“One of the best-known trends in American agriculture is the aging farmer,” writes David Widmar at the blog Agricultural Economic Insights, suggesting one result will be increased concentration of farmland ownership. One-third of all farmers are over the age of 65 and only 16 percent are under the age of 45. That’s 701,276 farmers over the age of 65 and 333,939 younger farmers in the 2012 Census of Agriculture, says Widmar.
“Although technology is changing and allowing farmers to work later in life, the trend has its limits. As older producers exit, fewer producers will remain and, as a result, the average – or typical – farm size will likely increase,” writes Widmar, because the entry rate of new farmers is low. “While many factors will impact how the trend actually unfolds, the unprecedented concentration of older producers will likely drive a faster pace of farm size growth in the future.”
The 2012 Ag Census said the average age of farmers was 58.3 years, compared to 57.1 years in the 2007 census. Overall, there were fewer farmers under the age of 55 and more over age 55 than five years earlier. In 2012, “principal operators” under the age of 55 totaled 799,966 vs 952,832 in 2007. For principal operators aged 55 and older, the tally was 1.31 million in 2012 vs 1.25 million in 2007.