Re-thinking the future of labour in Canadian agriculture

May 29, 2020

What do farmers have in common with high-tech solutions, software and data-driven results? Everything, according to a recent RBC report, Farmer 4.0: How the coming skills revolution can transform agriculture.

The report highlights how Canada needs to grab hold of “the internet of farming.” It points out that Canada’s agricultural sector could be valued at $11 billion by 2030. To achieve this, the report recommends a complete re-think to ag education and focus more on both young people and a growing pool of new Canadians.

It says there could be as many as a 123,000-worker shortage by 2030, which comes on the heels of a looming retirement explosion from baby boomers.

The report was written before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in March, which upended food production and processing, supply chains and consumer demands. The fluid situation continues to impact agriculture, especially the workforce, where temporary foreign workers face self-isolation protocols when entering the country prior to starting work.

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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.