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More immigrants needed on farms, and accolades for Ag in the Classroom leader

| 28 min read

Rural Canada is desperately short of people to work on farms, at meat processing plants, in home care and at the local tire shop. Towns and small cities need more immigrants to fill the available jobs, but the immigration system pushes newcomers towards cities, says Janet Krayden, an agri-workforce expert with Mushrooms Canada. Also, Johanne Ross, executive director of Agriculture in the Classroom Canada, talks about her ag outreach efforts and her induction into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame. Hosted by Robert Arnason.

[podcast_transcript]

Robert Arnason: [00:00:05] Hello. I’m Robert Arnason of the Western producer. Welcome to Between the Rows. It’s a very strange thing. I mean, I watch unemployment numbers every month and unemployment is a return to pre-pandemic levels.

Robert Arnason: [00:00:17] So what’s the story here?

Robert Arnason: [00:00:21] Where have all the people gone? You just heard from Geoff Propp, general manager of Harvest Meats, a meat processing company in Yorktown, Saskatchewan. Harvest Meat is one of many businesses in Canada’s Agriculture and Agri-Food sector struggling to hire workers right now. Farmers, food processing firms and ag dealerships cannot find mechanics, truck drivers and entry level workers to fill vacant positions. In the meatpacking sector. Some companies have a job vacancy rate of 20 percent or higher. Harvest meats and other companies now depend on temporary foreign workers in recent immigrants so they can run their business. That includes Henrik Thompson, a hog producer from Roblin, Manitoba, who can’t get locals to work at his farm.

Henrik Thompson: [00:01:07] And that would be much easier for me just to hire locals. But I can’t find enough.

Robert Arnason: [00:01:14] So just because there’s not enough young people around, or why do you? Why do you? Oh, they don’t apply.

Henrik Thompson: [00:01:20] And I think

Robert Arnason: [00:01:24] So. Let’s say you posted an ad in the paper this week saying, I want entry level worker for one of the farms.

Henrik Thompson: [00:01:33] There’s a good chance I wouldn’t get one single,

Robert Arnason: [00:01:35] Not one single response. For some people in the ag sector, it’s become obvious that rural Canada needs more immigrants to fill the available jobs. But most of Canada’s new immigrants end up in Vancouver or Toronto, not in places like Nipiwin Saskatchewan or Russell Manitoba. That’s because the country’s immigration system is biased against rural Canada, says our first guest, Janet Krayden, an AgriWorkforce expert with Mushrooms Canada. I spoke with Janet in early November from her office in Ottawa, but before we hear from Janet, here’s a word from our sponsor.

FarmLink: [00:02:16] Part of being a farmer is being an accountant and a mechanic and a chemist. You have lots on the go, so Farm Link makes your grain marketing go further. We help you reach your financial goals with calculated sales decisions. No bias, just solutions and results. Plus, with our new app Green Fox, we bring every opportunity right to your fingertips. Literally start seeing the returns that will get your family ahead. You’ve earned it. Farm Link Your work is worth more. Get started at FarmLinksolutions.ca.

Robert Arnason: [00:02:50] All right, here is my interview with Janet Krayden and agro workforce expert with Mushrooms Canada, who explained why so few immigrants wind up in rural Canada.

Janet Krayden: [00:03:01] Yeah, so people that come in not through the temporary foreign worker program, the new like the new immigrant side, the refugee side, the economic side for the higher skilled high high wage, they’re all being directed to go to the urban. That is what the immigration policy is doing. So for the new immigrant just

Robert Arnason: [00:03:30] To just to stop you to stop. It means that the the policy doesn’t say that, but the policy is kind of skewed in that direction.

Janet Krayden: [00:03:38] Yeah, because of the point system of the express entry and because of where the settlement agencies are set up for the new immigrants and the refugees.

Robert Arnason: [00:03:49] Ok.

Janet Krayden: [00:03:50] Both are urban centric and not for the new immigrants and refugees. That’s where traditionally agriculture would get some traction and get some opportunities for recruitment. And there’s no impetus from federal or provincial to help agriculture and agri food. And businesses like you’re talking about connect with the new immigrants as they come in, and there’s no impetus to have them go to those jobs because the settlement agencies, they’re number one, they have federal funding attached to language training and other benefit programs, and they’re all based in the urban area. So you have these settlement agencies getting millions from the immigration department, millions and millions, and they’re not there’s no incentive or impetus for them to match them to jobs where the job shortages are in the rural.

Robert Arnason: [00:05:08] So again, let’s go back to an example. So there is a job settlement agency and let’s say Edmonton, there’s nobody at that agency in Edmonton saying, Hey, you just arrived from Afghanistan, just picking on Afghanistan here. You know what? There’s something that you have some experience here working as in agriculture in Afghanistan. You know what? There’s actually a couple of jobs or not, a couple many jobs available in rural parts of Alberta. Would you consider relocating to say, let’s say Lethbridge or Lethbridge is obviously not a good example. It’s a big place. But let’s just say, you know, a smaller town in Alberta. Yeah, would you go there because there’s jobs there? There’s nobody at that settlement agency in Edmonton saying that.

Janet Krayden: [00:06:01] Exactly. It’s not their policy. And so they’re also they don’t query them like they have a list of things like what do you have experience in? And we’ll try and help you find a job, but they don’t say, Do you have agriculture experience weather? What what are the type of skills that you have, you know, is and then offer, ask if they specifically have agriculture. Skills or experience is not part of what they’re doing.

Robert Arnason: [00:06:39] Kraden pointed out that Canada, especially Western Canada, was founded on immigration and the immigration policy was built around farming and agriculture. That’s no longer the case today

Janet Krayden: [00:06:53] Exactly because it’s not part of the system. And then they’ll say, Oh, it’s the little towns jobs to go find these people. But it’s like the old system set up against the little town and the AG and agrifood employer. It’s like it has to start from the beginning, like when they come in. That is part of the priority because in the beginning, Canada’s immigration policy and agriculture were one in the state like that is how Canada began and how the West opened up. But it’s like something has happened where everything has become disconnected and now agriculture is off to the side. It’s not part of the main immigration policy and like, we’re fighting to get it. And so like what we what we’ve done with the agrifood immigration pilot is like a beginning, maybe where agriculture may become part of Canada’s priorities in the future. But we’re still fighting to get in there because we’re it’s not there yet because agrifood immigration pilot still doesn’t have the right criteria. So the farm workers and the butchers state like, it’s like we’re fighting to get them to understand the criteria that’s needed for these rural jobs, which should be more based on experience and skills that we need in the world.

Robert Arnason: [00:08:35] But these these were some of the I mean, some of these just interject here. Some of these rural jobs are not all about somebody working at a meat plant or, you know, working at some sort of like low level factory type job. I mean, there are opportunities in rural Canada and the agricultural for, yeah, for the

Janet Krayden: [00:08:58] Knowledge, what they call the higher skill. There’s there’s a red carpet out for them. And yeah, there’ll be if they chose to go to rural again, there’s no incentive. But if they chose to go to the world, they could and they can get into Canada a lot easier. Anybody with higher skill base and a base because they’re basing it on like college university university degrees. If you have a Ph.D., you’re in. And so that’s that’s the other street. That’s the economic stream. So that’s not your new immigrant. That’s not like your refugee stream. The economic stream is all based on higher skills. Again, we’re there trying to find people that will fit in in their urban center. So we have the new you have these new immigrant settlement agencies settling the new immigrants in the cities potentially and without jobs. And then you have the economic stream point system based on merit. But it’s the merit that you want to have an urban life, like with a university degree or a PhD. The higher education, like the faster tracks you’re going to get into Canada, right? So that person isn’t going to want to go work at the meat plant. And also the new immigrant who who maybe would work at the meat plant if they knew about it or if there were some incentives, you know, they’re probably not going to end up at the meat plant, either. So like, we’re fighting both. So you’ve got these two streams. Both are going to the urban. All right. Fundamental disconnect of the immigration system where agriculture and Agri-Food are not are not a priority like the high tech.

Robert Arnason: [00:11:12] As she noted, the federal government now has a program called the Agrifood Immigration Pilot, which allows in two thousand seven hundred fifty immigrants per year to take jobs in farming and food production. The program may be flawed, but it represents a real opportunity for Canada’s ag industry.

Janet Krayden: [00:11:30] So in my mind, the immigration pilot is our total into the immigration strategy that agriculture could once again become a priority of the immigration department. In spite of everything the statistics, there are settlement agencies not being, you know, being urban, everything being urban centric. That is our toehold. And if we can get it fixed. Then it’s like we’ve won something new that makes us a priority that we’ve never had before for many, many years. Right. Since they’ve made, you know, education the number one priority within the Express Entry program? Right? And so that’s the thing. It’s like, yeah, Canada has a merit based system, and we’re not saying that Canada shouldn’t have the merit based system. But it depends what the merits and the priorities are. Right now, it’s not agriculture, unfortunately.

Robert Arnason: [00:12:42] So. So I guess for one more at you than I’ll let you go. So yeah, I mean, the usual story of immigration is as far as I know it in Canada is OK. Somebody came over here in the 1890s from the Ukraine or Eastern Europe, or somebody came here, you know, whatever, with pretty much nothing. And then they struggled in the first generation, and the next generation did a little bit better. And then after that, maybe the next generation went to school and became a dentist or something. Or maybe they started a business and now they employ 500 people. Like why? Why aren’t we saying, OK, well, yes, education is important. But what about the traditional immigrant family that comes here from the Philippines and within 30 years? Their children are like professionals who are contributing to Canada? Like Why are we taking such a short term myopic approach, saying, Well, we need these skilled workers now. We’re also going to need skilled workers in 30 years who are like, motivated, proud Canadians who want to be here. And so yes, maybe this current generation of immigrants will not be doing those jobs, but maybe their kids will. Right.

Janet Krayden: [00:13:58] Well, yeah, not everybody needs to live in the city working in high tech, everybody. So that’s the whole thing with the beauty of temporary foreign worker program that has never been properly tried to explain it within the industry within the report is that it acts as a police agency for Agriculture and Agri-Food to put people who are interested because they’re recruiting in countries where people have agriculture skills. They worked on a farm. Maybe they owned a coffee farm. I hear that very often when I go to the mushroom farms, a lot of the mushroom farm supervisors are, Oh yes, I own my own company farm. I’ve come to Canada now and they’re interested in soil science. They’re interested in agronomy. They’re building new lives. And at the same time that they’re learning are Canadian technology for agriculture. So if and same thing with the butchers, they go in, they want to find people with knife skills that have butcher certificates that know everything about being a butcher. They go and find people. So that’s why when they come over here, they stay for 10 years in the plant. We find they stay for 10 years on the farm, even after they’re allowed to immigrate. It’s like, these are not people that want to go work in the city and be a professor of poetry. They enjoy agriculture and agri-food, and that’s who we’re recruiting for. And then they’re interested in the state. But nobody understands that about the temporary foreign worker program. They think it’s, you know, it’s the myth, it’s low wages, you know, and you know, all these things. But the reality of how agriculture and agri food uses it is for skills and experience and people interested in the work, because that’s what when you will get retention is when people want to stay because they like their jobs, and that’s who they’re finding through the temporary foreign worker program.

Robert Arnason: [00:16:21] That was Janet Krayden, an Agriworkforce expert with Mushrooms Canada. Next up, we have a special feature interview with Farm Lake Marketing Solutions here, as Kevin Yaworski of Glacier Farm Media, who spoke with Derek Derey of FarmLink.

Kevin Yaworsky: [00:16:41] Today, I’m here with Derek Derey, grain marketing specialist with FarmLink Marketing Solutions, to talk about why there is more to selling grain than just price. So Derek, welcome back to Between the Rows. So Derek, can you explain a little bit more about why price isn’t the only factor to consider when producers are selling their grain?

Derek Derey: [00:17:02] Either thank you for having me. It’s great to be talking to you again today, we’re going to talk about progress and how praise can be an important factor for producers when deciding to sell grain. Now, before making a sale, producers should ask themselves one simple question. Which is why am I selling today? This question should uncover the reasons why they are selling, and perhaps producers don’t have an answer to the question other than the price seems to be right or it is a really good price for a lot of producers. This is the starting point. Think back to your past green marketing decisions. How much weight did price carry in your decision to sell? As producers, we often become too anchored by a specific price. This year has been a great example of amazing crisis being presented to producers. Most often, it is instinctively difficult to say no to selling at some of these great prices. And as I’ve learned, decisions should be made on strategy and market analysis as prices most often go higher or lower than any market participant could expect.

Kevin Yaworsky: [00:18:15] And this is where we start working with producers on a strategy rooted in market analysis and marketing decisions, not just on what the current market price is. So Derrick, you mentioned the word strategy. So why is farming a strategy so important when it comes to selling grain through question? Strategic decisions require planning and preparation, and that will take the emotion out of the equation. Price is just a moment in time. It’s not the full picture when it comes to green marketing. Let’s break it down with some terms. So simply, what is price and prices? The amount of money that must be paid to acquire a given product? In other words, it’s a product’s perceived value and worth, but remember prices relative to current circumstances. Next, what is equilibrium price and this is very important, and it is the price in which supply and demand are equal. Now if we were to get a little bit on the textbook side and apply the law of supply and demand to the grain markets, equilibrium price is often shifting as supply and demand is constantly changing. Most recent of this is the western Canadian drought of Twenty Twenty One, which created equilibrium price shifts higher for many Canadian crops and firmly.

Derek Derey: [00:19:35] If we focus our efforts on these equilibrium price probabilities, we accomplish this task through market analysis to create the best strategies for producers to make smart green marketing decisions, not just when the price appears to be right, which means and what this means is that sometimes appropriate strategy is simply not to sell today. Well, thank you for explaining that. And of course, there isn’t, you know, always a one size fits all approach. I mean, each producer has its own unique situation, and so should I guess, should there be grain marketing? Should their grain marketing strategy be the same or should there be differences? For sure, so, you know, breaking this down when looking at your own strategy is you. It takes some time here today. You need to consider what are your firm constraints and what are your financial goals? Price has different importance to each and every producer. All producers have different levels of financial strength and experience, somehow stronger financial hands and can carry crop until the end of the marketing year. And somehow a little bit weaker. Financial hands smart a smart financial goal for producers is to identify probable equilibrium prices for each of their crops and create a strategy that optimizes their execution of those goals. Now, some questions to ask yourself as a producer when highly persuaded by price.

Derek Derey: [00:21:10] One is if I make a sale today, does this price align with my strategy? Or am I selling on impulse? Another, more importantly, is how much runway is left. How much time do I have left on this green marketing decision? Lastly, does a price align with my financial goals? Excellent. So how does Farm Link help producers answer these questions then? Today, we have two customizable solutions. Our first is our green marketing advisory team, which offer one on one local support that will help producers develop a customized strategy and answer the question Should I sell now or should I wait regardless of the price? Our second is Green Fox and Green Fox is our new green marketing platform that offers winning up to the minute insights and recommendations for producers that like to take a more Do-It-Yourself approach to green marketing. So, Derek, give producers are looking to learn more about farmland and grain fox. How can they go about doing that? So to start the conversation or try Green Box for free, please visit our website at FarmLinksolutions.ca. Well, thank you very much, Derek. And that was Derek Dairy of Farm Link Marketing Solutions today on Between the Rows. Thank you very much. Appreciate you coming on the show today. Thanks for your time.

Robert Arnason: [00:22:50] Next up on the show, Johanne Ross has spent much of the last 20 years in schools and classrooms teaching kids about farming and career opportunities in agriculture. She is the executive director of Agriculture in the Classroom Canada, and in November, Ross was formally recognized for her efforts as she was inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame. I spoke to Ross a few days before the induction ceremony from her home in Minnedosa, Manitoba. Hey, JoHanne, thanks for coming on Between the Rows. I appreciate it.

Johanne Ross: [00:23:22] Hey, Robert, great to chat with you this morning.

Robert Arnason: [00:23:25] First off, congratulations on your induction into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame.

Johanne Ross: [00:23:32] Oh yeah, it’s pretty incredible. I’m I’m still overwhelmed with the news, but I’m very, very excited to celebrate with everybody coming up this weekend.

Robert Arnason: [00:23:42] Great. So just for our listeners to know we’re actually speaking prior to the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which is happening on November 21st and Winnipeg. Is that correct?

Johanne Ross: [00:23:55] That’s right.

Robert Arnason: [00:23:56] Ok, well, let’s go back in time about 20 years. You started with Ag in the classroom Manitoba in the year 2000. Why did you take the job?

Johanne Ross: [00:24:07] Oh, that is a great question, Robert. And at the time, actually, of course, it was two decades ago. I have three. We have three sons and our boys were just starting into to their own school journey. And so I’ve been off work for a couple of years and was just looking to find something to get back into the industry with. And I’ve been involved in working in crop protection and on the sales side of things. And I didn’t really feel a good pull to go back to that kind of work. So I was really expanding and looking around at what was out there. And I saw this job ad for an organization called Agriculture in the classroom, and I’d never heard of them. So I was really kind of piqued my interest to look into what they were. And as it turned out, of course, I found out that this was an organization that was trying to bring agriculture information to schools and Manitoba. And I just thought, Wow, this sounds like something I would love because actually, Robert, I had thought about becoming a teacher before I went into agriculture and took my degree, which I never regretted taking my ag degree. But I thought, Hey, this is kind of a neat way to combine my other interest around education. And so it started out as a half time position, and I was working two and a half days a week with this organization that had been around since the 80s, but had really been run by a fantastic group of volunteers that were trying to get something going and they had had another staff person. But when I came on, it was a part time position, but it was just the right time to take it, you know, to new heights because we were just able to grow very quickly. And the half time position, I think, became a full time position within that year.

Robert Arnason: [00:26:01] Let me just jump in here with another question. So can you explain what was the organization doing in those early days? And maybe you can talk about how your approach to ag education and awareness has kind of changed over time?

Johanne Ross: [00:26:18] Sure. Yeah. Well, you know, when I joined Agriculture in the Classroom Manitoba, they were doing fabulous work, but most of it had been around writing resources and providing informational teaching tools to teachers to use in classrooms. And, you know, given their capacity at the time, they hadn’t been able to do a lot. There was a few, a few really good resources that were in classrooms, and the focus was kind of around that, like just developing informational resources for teachers and connecting it to curriculum. They were doing that even back in those days. So that was great. But I think the real turning point for me when I came on board was we started to talk about giving students experiences in agriculture and creating kind of an outreach opportunity for teachers and students. And I think that was the real turning point for the organization that really started to generate some momentum because we were able to really engage with volunteers so that you could get industry people into classrooms talking about what they do and why they love it. And I mean, you’ve heard me say many times, Robert, that’s like the foundation of our success is telling the stories of the real people in agriculture.

Robert Arnason: [00:27:39] Can you give them an amazing story? Can you give me an example of like an Ag experience that students could have had?

Johanne Ross: [00:27:45] Like, I remember it very first year that I came on board, so it was. 2000, it was the fall of 2000. We were running a program called Amazing Grains, is what we called it at the time, and we held it out at the Red River Exhibition Park and it was something that evolved into the Amazing Agriculture Adventure, which I know you’ve been at over the years. But Amazing Grains was our first experience with bringing kids into a venue where we had stations that they go through an interactive learning and we manned those stations with volunteers. And that was the first thing first time we’d ever done that. And that was again, like, that was the first year that I started. So it was September of 2000 that we ran that first event.

Robert Arnason: [00:28:35] Ok, let’s just move ahead. Now we’re going to jump ahead. Let’s jump ahead. Like 20 years. So I was looking on the I looked on the Ag in the Classroom Canada website, and it says there that the organization and the 10 provincial members connected more than two million students to agriculture and food in 2020.

Johanne Ross: [00:28:58] So that was amazing.

Robert Arnason: [00:28:59] Yeah. So what goes through your mind when you hear that number?

Johanne Ross: [00:29:03] Well, I think what I just said, it makes me so proud. I’m I’m so amazed by all the work that’s happening across the country. And let me be clear, when I started with Manitoba, there was provincial organizations as well in other provinces. So I know we’re fast forward to today, but over that time, we always worked together as provincial organizations, even before we had the national organization. So there was a lot of fantastic work happening and there were some provinces that were really taking the lead. British Columbia wasn’t, you know, an incredible leader in the space, and Saskatchewan and Manitoba were both leaders and helped other provinces get set up. So before we had the national, we were already working together. And now that we’ve had the national for six years, a national umbrella organization, it’s really just brought us further together. And as you just mentioned, there’s now 10 provincial organizations collectively working together. And to hear those those numbers, you know, over two million students we’ve given an agriculture experience to over the past school year, even during a pandemic is really, you know, it’s inspirational. And I’m so proud to work with all of the members who are on the ground actually delivering into the classrooms. I don’t get to do that anymore, so I miss it a little bit.

Robert Arnason: [00:30:30] Yeah, sure. Just on that note, you know, I’m guessing over the years that you’ve been in, you know, dozens, if not hundreds of classrooms and held, you know, dozens, if not hundreds of events with kids. What do you enjoy most about those events and those experiences?

Johanne Ross: [00:30:47] Well, those were just those are the times where you just really feel, you know, understand why you’ve gotten involved in this kind of work. Because what there’s so many aspects to to that sort of feeling of reward when you run those events, you see the students eyes light up when they’re making these connections, you know that they didn’t even think about the food on their plate and how it actually got there. They don’t, you know, they’re not often thinking much past the grocery store. So to see them really have that aha moment or in an experiment type of venue where they’re they’re doing something scientific that relates back to their food, it’s just so exciting to see the students really have those aha moments. And that’s, you know, young kids for sure, but also high school kids. And for them, it’s about seeing their eyes kind of light up and start thinking about, Wow, maybe there is a place for me in agriculture, given my interest, you know, more than what I would have thought, because obviously most kids think if you want to be involved in agriculture, you have to be a farmer, and not every student has access to a farm to farm. So that’s really, really great. But the other pieces are teachers having amazing conversations with teachers and so many teacher educator champions who see the importance of bringing agriculture to their classroom.

Johanne Ross: [00:32:16] But then there’s those teachers who have really tough questions for us as well, and that they want to have these conversations to understand more. And that is such a rewarding moment for anybody that works in AG education because those tough questions are why we exist. We want to talk about our sector and tell the real story about everything. So that’s that’s a really important piece is working with the teachers. And then I’d say the last piece, Robert is just the partners and bringing up volunteers from the industry from. All walks of agriculture to have them come and tell their own story and feel proud. And, you know, even be thanked for what they do. For example, a dairy farmer getting a hug from a grade five student for getting up early to milk the cow so they could have chocolate milk. I mean, it’s these are moments that are so rewarding in the work that we do that you just go, Oh, I love my job. I can’t believe I get paid to do this. You know, it’s just really, really rewarding not to be involved.

Robert Arnason: [00:33:22] Well, you know, I think I spoke to Trish Jordan, who was at Monsanto at the time and is now what’s her title at AG in the classroom? Is she the chairperson or president?

Johanne Ross: [00:33:35] Chris Jordan is on the Board of Agriculture in the Classroom, Manitoba.

Robert Arnason: [00:33:39] Oh, OK. All right. Just want to clear about that.

Johanne Ross: [00:33:41] He has been there for a while since when I was there. She’s been a huge advocate for agriculture education.

Robert Arnason: [00:33:48] Yeah. So I mean, Trish, at the time, I think it was back in 2012, used the word passion to describe you, that you’re extremely passionate and obviously you still maintain that passion. So, yeah, one thing I just want to kind of conclude with here is that, you know, when I talk to people about AG education and getting the next generation to be a little bit more knowledgeable about agriculture and interested in AG, some people say that we won’t really see the full impact of AG in the classroom Canada and your efforts, and not until maybe like a decade from now. How do you see it? How do you understand the impact of this organization?

Johanne Ross: [00:34:30] I think it’s a really good point, and I think that’s very true. We, you know, this has been a long road to where we got to where we are today. And there’s been lots of twists and turns and, you know, challenges and and all sorts of celebrations that we’ve had to how far we’ve come. But I think it’s true. We’re now at a point where we’ve built this impact framework to understand, OK, what is our long game? What do we what is success? And so we’ve started we spent a year actually building this out and talking to our partners, talking to teachers, talking to farmers, talking to as many stakeholders as we could to understand, hey, what is success and what is the long term game here? And we built a framework that involves all sorts of pieces. But really what it’s about? Robert is graduating Grade 12 students in Canada so that they’re agriculture literate after that kindergarten to Grade 12 journey. And so I do think it’s going to take a while. I do think this isn’t going to happen overnight, and it’s going to be a collective effort of working with teachers. So they understand at every grade level how they can bring agriculture into their classroom so that every student has at least one agriculture experience at every grade level so that when they come out, hopefully they’ll be agriculture literate. So it is a long game and it is going to take a while to make that big difference. But reaching two million students last year was pretty monumental. And so hopefully it will maybe happen sooner than we think now that we have more of a structured plan and and that we know how to get teachers to get on board with it.

Robert Arnason: [00:36:35] You’ve been listening to Joanne Ross, a new member of the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame and executive director of agriculture in the Classroom Canada. That’s it for this week’s show. I’m Robert Arnesen of the Western producer. Thanks for listening.

Derek Derey: [00:37:01] Part of being a farmer is being an accountant and a mechanic and a chemist. You have lots on the go, so farm link, make sure grain marketing go further. We help you reach your financial goals with calculated sales decisions. No bias, just solutions and results. Plus, with our new app Grain Fox, we bring every opportunity right to your fingertips. Literally start seeing the returns that’ll get your family ahead. You’ve earned it Farm Link. Your work is worth more. Get started at FarmLinksolutions.ca.

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About Between The Rows

Between The Rows

Between The Rows is a weekly podcast that gives you an in-depth look at the latest agricultural news and market insights. Produced by the editorial team of Glacier FarmMedia, this program taps into the expertise of our staff, drawing from over 20 print and online brands to provide you with detailed analysis of the most significant developments in agriculture today. Each 25-30 minute episode features a rotating group of hosts, including Laura Rance, Glacier FarmMedia Editorial Director; Gord Gilmour, Manitoba Co-operator Editor; Ed White, Western Producer Reporter & Analyst; Dave Bedard, AGCanada.com Daily News Editor; and Robert Arnason, Western Producer Reporter. Together, they bring you comprehensive coverage of two or more of the week’s most critical ag stories, with an expert market analysis from one of our top analysts. Between The Rows takes you beyond the printed page, offering deeper insights into the issues that directly affect today’s producers.

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