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<\/div>\nRead the Full Report<\/h4>\n
Download<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n According to\u00a0Farmer 4.0<\/i>, a new RBC report, the country could be short critical skills \u2013 data analysis, robotics and global sales, among them \u2013 that will be needed to transform the sector across a projected shortage of\u00a0123,000 agricultural workers by 2030<\/a>. However, with the correct skills mix, agriculture could add another $11 billion to Canada’s GDP and make the sector more productive than auto manufacturing and aerospace combined.<\/p>\n Farmer 4.0<\/i>\u00a0is the result of a four-month study by researchers and economists on the changing skills demands in agriculture, which combines data analysis with interviews with people on the front lines of the farming revolution.<\/p>\n The report found that Canadian farmers are at the intersection of a demographic and technological revolution. By 2025, one in four farmers will be 65 or older, with 110,000 expected to retire in the coming decade. Meanwhile, fewer young people than ever are entering agriculture.<\/p>\n Farmer 4.0\u00a0<\/i>also analyzed the emergence of advanced technologies across a range of agricultural sub-sectors, and found they will not reduce employment in the near term but will change the skills needed over the decade by farms, aquaculture, vineyards and greenhouses.<\/p>\n The report found 14% of producers automated tasks last year, and the sector spent four times as much per worker on machinery as the overall economy did. But even though 95% of large producers reported using advanced technologies, Canada’s share of agtech investment was just 3.4% in 2018.<\/p>\n