Young people want to farm. But they need help.
Armagh is in the southeastern corner of Indiana County, just north of the Conemaugh River, which forms the border with Cambria County. This is a region connected by a shared heritage of agriculture and coal mining. According to the 2017 USDA County Profiles, there are 1,508 producers and 227,629 acres in farming in these two counties. From severalhundred-acre dairy operations, to market farmers, to backyard gardeners who preserve their harvest, to farm market patrons, 4-H participants and numerous farm fairs and festivals, agriculture is essential to the culture of Indiana and Cambria counties.
I am a first generation farmer here in Armagh, and a Land Advocacy Fellow with the National
Young Farmers Coalition. I am also a beginning farmer, now two years into operating John-Paul’s Farm alongside my husband, where we primarily produce vegetables and eggs, and are learning to produce small grains, hay and chicken.
My knowledge of farming didn’t come from my parents, or even my grandparents, but I was exposed to farming in other ways. During high school I milked cows and processed maple syrup. Every summer I got a glimpse of haying and cattle ranching. During college, I spent a season as a farm hand on a Community Supported Agricultureorganic family farm that served more than 1,000 members. Now, I reside on my spouse’s family farm, which has hardly been farmed at all for the past four decades.
Becoming a farmer in a farming community was and is intimidating. “Will people think I’m a joke?” I’ve thought. So far the answer has been, “no, absolutely not.” My efforts have been met with enthusiasm and support, especially from elder farmers. The enthusiasm comes with admiration for my hard labor, having expanded our farming activities in two years of business to become the largest organic producer at our local farmers market, reinvigorating fallow farmland along the way. I often hear that “it’s great to see young people doing this work,” followed by, “young people don’t want to do this anymore.”
Connecting with agricultural elders has been a joy: They’ve provided me with encouragement and know-how. Our shared love of farming has brought us together,
but the common assumption that “young people don’t want to farm” isn’t quite right. It’d be more accurate to say that many young people want to farm, but don’t have the resources — money, land, expertise — to bring that desire to life.
I am part of the next generation of young farmers, but we need the help of the older generation — and elected officials — to be successful. We face many challenges, with affordable and secure land access being at the top of the list. Land access, which is essential to getting started and to long-term stability, is a major problem for young farmers, especially BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) farmers without family land to inherit. Fifty-nine percent of young farmers and 65% of BIPOC farmers reported finding affordable land to buy as very or extremely challenging in the Young Farmers’ 2022 National Young Farmer Survey.
I’m not a farmer because I’m an especially hard working woman, despite the kind compliments of my neighbors, or because I have a greater passion for it than any other young person with an interest in agriculture. I’m able to be a farmer because of my proximity to land through family. I became a Land Advocacy Fellow with Young Farmers to assert the need for equitable land policy in the 2023 Farm Bill from my place of privilege as a white farmer, in a majority white community, with stable land access.
My experience with land transition has been a fortunate one, having a personal history with the farm property, personal startup funds and the ability to fit into the local culture. I have generally felt safe and welcome as a young white woman in this region, despite some occasional surprise when I assert that I am a farmer and work outside all day. The barriers in this white, rural area have been lower for me, while
they are higher for people of other identities due in great part to a history of forced migrations and restrictions on land ownership.
I want farmers approaching retirement to know that there is an abundance of young people who, like me, want to farm, but they don’t have the resources and land access that I’ve had. Please don’t mistake my privilege for a work ethic. Instead, recognize that we are at a pivotal moment in agriculture, where we have the opportunity to make farming accessible to a younger, more diverse, generation.
Farmers are aging across Pennsylvania and the country. In Indiana and Cambria counties combined, over 60% of farmers are 55 and older, while over 30% are age 65 and older, according to the 2017 USDA Census of Agriculture.
In my conversations with farmers who are looking towards retirement, I have heard uncertainty and uneasiness: “I don’t know what’s going to happen to my farm.” We, as a community,
are at risk of losing agricultural land to development, or even larger corporate farming operations that aren’t invested in the people of our region like we are. We are at risk of losing our family farms.
Western Pennsylvania families have lost land for centuries. Indigenous peoples were forced to move; hill people were pushed out so industry could extract resources; and families today face difficult economic circumstances that make it more appealing to sell their land to the highest bidder than to continue farming it. When retirement comes and it’s time to sell the family farm, the highest bidder is rarely a young farmer. Young people do not have access to capital like developers or energy producers do.
Saving the family farm doesn’t have to mean keeping the farm in the family — perhaps members of your family have moved away or found other career paths, and that is fine. Saving the family farm can also mean ensuring another family can continue tending to the land. Or transitioning your farm to a land trust that is invested in agricultural preservation. There are many options, but we need to ensure there is supportive policy in the 2023 Farm Bill to ensure that land access programs, including transition planning, are available, and that young farmers have the access to capital they need.
I’m turning to established farmers to utilize their connections with the Farm Service Agency, the farming community and local and federal policy makers to support the next generation. Let’s advocate for policies that will help young farmers compete in the market for land, and help retiring farmers create a transition plan for their farms that benefits both current landowners and future farmers. The National Young Farmers Coalition “One Million Acres for The Future” Campaign calls for:
• A $2.5 billion dollar investment in land access and transition programs in the 2023 Farm Bill.
• Affordable federal sources of financing designed to meet farmers’ needs and help them compete in a fierce real estate market often driven by non-farmer buyers and investors.
• Prevent land loss in communities of color and support farm transition by investing in farm succession mediation and technical assistance.
• Investment in data collection, reporting and research on farmland tenure, ownership & transition.
I shouldn’t be the youngest farmer at my local farmers’ market, and we shouldn’t continue to wonder about the fate of our local farmland when there are people eager to enter this profession, this way of life. Let’s work across generations to secure the agrarian future of our region.