Average age of farmer

[db4600]

Was listening to ag radio on the way to the doctor and there was discussion about the increasing average age of farmers. A man at Ohio State had the fore-site to look into the numbers a bit deeper where it was revealed that in the same time period where the average age of farmers increased by 7 years the average age of the general population has increased by 8 years. He also sited that there is a hole in statistics for the 50s age range because the interest rates and inflation of the 80 deterred potential farmers during that period, but also concluded that farming being a high input profession to enter typically takes longer to build the assets to fully enter therefore driving the age statistic up.

 

[Bruce from Can.]

Average age…. I started my own dairy farm on a place I rented when I was 20. At that time I believe the average age of dairy farmers was in the early 40’s. By the time I was 54 years of age the average age of dairy farmers had been steadily going up every few years, and the average age was 55. When I turned 55, I thought at last, I will be the average age group. But no, that year the average age dropped back below 50, and I was too old. I never did get to be the average aged dairy farmer, either too young or too old.

 

[jimg.allentown]

Do you know the way to make a small fortune farming?


Start with a large one. (fortune)

 

[Bruce from Can.]

Do you know the way to make a small fortune farming?


Start with a large one. (fortune)

Start with a large fortune?

 

[Rich'sToys]

Sounds like the farmer who won the lottery. When asked what he was going to do with the money, he said he was going to keep on farming till it was all gone!

 

[J Wendt]

why do think my wife and i always had off farm jobs!!! When one young farmer farms a half dozen retired farmers farms its bound to go up.

 

[Bruce from Can.]

I actually was of the impression that most young folks on a farm were not considered the “farmer” but the “farmer’s son “. And the dad still held ownership of the farm, and the controlling interest in the operation. Making all of the most important decisions like when to buy new equipment, take out a loan that sort of thing. Therefore the average age of farmers got older as farming became more automated, older men could hang on longer. During the early part of the 20th century, most dad’s were ready to turn the farm operation over to a son by the time they were in their late 50’s or early 60’s and move into town. After a lifetime of physical labour, most farmers were worn out. Not so much during the past 40-50 years

 

[JohnRowehl]

Start with a large fortune?

Farmers that sell the farm on the edge of suburban sprawl, buy another farm further out in the country with lower land cost.

 

[jimg.allentown]

I actually was of the impression that most young folks on a farm were not considered the “farmer” but the “farmer’s son “. And the dad still held ownership of the farm, and the controlling interest in the operation. Making all of the most important decisions like when to buy new equipment, take out a loan that sort of thing. Therefore the average age of farmers got older as farming became more automated, older men could hang on longer. During the early part of the 20th century, most dad’s were ready to turn the farm operation over to a son by the time they were in their late 50’s or early 60’s and move into town. After a lifetime of physical labour, most farmers were worn out. Not so much during the past 40-50 years

I would think that the farmer is the one doing the actual farming - not necessarily the landowner or the owner of the equipment. As you well know, farming is a lot of activity and labor. If one plants a field of corn, beans, or wheat, who is the farmer? When that same person harvests at the end of the season, who gets the payment for the produce? The FARMER, of course. Does it really matter whose name is on the deed?
When I was growing up, there was a local guy that rented numerous fields around the area. He planted, cultivated, and harvested crops. We all considered him to be the farmer. Even though he lived in a mobile home and didn't own any land.

Something else - when a farmer "retires," can he afford to just give away his land, equipment, and home to his children? Who pays for his place in town? Who pays for his food, transportation, and living expenses? Retiring from farming isn't like retiring from the widget factory down the road. The guy from the factory has a pension (usually) and a Social Security check coming in to take care of expenses. The farmer doesn't have all of that.

 

[showcrop]

Our neighbor operated a dairy farm from 1948 to 1968. By then he had made enough sell out and retire to Florida and go fishing. He was around 45 years old at the time.

 

[Brownie450]

We don't really "own" the land. It is our job to
take care of it & use it until we're gone. Then
it is someone's job for their lifetime.

Selling off land----farms is another thing.
Jim

 

[moresmoke]

I actually was of the impression that most young folks on a farm were not considered the “farmer” but the “farmer’s son “. And the dad still held ownership of the farm, and the controlling interest in the operation. Making all of the most important decisions like when to buy new equipment, take out a loan that sort of thing. Therefore the average age of farmers got older as farming became more automated, older men could hang on longer. During the early part of the 20th century, most dad’s were ready to turn the farm operation over to a son by the time they were in their late 50’s or early 60’s and move into town. After a lifetime of physical labour, most farmers were worn out. Not so much during the past 40-50 years

In the US it is counted by who does the paperwork at the govt FSA office. I have dealt with operations where Dad is the farmer and Junior the hired man at 50+. I have also seen some where the old man turns over much of the responsiblity before the kids are 30, then spends his time providing labor as needed, and gets elected to various producer boards. I think today many of the younger generation have a lot more say than 30 years ago. The multi generation operations that are in business today understand the need to plan transition.

That is one thing I respect about the Hutterite colonies. Devote your life to the farm, and the farm will take care of you as long as needed. The older members do what they can as they slow down in later years.

There is no shortage of younger people that want to farm. There is a shortage of financial resources and land is the perennial challenge when one has to compete against an established operation.

 

[db4600]

In the US it is counted by who does the paperwork at the govt FSA office. I have dealt with operations where Dad is the farmer and Junior the hired man at 50+. I have also seen some where the old man turns over much of the responsiblity before the kids are 30, then spends his time providing labor as needed, and gets elected to various producer boards. I think today many of the younger generation have a lot more say than 30 years ago. The multi generation operations that are in business today understand the need to plan transition.

That is one thing I respect about the Hutterite colonies. Devote your life to the farm, and the farm will take care of you as long as needed. The older members do what they can as they slow down in later years.

There is no shortage of younger people that want to farm. There is a shortage of financial resources and land is the perennial challenge when one has to compete against an established operation.

I spoke with a school mate who is transitioning into a third generation farm and is running a sizable dairy. He and his wife who was a farm girl as well admit they were a bit blinded when they took over in the fact that they focused on building the herd and the farm and didn’t pay close attention to market opportunities. They had support from his parents and now the three kids are returning from schooling to join the business and they are telling the kids to pay attention and be more market savvy.

Across the county line my neighbor is doing they same where the two brothers built up the herd and farm and the kids have returned with business and veterinary training to continue with their young families and the two brothers have stepped back to a crop management role.

 

[Bruce from Can.]

I would think that the farmer is the one doing the actual farming - not necessarily the landowner or the owner of the equipment. As you well know, farming is a lot of activity and labor. If one plants a field of corn, beans, or wheat, who is the farmer? When that same person harvests at the end of the season, who gets the payment for the produce? The FARMER, of course. Does it really matter whose name is on the deed?
When I was growing up, there was a local guy that rented numerous fields around the area. He planted, cultivated, and harvested crops. We all considered him to be the farmer. Even though he lived in a mobile home and didn't own any land.

Something else - when a farmer "retires," can he afford to just give away his land, equipment, and home to his children? Who pays for his place in town? Who pays for his food, transportation, and living expenses? Retiring from farming isn't like retiring from the widget factory down the road. The guy from the factory has a pension (usually) and a Social Security check coming in to take care of expenses. The farmer doesn't have all of that.

Some of what you say may be true, but isn’t reality in many cases. In dairy farming, the name on the license on a proprietorship farm is considered the farmer, even if it is the 88 year old grandpa sitting in the house while his 65 year old son and 40 year old grandson do the actual farm work.
I hire my corn , wheat and beans planted, sprayed and harvested, but it’s still my land, my financial risk. I decide what crops, how many acres, where and when to sell. On contract or luck of the draw on harvest day, or maybe pay storage and sell 6 months later. I am still the farmer, it is my main source of income and how I file my tax return.
And yes I could do the very same thing on rental land with borrowed money buying crop insurance to back my input loan, not ever own a tractor or step into a field, if it was my primary source of income, I’d still be a farmer, regardless of my age.
As far as retiring and moving into town, well that is exactly what my Great Grandfather and grandfather did, and they didn’t have to sell their farms, their boys took over the farming duties. And my grandfather had to take a few loads of hay into town each year for his fathers milk cow and driving horse, as well as several loads of cord wood, as rent, and my grandfather was also responsible for paying the property taxes. My great grandparents made enough money through their working lives to set aside some money to live during retirement.
I could have afforded to have done much the same but my kids didn’t want to work 7 days a week on the farm and have to wait until we die to inherit the farm as my father and grandfather and great grandfather did. My father broke that chain, I had to go buy my own farms, didn’t get a family farm given to me for a few loads of hay and several cords of wood.
I had enough foresight to invest some of my farm income into off farm investments, that pay me annual returns. No pension plans from work that is true, but I have several different cash streams, and not old enough to be eligible for any government old age pension as yet. Am I still a farmer if I don’t plant or harvest the crops that grow on my farm if I buy the inputs and hire the work done, dam right I am!

 

[NoDakInMN]

Without getting bogged down in minute reasons and rationals, there has been a trend to where more older people are still active farmers than they were years before. The changing nature of farming creates this phenomenon. Time spent in an office managing the business of the farm has become more vital to the operation, which allows older people to remain active longer than when the work was more physical in nature. This creates a force that pushes the average age higher on one end of the scale. On the opposite end, technological advances and economics have produced a situation, where to be truly successful, a single farmer farms more land which reduces the the number of younger farmers starting out.

This is due to the issue of how the price of the farmer's products have not kept pace with the costs of everything else. Take any item from the 1970's and compare their cost then to today, and you will find that those costs have multipled themselves many, many times over. I remember in 1972, my dad bought a new four wheel drive pickup for a little over $2,000. Granted it did not come loaded with options, but if you were to buy the same base model today, you would be spending 20 times that amount. But the farmer today is not getting 20 times as much for what he produces. Even when we allow for increased yields, which is offset to large degree by the increased costs of achieving them, we find that the buying power of the product of acre of land has been slashed again and again. Thus the farmer is forced to farm more land in order to survive, which in turn, because the amount of land is finite, reduces the opportunities for new farmers to start.

So, consequently, it has become easier for older farmers to remain active while at the same time the opportunities for younger farmers to begin has shrunk. So with this in mind, the rising average of a farmer is not just to be expected, it is all but mandatory.

 

[Bruce from Can.]

Without getting bogged down in minute reasons and rationals, there has been a trend to where more older people are still active farmers than they were years before. The changing nature of farming creates this phenomenon. Time spent in an office managing the business of the farm has become more vital to the operation, which allows older people to remain active longer than when the work was more physical in nature. This creates a force that pushes the average age higher on one end of the scale. On the opposite end, technological advances and economics have produced a situation, where to be truly successful, a single farmer farms more land which reduces the the number of younger farmers starting out.

This is due to the issue of how the price of the farmer's products have not kept pace with the costs of everything else. Take any item from the 1970's and compare their cost then to today, and you will find that those costs have multipled themselves many, many times over. I remember in 1972, my dad bought a new four wheel drive pickup for a little over $2,000. Granted it did not come loaded with options, but if you were to buy the same base model today, you would be spending 20 times that amount. But the farmer today is not getting 20 times as much for what he produces. Even when we allow for increased yields, which is offset to large degree by the increased costs of achieving them, we find that the buying power of the product of acre of land has been slashed again and again. Thus the farmer is forced to farm more land in order to survive, which in turn, because the amount of land is finite, reduces the opportunities for new farmers to start.

So, consequently, it has become easier for older farmers to remain active while at the same time the opportunities for younger farmers to begin has shrunk. So with this in mind, the rising average of a farmer is not just to be expected, it is all but mandatory.

Well said.