A draft report on the future of agriculture on P.E.I. presented a number of long-term solutions Thursday, but left farmers complaining they need help now.

Commission co-chair Ed Tyrchniewicz said on its current path agriculture is going down. (CBC)

The provincial government created the 12-member commission in response to hard times in the Island's agriculture industry, with low prices for potatoes, the beef plant struggling, and the hog plant closed down altogether.

Commission co-chair Ed Tyrchniewicz told farmers gathered for the release of the draft report that the industry has to change.

"There's really no such thing as staying where you are. You either go up or you go down," said Tyrchniewicz.

"If we try and stay on the path we're on, I think we're headed down."

The report sets specific, ambitious targets over the next 7 years, including:

• Increasing jobs by 20 per cent to 12,000 people.
• Reducing use of pesticides by 50 per cent.
• Increasing proportion of farmers under age 35 to 15 per cent.

The report hopes the industry can do that by focusing more on niche markets than mass production, with the help of a new not-for-profit company to co-ordinate efforts between government and industry.

The beef plant is struggling, and the hog plant has closed altogether. (CBC)

Federation of Agriculture president Mike Nabuurs said the report made good points, but is not what farmers need right now.

"[The report] was done, in industry's perspective, also to address the short-term need, and there hasn't been a whole lot on that side of things," he said.

In particular, Nabuurs said, the report failed to address the immediate needs brought forward by the federation, such as high fuel cost and property tax exemptions.

The commission will hold four workshops with industry members and community meetings to see what farmers think of the vision outlined in the draft before its final report comes out mid- December.