Sask. agriculture sector having trouble filling available positions

Farmer Don Blocka told farmnewsNOW there are jobs available, there’s just a limited number of skilled people to fill them.

“A lot of times you end up relying on former farmers, retired farmers that have some experience.”

He believes it’s possible today’s younger generations just don’t see farming as a career they want to have. Even those who want to join the industry may also be second-guessing themselves.

“Because of the prices of land, equipment, input, just overall the issues with farming, they kind of sit back and think do I want to step into this,” added Blocka.

Farmer Bob Reid has also had trouble filling positions.

He said one of the bigger issues is finding qualified younger people who actually want to work in the industry.

“I had one guy from Moose Jaw, he lasted one day… one day, we paid him to leave.”

To make up for this, he’s started looking outside the province and even the country to fill positions.

Since November 2021, he’s had a South African man working on his farm.

“We sponsored the whole family, and he now works for us five days a week,” said Reid.

He added he knows of other farmers in the province who’ve had to do a similar thing.

While Blocka hasn’t had to do this, claiming he’s been lucky recruiting over the past couple of years, he’s not surprised others in the industry have started doing this. Though, he has entertained the idea.

“We’ve been fortunate to find local people, but it’s getting really thin.”

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsnow

by Jaryn Vecchio

Sask. agriculture sector having trouble filling available positions

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