Food production is a growth industry, but agricultural technician is not a career path that immediately comes to mind for many people.
Now, an innovative partnership between the local school divisions and a farm equipment dealer is trying to change that.
"What we're trying to do is grow from the grassroots level and get kids interested in the agriculture tech industry," said Steve Variyan, director of corporate training for Maple Farm Equipment.
Variyan, along with two of the company's current technicians made the pitch to mechanics students at Yorkton Regional High School and Sacred Heart High School over the past two weeks.
The presentation starts with two short videos. The first is a straightforward promotional piece for John Deere equipment.
The second projects the population of the world will grow to nine billion people by the year 2050. Combined with migration of people from rural areas to cities, the video states commercial food production will need to double over that period.
Accomplishing that will require bigger farms and bigger, more complex machinery all of which will need to be maintained by professional technicians.
Variyan estimates his company alone is going to require 70 new techs over the next decade. And they are willing to put up the cash to recruit some of students in area schools.
After the films, Variyan introduces his company's new scholarship program. Maple is willing to buy up to 10 seats per year in Parkland College's new agricultural technician program, which is scheduled to start when the new Trades and Technology Centre opens next September.
Finally, the kids explore one of the big tractors Maple sells and see the technology in action.
At least one student was impressed with the presentation and technology and may be interested in taking the company up on its offer.
"It was really good," said Ryland Jasper, a Grade 12 student at the Regional. "It really showed how the industry is moving that way and it really showed how I could go in the future if I really wanted to go that way. Especially growing up on the farm myself, I love working on the farm machinery."
Before Variyan's visit, however, Jasper was not even really aware it was a career option.
"I didn't really know much about it and I didn't have any current knowledge about it," he said.
Don Tkachuk, the mechanics teacher at the Regional, said it was a great opportunity for the students to expand their horizons.
"Here's one area that we don't really talk about because it's not really as exciting as a really really fast car; it's almost kind of a hidden profession," he said. "It was neat to have Maple Farm Equipment bring in one of their 510 horsepower tractors; it barely fit through our compound gate because it's so big.
"We maybe sometimes forget how high tech these machines are. Some of these tractors can burn about a thousand dollars worth of fuel a day so fuel economy is a huge concern when it comes to these tractors. Somebody's got to keep these things running well and obviously it's going to be the technician that's going to be in charge of that."
Tkachuk also thinks the trend in education toward working hand-in-hand with business is an important one.
"I think we definitely have to partner up with industry in order to stay current, in order to stay on the leading edge," he said.
Yorkton high schools are well-positioned recruiting ground for agricultural companies with many students who have a farming background, but that is not Maple's only target.
"We're trying to hit up some of the kids who aren't from an agricultural background to say, 'look, here's an option for you to consider' as opposed to some other kind of automotive mechanical thing," Variyan said.
