments, seeding green manures etc.”

Murphy remains enthusiastic about the work. “Farming comes with clear results and a sense of satisfaction and gratification from the hard work you put it. It’s also a work environment of constant learning.”

In his time, Murphy has noticed some of the challenges aspiring farmers like him face.

By David Gray-Donald

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