|
Tough row to hoe
Fewer young farmers entering field despite bumper crop in college Sunday, June 12, 2005 By JOANIE STIERS The Register-Mail Seth Huizenga spends his daylight hours in the field and his nights thinking of the next day's chores. He's an entrepreneur, a 23-year-old farmer among few his age in the profession. "It's almost becoming non-existent for me to find people like myself. I can count them on one hand," Huizenga said, showing a hand soiled to the knuckles from pulling weeds on his family's 150-acre fruit and vegetable farm near Henderson.
Meanwhile, the older population is growing. Principal farm operators age 55 or older have grown from making up 42 percent of the farm population 20 years ago to 55 percent today. Now, the average farmer age is 57, the highest in census history. The middle age category has remained constant.
Trend setters Farmboy and college student Jimmy Lock of Avon is a year from being a junior high or high school social studies teacher. He grew up on his family's Avon farm, feeding the cattle and helping at harvest like other farm youth. But he is not interested in farming. "As I got closer to teenage age, I became less and less interested," he said. "I think it had a lot to do with more of the monotony of it than anything else." He dislikes long days in a tractor, and the other tasks, like mechanical work.
And the land market is competitive. That is reflected in the prices, which are at historical highs for both cash rent and buying land, according to the state farm appraisal association. Some of that competition is because farmers are living longer and continue in the business, often well past retirement age. In fact, 21 percent of farmers (323) in Knox and Warren counties are 70 or older, according to the 2002 Agriculture Census. "The type of technology we have now allows people to farm longer," said Mike Duffy, an Iowa State University professor who leads the Beginning Farmer Center. "I can physically farm longer than I used to be able to." College programs overflowing Fewer young farmers means that segment of rural population is aging and membership in farm groups is changing, as is the diversity at agriculture colleges. "Younger people are the ones likely to have family and be actively involved in the communities," Duffy said. "As you have this shift to an elderly population, you're going to see that type of problem come about with who are going to be leaders in the community and schools and things like that." Despite the young farmer decline in western Illinois, college agriculture programs, such as the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, have more students than ever. Enrollment increases each year and 38 percent of incoming freshmen are turned away from the agriculture college, said Kirby Barrick, associate dean of academic programs. Surprisingly, the last 10 years the agriculture college consistently has found that 10 to 12 percent of its graduates go into farming careers, he said. The college is more diversified, as Lock can attest. He lives in an agriculture fraternity at the U of I. "It's becoming more and more common to have people grow up in a rural area than to have them grow up on a full-fledged farm," he said. And groups, such as the Knox County Young Farmers Committee, have witnessed a change in their membership demographics. "When we first started coming, everyone was a farmer or in ag production," said Matt Hennenfent, a 29-year-old Gilson farmer. Though fewer young people farm, the group is as large as ever. Many members have agriculture-related careers, working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, local farm dealerships or grain elevators. The diversity in agricultural jobs has been beneficial in members learning different viewpoints, said member Todd West, a 30-year-old Victoria farmer. Farm policies must change The trend toward fewer young people in farming will stabilize, Duffy says. "I would say we're probably at about as low as we're going to get with the young people," he said. To make the percentage grow will take more than money, he said. He is critical of current farm policies, which he says drive land prices higher and encourage larger production while low commodity prices have been the norm. This creates a competitive atmosphere that beginning farmers have difficulty entering. "We need to make sure young farmers can have profitable farming operations ... and not have to farm half the county," he said. Articles: Tough row to hoe |
Copyright 2006 | jack@jackdavis.org