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 Farmers
Growing OlderThe average age of farmers
is 54 years old and the proportion of farmers over 55 has risen from
37 percent in 1954 to 61 percent in 1997. Farmers are older, on average,
than others in civilian labor force for several reasons. As self-employed
workers, farmers can continue to farm - often at a reduced scale - after
wage and salary earners have retired. The average life span in the United
States has increase, meaning self-employed elderly farmers can farm
to an advanced age. The mechanization of agriculture has also helped
older farmers continue to farm by substituting machinery for some physical
labor. The future of farming in
America depends on the continued entry of new farm operators . The share
of farmers less than 35 years old has declined from 15 percent to 8
percent in 1997. The number of entrants into
farming has fallen over time. The traditional pool of new entrants into
farming - white males in their twenties growing up on family farms -
is shrinking, from 700,000 in 1990 to perhaps 365,000 today. This shrinkage
is atributable both to the decline in farm numbers and to the fact that
farm families have fewer children than in the past. Access to capital and to
specialized farming knowledge are also factors that figure pominently
in the decision to farm. Experience suggests that it takes an average
of $500,000 in assets to fully support a farm household. The Aging of Farm Operators and Participation of Beginning Producers in Farming, Economic Research Service, USDA http://www.ers.usda.gov/whatsnew/issues/beginning/index.htm |