Agriculture struggles with lack of young farmers
| Saturday, Jun 12 2010 12:00 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Jun 12 2010 12:00 PM
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Perry Tjaarda is a Shafter dairyman who is taking on the economic downturn in agriculture head on.
Perry Tjaarda is a Shafter dairyman who is taking on the economic downturn in agriculture head on.
Don Davis' grandfather founded his family's northern Kern County farm in the 1930s, but the family legacy will end when he retires.
His children aren't interested in farming. They came of age in the 1980s, when cotton prices were plummeting, and left home to pursue careers in computers and medicine.
Davis, 55, has since switched from cotton to more profitable almonds, but he knows his acreage likely won't remain in the family after he dies.
"My kids will probably sell out to a corporate farm, eventually," he said. "If small, family farms are going to exist in the United States, the public is going to have to subsidize their cost of doing business, and I'm not sure there's the political will to do that."
The economics of running a farm in today's agricultural markets are such that it's difficult to make a profit unless you're operating on a massive scale. That's caused a lot of young people to throw up their hands and walk away.
The 4-H program is doing what it can to cultivate the next generation of farmers. Along with the children's activities it is best known for, the organization offers training programs for young adults to help get them started in agriculture.
A coalition of California farm organizations also is backing federal legislation that would delay inheritance taxes on small farms until the land is either sold or taken out of production.
But there are still more people getting out of agriculture than going into it.
The graying of agriculture
The average age of farmers nationally is 55.3 years old. In California, it's 56.8 years old, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
More than a quarter of all farmers, and about half of all agricultural landlords, are age 65 or older, compared with about 3 percent of the overall labor force.
"There are so many costs involved in growing a crop, and by the time the growers sell it and see how much they made and how much they spent, it just doesn't show a positive or too small a profit for the effort involved," said Joe Nunez, vegetable/plant pathology advisor for the UC Cooperative Extension office in Bakersfield.
Plus, farming is hard work, and there are much easier ways to make a living, Nunez said.
"Some people endure the hardships because they enjoy the lifestyle," he said. "But today's modern business has taken a lot of the reasons to farm away.
"There is a real shortage of students going into the agricultural sciences, which is now showing up as a shortage of new agriculture professionals in the workforce."
Agriculture may not be as sexy or exciting as engineering, computer sciences or business, but it's a field with a lot of opportunity, Nunez said.
Only one of Perry Tjaarda's four children has committed to staying on at Tjaarda Dairy, the 3,000-cow dairy operation he and his wife run in Shafter.
Milk prices right now are below the cost of production, so the family has had to take out loans to cover operating costs. But Tjaarda is sticking with it and glad at least one of his children plans to do the same.
"I enjoy what I do," he said. "I like to be able to come and go as I please. I enjoy working with the cattle. I love living out here and being outdoors."
Tjaarda has taken precautions, though, to weather future soft markets. There are almond trees planted in front of the dairy, an attempt to diversify revenue streams.
New business models for old industry
Small and mid-sized growers and ranchers must be creative to compete with huge corporate farms, said Alicia Harvie, program manager at advocacy group Farm Aid and lead author of the report "Rebuilding America's Economy with Family Farm-Centered Food Systems."
Rising production costs, a severe credit crunch and volatile pricing have put family farms on a rocky, sometimes impossible path, Harvie said.
That hasn't gone unnoticed. Some members of Congress want to tweak federal subsidy programs to address unintended consequences of certain incentives and safety nets, and the Department of Justice is examining what role industry consolidation has played in creating an unfair, anti-competitive playing field.
As that plays out, many family farms are experimenting with new business models, including aggregating their crops with those of other growers, focusing on specialty crops and selling direct to the public.
"These new business structures seem to be an interesting solution," Harvie said.
They're getting support from consumers and all levels of government as people place new emphasis on purchasing food produced close to home.
That movement is one of the reasons Murray Family Farms will stay family-owned for the foreseeable future.
The farm just east of Bakersfield has tried to capitalize on such sentiments. Along with selling its 380 acres of produce wholesale, the farm sells direct to the public at two year-round retail stores and 28 seasonal farmer's markets. It also operates tours and hosts special events such as its annual Halloween festival, which includes a corn maze.
The retail operation only recently made it into the black, but all three of the Murray children are confident it will expand and are staying involved in the farm's operations.
"We've got a good future," said Steven Murray Jr., 24, who is majoring in plant science at California State Polytechnic University Pomona, and lived in Mexico for a while so he could learn to communicate with the farm's mostly Spanish-speaking laborers.
"We grow 150 varieties of fruit, both retail and wholesale. If one side is doing badly, we can fall back on the other one," he said.
Outreach to aspiring farmers
For families that don't have children with quite so much enthusiasm for the field, there is always California FarmLink, which conducts succession planning workshops and conferences around the state.
Mostly it helps family farms transition from one generation to the next, but if no one wants to take over, the group will match an aspiring farmer with a retiring farmer who is ready to lease or sell. Sometimes that means coming up with creative financing arrangements, or working with immigrants and others who have had barriers to the industry in the past.
"We're spending a lot of time with families explaining the different options," said executive director Steve Schwartz.
Third generation farmer Davis plans to lease his land to someone outside the family after he retires. He's made his peace with being the end of the line.
"There's a feeling that you're the last dinosaur," he said.
But he has no regrets.
"I feel like I got away with something," Davis said. "I got paid to do something I really love. I got to be my own boss. I'm just sad my children won't get to experience that."
