A new program is aiming to fill workforce gaps in the agriculture industry by finding careers for retired soldiers.

Operation Ag Careers is a project developed in part with the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers (CAAR), and will help transition soldiers into civilian life through jobs in agriculture. CAAR president and CEO Delaney Ross Burtnack says this would include jobs on and off the farm.

"One of the areas that is growing in terms of need is logistics. That and technology," she says. "Agriculture is one of the early adopters of military technology once its released. A recent example is drones, we're actually using drones for crop scouting and that was sourced out of the military. We're also using military satellite mapping to do highly detailed GPS mapping."

Burtnack says on average, there are 5,000 individuals transitioning out of the military every year, with 25,000 jobs currently open in the ag sector, and 50,000 more jobs projected to be created within the next five years. She thinks military personnel have a skill set that would fit with agriculture.

"There's tremendous skill sets in the military in terms of managing logistics," she says. "You can imagine dropping 5,000 individuals into a deserts, how do you feed them, and clothe them and house them, and offer them the supplies they require to do their job? So the ability of those individuals to manage under significant pressure and deadlines and adapt — tremendous adaptability for these individuals — those are the types of skills that would fit into agriculture."

CAAR is in the process of developing the program with the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council and Canadian Armed Forces. Ross Burtnack says the program will include a national job board and skills assessment tools. She hopes they will launch the pilot project in January 2016.