Youth perspectives in Agriculture – Alberta Sugar Beet Growers 100th Annual General Meeting

Times Photo by Heather Cameron. YOUTH SPEAKER: Kason Muller gives his speech during the Alberta Sugar Beet Growers 100th Annual General Meeting on March 5.

By Heather Cameron
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

During the Alberta Sugar Beet Growers 100th Annual General Meeting on March 5, Kason Muller and Ben Tokariuk spoke about their experience attending the Canadian Federation of Agriculture’s Annual General Meeting that occurred from February 24 to February 27, 2025.

Muller stated that he and Tokariuk attended the meeting as part of a young farmers initiative ‘to recognize the future and up and coming generation of young farmers.’

The initiative, Muller explained, is aimed at recognizing concerns among young farmers and possible solutions to said concerns and consisted of a round table where a survey FCC conducted among a group of young farmers as part of FCC visions was discussed.

“This discussion was definitely an eye eye-opener on how connected farmers across Canada are in their troubles, whether that’s financial management or even family matters,” said Muller. “In addition to these discussions, we talked about ways to connect with young farmers through social media workshops and mentorship programs, all aimed at learning successful business studies from others. While several topics were discussed throughout the round table, two key issues that emerged as particularly prevalent were succession and transition planning, as well as increasing prices, especially in land.”

The same topics, Muller explained, were also discussed the following day when he attended a succession planning workshop that featured six guest speakers all offering different perspectives and advice regarding the topic.

“A recurring theme through this advice was the importance of having a clear succession plan in place,” said Muller. 

Muller emphasized that being able to pass down the family farm on to the next generation is indeed a dream shared by him, but without a clearly thought-out plan in place, such a dream can quickly turn into a source of stress and uncertainty. Two points that were emphasized and resonated throughout his group’s roundtable discussion, Muller explained, were the importance of understanding the inner workings of the farm, and making sure that all family members are on the same page regarding those things.

“Challenges and difficult times will inevitably happen, and having a mutual understanding amongst family members can make being able to persevere through these times far easier,” explained Muller. 

Muller stated that to him, the event was ‘very insightful’ and provided ‘new perspective’ about how connected farmers across Canada really are to resources and each other.

“Although we face many challenges with proper tools and support, we can overcome them,” said Muller.

Tokariuk, meanwhile, spoke about his experience attending the Public Perception and Ag Panel, where discussions were held on the general public’s perception about the Ag industry as well as the levels of trust and confidence that the public has in the industry.

“For the most part, they found that trust in agriculture was good,” said Tokariuk. “It is declining in some amounts. Most industries are declining, but they figured that most of the reason that the trust in agriculture was declining is because of what they call fear influencers, which are just people on social media talking about concerns such as crop protection, chemicals, antibiotics and livestock and non-environmentally friendly practices.”

During his session, Tokariuk explained, he participated in breakout groups that encouraged discussion about ways that those involved in agriculture can try to connect with the public, dissipate concerns, and increase trust within the industry.

Some of the solutions that the groups came up with, Tokariuk explained, included advertising to people how food produced and also helping people better understand and less concerned about where food comes from, having more agriculture in the classroom, getting people educated younger and, also talking more about where the food comes from and how it gets to people. Other topics touched upon at the event, Tokariuk explained, included the tariffs, government work, domestic sugar policy, and the work that the Canadian Federation of Agriculture does to ‘bridge the gap between government and agriculture and farmers.’