Farmers need to get younger

1/4/2012

A large portion of U.S. farmers - more than 60 percent - are aged 55 years or older, according to the Wausau Daily Herald.  To counteract the age disparity and recruit more young people to take up the profession, agrculture secretary Tom Vilsack requested Congress develop programs to provide young farmers with access to USDA loans and support, with a goal of adding 100,000 new farmers {adding to what?} within the next few years.

One such initiative are grants given to universities and nonprofit groups to help train farmers, USA Today reports. Enacted in 2009, around 5,000 farmers were trained with the help of donations during its first year. For example, the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service's Spring Valley, Wisconsin, chapter got funding to teach farming entrepreneurs how to handle price changes and what to do during weather emergencies.

"People are looking at farm income ... and seeing a really positive story about our economy," USDA senior economist Mary Clare Ahearn told the Daily Herald. "Young people are viewing agriculture as a great opportunity and saying they want to be a part of it."

Programs are necessary because without younger farmers, the farming industry would be vulnerable to local economic disruptions, tariffs and attacks on the food supply, the news source adds.