I remember the exact feeling.
I had just finished my Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture and Horticulture. Years of studying soil science, crop systems, and horticultural production. I had passed every exam, completed every placement, and genuinely loved what I had learned. I moved to Canada — to Truro, Nova Scotia — with real knowledge, real passion, and real ambition to build something in the field I had trained for.
And then I stood still. For a long time.
Not because I lacked ideas. I had ideas. But every time I tried to move forward, I hit a wall I couldn’t see clearly enough to climb. Where do I register a farm business in Nova Scotia? Who do I talk to about sourcing organic inputs? How do I find buyers before I’ve grown a single crop? Which grants am I actually eligible for? Is there anyone else doing this who I could learn from?
I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t know who to ask. And the more I searched, the more I realized the information wasn’t gathered anywhere. It was scattered across government websites, university departments, industry associations, and private networks — none of which were designed for someone who was new, young, and didn’t already have a foot in the door.
I felt lost. I felt alone. And honestly, for a period of time, I felt like the problem was me
The Lie I Told Myself
When your business ideas keep hitting dead ends, your mind starts to find an explanation. Mine landed on the most damaging one available: I don’t belong here. I’m not good enough for this.
Being an immigrant in a new country, trying to enter an industry built largely on generational land ownership and inherited networks, the voice that says “you’re not one of them” is loud. I started to believe that the agriculture entrepreneurship world had a door, and that door simply wasn’t meant for people like me.
It took time — and one person who actually listened — to realize something important.
The door wasn’t locked. It didn’t exist.
There was no structured pathway from “agriculture graduate with ambition” to “operating farmpreneur.” Not for me. Not for most people who didn’t inherit a farm, didn’t have a local mentor, and weren’t already embedded in the right networks. The system wasn’t hostile. It was just broken — scattered and inaccessible in ways that looked like personal failure when you were standing on the outside of it.
What the Data Actually Says
Once I started looking, I found that my experience wasn’t an anomaly. It was the norm.
Nova Scotia’s farming industry has posted losses for eight consecutive years. The province went from roughly 4,000 farms in 2001 to 2,741 farms in 2021. More than 20% of farmland disappeared between 2016 and 2021 alone. Nova Scotia has the oldest average farm operator age in Canada — more than two-thirds of operators are 55 or older, and only 8% have a formal succession plan.
The people who should be replacing those aging operators — young, trained graduates, newcomers with agricultural education, aspiring farmpreneurs with genuine drive — are not entering the system. Not because they don’t want to. Because the system offers them no on-ramp.
Meanwhile, Canada’s agriculture and agri-food exports reached $100 billion in 2024. The agritech market is growing at over 12% annually. The demand for local, sustainable, traceable food has never been higher. The opportunity is enormous. The pipeline of new farmers to meet it is nearly empty.
This is not a passion problem. It is a systems problem.
- They need very little space compared to vegetables.
Instead of guessing, farmpreneurs start by viewing what buyers need today—like spinach bundles, coriander bunches, or salad mixes—and plan crops that are already in demand. This reduces waste and increases the chances of every harvest being sold quickly.
- The crop cycle is short, giving faster feedback and cash flow.
Beginners can join short, certified online courses, bootcamps, and workshops created by partner universities and training institutions. These simple lessons explain how to grow specific crops, manage pests naturally, and plan harvests, so farmpreneurs can learn at their own pace and gain trusted certificates.
- Substrates can be made from agricultural waste such as straw or husks.
The app asks basic questions such as available land or balcony size, budget, and time commitment, then suggests crops that fit those conditions. For example, a user with just 30 square feet may be guided to grow microgreens or leafy vegetables that grow fast and sell well.
- Direct Access to Verified Vendors
Seeds, pots, tools, fertilizers, and growing kits are all listed by trusted vendors on the platform. Farmpreneurs can compare options, choose what suits their budget, and order everything from their phone, with delivery arranged directly to their home.
The Realization That Changed Everything
I was working as a research assistant at an agriculture company in Nova Scotia — one doing genuinely innovative work. Real circular economy science. Real sustainable inputs for real farms.
And I noticed something: the knowledge existed. The inputs existed. The demand existed. The educational institutions existed. The buyers existed. The farmpreneurs existed.
They just weren’t connected to each other. There was no single place where a young person could come with an idea, learn what they needed to learn, find the inputs they needed to source, connect with buyers before they planted a single seed, and find a community of people navigating the same journey.
That’s the gap Yerin was built to close.
“Our vision is simple: farming opportunities should be open to everyone, not just those with large land, deep networks, or years of experience. By bringing together learning, resources, cultivation support, and market access on one platform, we empower everyday people to grow food, build income, and gain confidence—one successful harvest at a time.”
What Yerin Actually Is
Yerin is not just a marketplace. It is the platform we built for the person I was three years ago.
It connects farmpreneurs with the education they need — through university-backed programs and real-world training — before they invest a dollar in land or equipment. It connects them with verified vendors and input suppliers. It connects them with real buyers who have posted real demand. And it connects them with each other, because community is not a feature. It is the foundation.
If you are an agriculture graduate who graduated and felt lost, Yerin is for you. If you are a newcomer to Canada with farming knowledge and no pathway to use it, Yerin is for you. If you have a small plot of land and want to turn it into something that earns — Yerin is for you.
The door doesn’t need to be unlocked. It needs to be built. We are building it now.