Becoming a Farmer
Did you know that in the United States, 33% of our farmers are 65 years old or older? God bless them, but this is alarming when we look at the future of farming. These are the people who feed America, and we need more of them.
Where will more farmers come from?
In the past, farm loans were not made available to people of color. This means that the vast majority of farms are owned and run by white farmers. The farmers we have now often work second jobs to bring in a reliable income and have access to reasonably priced healthcare coverage. They are worried that they can’t pass the family farm down to the next generation.
The high cost of land, taxes, and growing expenses make farming less attractive to new, younger farmers.
To increase the number of people interested in becoming farmers, these issues need to be resolved and a wider net needs to be cast to bring more potential farmers into the profession.
Our Women’s Club did fundraising to purchase raised garden beds for our local elementary school. Children who are exposed to growing their own vegetables are not only more likely to eat them but also to have an interest in how they grow.
Increasing farm-to-table programs in our schools and with consumers through CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) bring the source of our food closer to those who eat it, building connections that are important to our health and the financial support of our farmers. In-school hatching programs, field trips to local farms, and other efforts to show our children where their food comes from may also inspire young people to consider farming as a way of life.
Our farmers face a lot of challenges. They live in rural areas that don’t have the best access to broadband internet, affordable childcare, or emergency medical services. Modern farming equipment like a new tractor can run upwards of $1 million. The cost of higher education leaves our young people in debt which means investments in homes, farms, and equipment are out of reach.
Finding the answers to these challenges is critical if we want to encourage more people to go into farming. Our lives depend on finding those answers. We can only do that if we work together.
Please check out my salute to farmers on the video page.
