Unique farm technician program enrolment up

Enrolment in the one-of-a-kind P.E.I. Farm Technician Apprenticeship Program increasedthis year.

Workers in the program spend 10 weeks over two years learning about a number of topics such as crop maintenance, pesticide use and equipment safety. They also work on Island farms where they are mentored by their employers.

After the two years, farm workers can write a Blue Seal exam, to become certified farm technicians. There are now six Blue Seal certified farm technicians on P.E.I.

The program, which is unique to P.E.I., usually has 10 to 15 students. This year it'sup to 18.

Participants are recruited in part by the P.E.I. Agriculture Sector Council, which started the program in 2009 with help from Skills PEI and the Department of Agriculture.

Dalhousie University's faculty of agriculture created the curriculum and provides instructors.

Sarah MacDonald, the faculty's manager of extended learning says graduates often move on to more challenging, higher-paying jobs on the farm, and also commit to stay.

"I think that as more and more journey people come out of this program that it is going to become something that employers look for when they're hiring some of their lead employees. They're going to be looking and saying, 'Are you a Blue Seal journeyman or not?'" said MacDonald.

MacDonald says she is happy to see increased enrolment, and that many farms are sending more than one worker for the training.

Patti Baird-Gill is theagro-manager for Indian River Farms, which currently employees seven participants from the program.

"We have more science in agriculture now. We're using science and we're using technology, so they need the skill set to use GPS in their tractors and they need the understanding of why we need the data coming back to the office," she said.

James Strongman is in the program and has been with D & E Pork for a year and a half.

"It's a lot more complicated than people think," he said.

"There's chemistry and biology behind it that people don't see and I'm learning that now."

The entire cost of the program is covered by Skills PEI for farm workers who are eligible for Employment Insurance.