The Beginning Farmers’ Problem In Canada

Concerns about beginning farmers in Canada derive from trends in data that show that the population of farmers and the number of young farmers are declining. This paper discusses and analyses issues regarding the constraints and opportunities beginning farmers in Canada face. The discussion covers whether issues peculiar to beginning farmers are, from an economic policy point of view, a source of concern and whether there are motives for government intervention. The main conclusions are 1) the decline in the number of farms in Canada responds to economic forces, 2) the price of fixed assets constitutes the main barrier to entry and 3) government support to entry in agriculture would have a negligible effect on the number of farms and the entry of new farms.