The great majority of farmers under the age of 35 hold a college degree, significantly higher than the U.S. average. It is a cohort that “is already contributing to the growth of the local-food movement and could help preserve the place of midsize farms in the rural landscape,” says the Washington Post. It cites the 2012 Census of Agriculture as saying the number of farmers under the age of 35 is increasing for only the second time in a generation.
Kathleen Merrigan, deputy agriculture secretary during the Obama era, told the Post, “We’re going to see a sea change in American agriculture as the next generation gets on the land. The only question is whether they’ll get on the land, given the challenges.” Overall U.S. farm numbers have been relatively static and newcomers face expensive challenges to amass the equipment, land and know-how to make a profit.
The newcomers are “far more likely than the general farming population to grow organically, limit pesticide and fertilizer use, diversify their crops or animals, and be deeply involved in their local food systems via community supported agriculture (CSA) programs and farmers markets,” said the Post. They tend to operate small acreages, which fit hand in glove with the fruit and vegetables that are marketed locally, although farm acreage increases as the farmers gain experience.