Population growth puts mounting pressure on food production; increasing climate disasters add further challenges, requiring farmers to produce more with less. Although recent years have placed greater focus on sustainability and the role of technology in agriculture, techniques like soil and water conservation and no-till production have put farmers ahead of the curve.Many sustainability practices in the agricultural sector are already technology driven. Key examples are precision agriculture, quality control and identity preservation, cellular agriculture, and controlled environment agriculture. While these and other advancements highlight notable opportunities for the sector in terms of production and conservation, agricultural employers interviewed for this study cite labour shortages as their biggest challenge to growth and productivity.The agricultural talent gap is partially attributed to what can be described as a fundamental shift in the agri-food labour market. Developments like farm consolidation, technology adoption and implementation, and productivity gains ultimately shrink the total volume of talent needed to support primary agricultural production. However, these same forces produce new and additional demand for talent in fields like agri-food tech, agricultural science, ag consulting, and agri-business, along with new roles and skill sets. Moreover, unlike traditional agriculture, data, agri-food science, and environmental consulting all directly inform the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. Factoring this in, it is no surprise that one third of ag employers surveyed in this study plan to hire trades roles; another one fifth plan to hire roles in ag science and research, business and marketing, environmental consulting, digital technology, utilities, and R&D. Employers said that these roles are in demand across all seniority levels.When it comes to critical skills, 25% of surveyed employers highlighted a need for knowledge of geography and surveying technologies (GPS, ArcGIS, Remote Sensing). Other desired skill sets include the ability to repair equipment (requiring talent with some knowledge of robotics and/or automation) and to understand, analyze, and interpret data. For the latter, employers explained that the influx of agri-food technologies and sensors has led to a demand for skilled talent that can turn data into meaningful insights that can inform decision making.Regardless of role, sustainability knowledge and skills are essential. In fact, 65% of job postings examined in this study note a requirement for a general understanding of sustainability; a further 50% require an understanding of sustainable farming or food production, and another 30% require an understanding of environmental science. Interviewed employers echoed this reality, adding that the ability to conduct “climate risk assessments” is crucial, as is knowledge of “environmental management” and holistic “systems thinking.”Moreover, it is no surprise that employers also regarded domain knowledge (for example, even a basic understanding of fields like plant science and pest management) and regulatory and legal skills as valuable. In the context of legal skills, understanding relevant regulatory mechanisms, legislation, and policy for the agri-food sector is critical. Moreover, as workers move from entry to mid and senior levels, sustainability-related skills become more relevant and needed. They are often applied to areas like operational decision making, procurement, training and onboarding. Sustainability knowledge is also necessary to help leaders make informed decisions; that is, as new practices and technologies are developed, agricultural leaders need sustainability skills to decide which practices or tools to apply, how to train staff, how to adhere to and report on regulations, and how to monitor and evaluate the success of new practices.Yet, despite plentiful and diverse employment opportunities, the junior talent pipeline has gaps. While nearly half of the students surveyed in this study expressed interest in pursuing a career in Canada’s green economy—e.g., renewable energy production, environmental services, or sustainable agriculture— many remained unsure about pursuing this path. Nearly one-fifth of students who were not interested in green economy employment believed that they would not be able to find entry-level employment in the field. This highlights a clear disconnect between real-life labour market needs and student perceptions. In fact, many employers interviewed in this study noted challenges in filling entry-level roles. Moreover, recent research by the University of Guelph identifies a 4:1 ratio of jobs in agriculture to grads in Ontario; all indications are that demand will continue to grow in the coming years.Skill gaps also persist to some degree. Notably, the ability to use geography and surveying technology is one of the most significant skills for entry-level roles: while a quarter of surveyed employers identified this as an in-demand skill, 70% of students surveyed noted a lack of confidence in their abilities to use these tools. Another gap is on the regulatory side: despite employers identifying talent with regulatory knowledge and skills as in-demand, many students noted a lack of knowledge in this space.Overall, sustainability and the agriculture sector are inherently linked, and this connection will only expand as more employers adopt and implement technology. Precision agriculture, quality control and identity preservation, cellular agriculture, and controlled environment agriculture are just a few core examples. Although technology will undoubtedly help increase production, productivity, and resource sustainability, Canada’s agricultural sector requires steady access to skilled talent at all levels to thrive. With employment demand far exceeding the available supply, boosting the junior talent pipeline is more important than ever. Fields like engineering, research and development, data analysis, environmental consulting, design, and business and marketing play key roles in the future of a sector that is at is ripe with opportunities
