Editors note: According to the most recent U.S. Agricultural Census, the average age of an American farmer is 58, and the average age of an Iowa farmer is 57. This is the third part of a three-part series looking at the challenges beginning farmers face and their struggle to survive as they try to set down roots in the industry. Read Part 1 and Part 2 of the series.
JEFFERSON – Ben Barron, 39, walks into a Chinese restaurant on the town square wearing a plaid shirt and a blue ball cap after a long day in the fields. His wife Danielle, 40, is a photographer. His daughter, Victoria, is 6 months old and breaks into a high-pitched coo if you look at her long enough.
Ben counts himself among farmings “lost generation,” the people in their 30s and 40s that want to start farming, but cant find the land, equipment, capital or support from the industry to begin.
Ben was born in eastern Iowa, and his family moved near Cape Girardeau in southeast Missouri when his dad bought a few acres of land to farm on. They lost the farm during the 1980s Farm Crisis, and Barron started looking into the trades with the goal of starting his own contractor business. He came as close as walking into an advisor to talk about a small business loan.
“As I was walking in, I had this thought, You know, you better try farming,” Ben said. “If you dont, youre never going to be happy.”
Today, he works at a 2,000-acre organic row crop operation with two other people and his boss. He previously farmed 25 acres for two different landowners in the area on the side.
He often starts work at 7 a.m. and gets home sometimes as late as 9 p.m., sometimes creating strife in the home.
“When his time is so taken up, Im not going to lie, it definitely does [create stress],” his wife Danielle said. “When he works 10 hour days and Im with the baby all day, theres some words.”
That work schedule is intensified during harvest. Ben and Danielle only had two days to take their honeymoon after they married in October because Bens boss needed him in the fields. Danielle cant travel to New England or Colorado to shoot the autumn leaves because Ben is wrapped up at work.
“If we had our own [farm], wed be able to meander those curves of life a little smoother and live without as much friction in the house, but above all, Im thankful that he works in a field that he loves,” she said.
Ben cant be blamed for a lack of effort. Over the last decade, he has applied multiple times to a beginning farmers program that matches farmers nearing retirement age with younger people looking to get into the business, with the goal being an eventual transfer of the land.
The last time he checked, he was one of about 1,500 applicants hoping to get matched with less than 40 mentors across the Midwest for the specific program he applied for.
A majority of new farmers are not fresh out of college or in their twenties. According to the Practical Farmers of Iowas latest membership survey, 68 percent of their aspiring farmer members are 30 or older, and 17 percent of those members are age 50 or up.
David Baker, director of the Iowa State Beginning Farmer Center, said the average applicant to that programs farmland matching service is 35, while the average person looking to transfer their land is in their late 60s.
He said a lot of aspiring farmers grew up in rural areas, went to college and went into the non-farm workforce before decided to pursue farm production for a living.
“After you reach that age of 30, 35, if you arent married you probably arent going to get married by then, youre having children, and I found a strong desire to raise children in a small rural community rather than a city,” he said. “I find a lot of the young people I work with are somewhat discouraged, disillusioned with corporate business life and want something different. They want to get back to their roots, so to speak.”
When asked what his ideal operation looks like, Ben cracks a rare grin. He wants a farm between 100 acres and 1,000 acres, modeled after the ones that peppered Americas rural landscape in the 1940s and 1950s, selling a diverse range of vegetables and livestock directly to consumers.
“They want to be able to come out to the farm and see Sally the hog or Betsy the cow and pet it and know thats where their food is coming from,” he said.
Ben estimates a 15- to 20-acre parcel to start a farm like that would cost between $100,000 to $300,000, a high figure to ask from lenders that are searching for the relative stability in the corn and soybean operations. That figure also doesnt add in the cost of seed, livestock and decades-old equipment, which he puts at around $25,000.
Between his job and his family, Ben doesnt have the time to build himself a full-time farm.
When the Barrons were farming on the side, they did get some help from Bens boss, who loaned them a tractor and a semi-truck for harvest. He also taught them skills for the business side of the industry, giving them just a taste of what they could get if Ben was selected for a beginning farmers program.
“To even work on a farm with someone whos willing to help us, its really amazing,” Danielle said.
But unless someone takes on the Barrons and gets them started with land, Ben said its extremely unlikely that he could save enough money to start the farm.
Its not unreasonable that Iowa farmland stays trapped in trusts or is handed down from one generation to the next. Farmers work grueling hours in their fields for sometimes decades, and their land is usually their retirement nest egg.
But Ben doesnt see why that holds back todays farmers from helping out the generation that wants to follow them, especially since many older farmers got help buying their land with federal support, or inherited land from their families.
He describes himself as “an anti-policy person” that favors letting the free market run its course, but Ben thinks the only way to change that is by enacting federal policy, like offering farmers a tax break or other benefits for selling their land to beginner farmers at affordable prices.
Ben also said the mindset of current farmers has to change from holding onto their land as long as possible to taking a chance on new farmers that dont have the familial ties that are now all but required for land ownership.
He doesnt see that happening as long as older large-acre operators continue to pass their land to their children, and as long as agricultural interest groups press to maintain the status quo in Washington, D.C.
“Its coming to the knowledge that we are just about at a cliff in agriculture, but we havent found it out yet,” he said. “Theyve pushed for years to get bigger, to specialize or get out, and its just a matter of time that you lose the economies of scale, become inefficient, the farmland suffers, everything suffers, backward from that. If we dont get more people on the land, were going to be in trouble.”
But even in the face of all of these obstacles, Barron holds out hope that hell have an acreage to call his own with his faith in God and what he feels he is called to do, and by sheer persistence.
So he continues to apply to the mentorship programs and continues to make calls on land ads, hoping that one day, hell get the call that gets him a piece of a land to call his own.
Above all, he still hopes that the old farmers and their families decide to give eager beginners a shot on their old land.
“Theyre not making farmers like they were 40, 50, 60 years ago anymore,” Ben said. “Coming back from World War II, you had millions of guys buying farms with the GI Bill. Youre probably doing good getting 100,000 people now that want to farm nationwide. I think theres probably enough land to go around.”
Farming can be small. Having livestock doesn’t have to be managing thirsty, hungry, needy cattle—it can can just as easily mean keeping quail, whose eggs and meat are seeing a growing market among chefs and foodies. Heck, it could even mean keeping earthworms, the castings of which sell for upwards of a dollar per pound in some areas. (And, of course, so long as there are fishermen, there is always a market for earthworms.)
No one will contest that farming can be a difficult job. Farming can start early in the morning and keep you busy until late at night, seven days a week, if you want it to. But farming can also be whatever you make it. It can be full-time in a field or a leisurely activity done from a tractor. It can be highly automated or entirely hands-on. It can be accomplished in small pens in your backyard or on large paddocks in the back 40. Farming has a broad definition, and therefore, it can suit the needs, desires and vulnerabilities of people of any age. Age is no longer an excuse for not following that lifelong dream of starting a farm.
If you just want to play around, that’s OK, too. I would, in that case, still map out a budget and decide how much money you can put into the farm before it starts causing problems within your savings. I’d hate for someone to start out wanting to play and wind up needing to make a living to support their interest. You should always want to make some money, or at least break even, but you don’t have to have a big, high-volume operation to do so.
When it comes down to it, we need more farmers—both young and old. As a nation, even though it may seem sometimes as if the country’s renewed interest in agriculture is fulfilling our needs through the so-called “back-to-the-land movement,” we saw a 4.3 percent decline of farmers between 2007 and 2012, and this statistic is not expected to improve. We need more people willing to play the typical farmer roles—market gardening, grain growing, grassfed livestock production, et cetera—as well as the vitally important supporting roles—compost farmers, seed growers, hay producers and so on. Within that, I see a lot of room for people who may no longer be able-bodied 20 year olds, yet who still have many years ahead of them, to join in.
Setting goals can also help you figure out what farming looks like at your age. Are you trying to make a living farming, bring in some extra cash or just engage in a new hobby? If you really want to make a living off the farm, do it. It’s entirely possible—even on a small scale—but treat it like any business: Start with a business plan. Map out your expenses and budget. Do some market research. Read a lot. Go to workshops. Really get a feel for it before you dive in.
“To even work on a farm with someone whos willing to help us, its really amazing,” Danielle said.
Between his job and his family, Ben doesnt have the time to build himself a full-time farm.
“Theyre not making farmers like they were 40, 50, 60 years ago anymore,” Ben said. “Coming back from World War II, you had millions of guys buying farms with the GI Bill. Youre probably doing good getting 100,000 people now that want to farm nationwide. I think theres probably enough land to go around.”
“As I was walking in, I had this thought, You know, you better try farming,” Ben said. “If you dont, youre never going to be happy.”
“Its coming to the knowledge that we are just about at a cliff in agriculture, but we havent found it out yet,” he said. “Theyve pushed for years to get bigger, to specialize or get out, and its just a matter of time that you lose the economies of scale, become inefficient, the farmland suffers, everything suffers, backward from that. If we dont get more people on the land, were going to be in trouble.”
Jordan Peterson – Is 40 too old to start over? What to do if you’re 40 & a “failure.”
FAQ
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Who is considered a beginning farmer or rancher?
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