{"id":4128,"date":"2019-08-28T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbcwealthmanagement.com\/en-ca\/insights\/farmer-40-how-the-coming-skills-revolution-can-transform-agriculture\/"},"modified":"2023-11-01T10:42:16","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T14:42:16","slug":"farmer-40-how-the-coming-skills-revolution-can-transform-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbcwealthmanagement.com\/en-ca\/insights\/farmer-40-how-the-coming-skills-revolution-can-transform-agriculture","title":{"rendered":"Farmer 4.0: How the coming skills revolution can transform agriculture"},"content":{"rendered":"
A fourth agricultural revolution is underway, and this one isn’t powered by seeds or diesel. It’s all about data.<\/p>\n

As Canadian farmers leave traditional tasks to smart machines, and focus on strategy and systems, they\u2019ll be better positioned than ever to feed a fast-growing global population. But to do that, they\u2019ll need a wide range of new skills, as well as enhanced old skills, that Canada isn\u2019t developing anywhere near fast enough.<\/p>\n

According to Farmer 4.0<\/a>, 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 123,000 agricultural workers by 2030<\/a>. However, with the correct skills mix, agriculture could add another $11 billion to Canada\u2019s GDP and make the sector more productive than auto manufacturing and aerospace combined.<\/p>\n

Farmer 4.0 is 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 <\/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 percent 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 percent of large producers reported using advanced technologies, Canada\u2019s share of agtech investment was just 3.4 percent in 2018.<\/p>\n