Associated Press
08-29-07
Trend shows farmers aging at work
By John Seewer (AP) and Sarrah Benoit (Statesman) - The Associated Press
Reed Stanley, 72, doesn't believe in retirement.
He will continue to grow sod, operate heavy machinery and tend to his grain
crops until his body gives up, he said.
A farmer in Holbrook in southeastern Idaho's Oneida County, Stanley is part of a
growing trend: America's farmers are getting old.
Many farmers forgo relaxation and family vacations to stay on the job past
traditional retirement ages. Some work beyond their mid-60s because their
children are not interested in farming. Others, like Stanley, work because there's
nothing else they want to do.
"I don't want to vegetate and die," he said.
The 2002 U.S. Department of Agriculture census shows the average age of
America's estimated 2 million farmers is 55. One in four American farmers is at
least 65 years old.
Young people have been leaving rural areas since the 1950s. But some who
study agriculture say the absence of youth has reached a critical point. Only 6
percent of farm operators are under 35 years old, compared with 16 percent two
decades ago.
As farmers eventually retire and die, rural communities will lose even more young
people, and a few will struggle for survival. Some stores that sell tractors and
fertilizer will suffer.
Schools and churches could close in some towns, especially those isolated in the
Plains, if family farms consolidate and rural population drops, said Chuck
Hassebrook, executive director of the Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons, Neb.
‘We need a new generation'
"There's a real cause for concern," Hassebrook said. "We need a new generation
of farmers to reinvigorate farming and our communities."
U.S. farmers produce more food than any other country in the world and are tops
in corn, soybeans, milk and cattle, according to a United Nations agriculture
census.
The future is likely to bring two kinds of farms: those that are very large and
produce most of the crops, and those that are small with a niche product such as
cage-free eggs or habanero peppers and other vegetables favored by
immigrants.
"Farmers will still be doing farming, but on a much larger scale," said Chris
Henney, director of policy development for the Ohio Farm Bureau. "We'll see it
operated much more like a business."
Arthritis and poor hearing
Computerized gadgets that steer tractors and deliver feed to hogs allow farmers
to work past traditional retirement ages. But the occupation remains dangerous,
and the risks increase for older farm operators who account for a growing
percentage of all farmers.
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, those 75
years and older are twice as likely to die as younger farmers in accidents on the
job. They can't dodge cattle like they once did. Common ailments due to farming,
like arthritis, poor eyesight and damaged hearing, hinder their ability to know
when trouble is around the corner.
So why not hand over the farms to their children?
It is becoming more costly for young people to go into farming, and many see a
better life outside rural areas. The opportunities for beginning farmers are
dwindling as the cost of farmland goes up. Farmland averaged a record high
$1,900 per acre nationwide last year, and it can reach $2,500 in areas of Idaho.
"The price of farm ground is too high. It's not realistic in this area," Stanley said.
"There's no way to buy a farm and farm it without another income."
The future: Big farms and niches
The shrinking opportunities are changing the profile of future farmers.
The next generation will likely include those who grew up on the largest, most
successful farms. Yet many positions will be filled by part-time farmers — those
who get into small, niche markets such as raising hormone-free beef cattle,
growing organic produce or operating vineyards — and middle-aged career
changers with business experience.
Not everyone worries about the aging farm force. Finding enough young farmers
to take over for older operators should not be a concern, and neither should be
the number of older farmers, said Robert Taylor, who has taught farm
management and economics for 46 years at Purdue University.
"You just don't need to worry that they're all going to die off," Taylor said.
Though in charge of their farms, a lot of older farmers aren't doing most of the
work and are leaving the job to neighbors or family members, he said. "They
pretend they still farm full time," he said.
There's such a small percentage of people in rural America directly engaged in
farming — about 6.5 percent — that the loss of a few farmers won't wipe out
many towns, said Lionel Beaulieu, director of the Southern Rural Development
Center in Starkville, Miss.
"The loss of a major manufacturing plant has as much impact," Beaulieu said.
"Rural America is a whole lot different today than it was even a decade ago."
Less sense of community
Farmers say what has been lost is a way of life.
A poll of Iowa farmers and their families found that nearly all of them think people
in rural areas don't depend on each other like they once did. Most also said they
spend less time with neighbors and don't get as involved in the community,
according to the Iowa State University poll taken in 2006.
Older farmers like Stanley sometimes look for someone outside their immediate
families to take over. His son-in-law's company bought 410 acres of it last year,
and Stanley kept 60 acres.
"If I quit working, I need to have something to keep my mind occupied," he said.
John Thompson, Idaho Farm Bureau Federation public relations director, said
some Idaho farms are being swallowed up by subdivisions. In 1976, there were
3,500 potato farmers in Idaho. Today there are fewer than 600 on the same
acres of farmland.
CAN MONEY AND MENTORS HELP?
To keep farmland from being gobbled up by larger farms or sold to developers,
more than two dozen states have been helping young farmers get started.
Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Iowa are among states trying to help young
farmers by offering low-interest loans and tax breaks and by pairing them with
established farmers.
Operating in 25 states — not including Idaho — the National Farm Transition
Network pairs beginning farmers, often young, with established farmers facing
retirement.
The matches give young farmers the chance to get into farming without having to
spend a substantial amount of money, to avoid financially fatal rookie mistakes,
and then come up with a financial arrangement that allows them to take over the
farm.
And bills are pending in Congress that would provide $25 million per year in
grants to train and mentor beginning farmers and ranchers nationwide and help
them get credit.