Farms may use workers currently on social assistance

Apr 11, 2016

P.E.I. is looking at Nova Scotia as a template

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

Prince Edward Island’s farmers could receive some help in the form of local workers who are currently on social assitance.

If the program is approved, it would be similar to the Harvest Connection program already ongoing in Nova Scotia.

Under the program, people with social assistance benefits would be able to work in the agriculture industry by harvesting crops and earn up to $3,000 annually without affecting their benefits.

Farmer in field

Tina Mundy, P.E.I.’s minister of Family Services and Seniors told CBC that such a program has value and if the province’s ag industry is interested, then partnerships will be explored.

A recent report commissioned by the Canadian Agriculture Human Resources Council estimates Canada’s ag industry is short nearly 60,000 employees. Agriculture and Fisheries minister Alan McIsaac said a program like Harvest Connection could help with the annual shortage of farm workers in the province.

The idea of bringing a program similar to Harvest Connection to P.E.I. dates back to 2014 when the province’s Federation of Agriculture called on Ottawa to help with a long-term human resource strategy regarding farm workers.

In a September 2014 interview with CBC, John Jamieson, then P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture executive director, said wages, the phyisicality of the work and an aging population contribute to the lower number of farm workers.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.