My colleague, Daniel Duncombe, wrote an intriguing post regarding the rising farm prices in Canada. He explains how the price of farms are increasing, and many farmers are near retirement and do not have successors to take over their farms.
To me, this is a very large, upcoming issue. A large portion of Canada’s economy is revolved around our land, and the products that are grown on it. Especially with the decrease of people that are interested in farming (as it is sometimes thought of as a “dying industry”), this could spell trouble for our economy. A decreasing supply of raw goods from farms in the future will lead to a increase of price of the few products that remain.
The high entry cost of farming does not provide incentive for young adults to get into the farming business. For me, I come from a farming background, and would be ecstatic if I could one day start a farming operation. But unfortunately, it does not seem like a financially sound decision now. The entry cost would be too high, and risk would be too great for a young adult, just out of university.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/soaring-farmland-prices-a-crisis-in-the-making-don-pittis-1.2420223?cmp=rss