College d'Alfred and the main U of G campus, they will almost all be swept up into promising careers in their field. Unfortunately for the agri-food industry, that will still leave up to another 1,000 positions unfilled. Hoping to change that is Ben Hawkins, associate directory of Kemptville College. That's a nationwide challenge. Hawkins says much of the current agri-food workforce on the farm and elsewhere will retire in the next 20 years.
Industry is all too aware of the high demand.
Anecdotal evidence at agri-food colleges and universities across the country suggests there might be as many as two to three jobs for every graduate. But Hawkins says not enough people are aware of the potential talent shortfall. But most of the jobs today are in agri-food processing, food production, research, financial services, commodity trading and international sales. There's big demand, and we need more students. Nathalie Lalonde-Kingsley, information officer at College d'Alfred, says she hears a similar story when she hits the road on recruiting trips.