Census: Women, minority farmers a growing force
Survey shows 12.3% increase in the number of producers in state ages 35 and younger
Ben and Anne Massie aren’t your typical Indiana farmers in many ways, but they are part of a growing trend in the industry, according to the latest agriculture census released this month.
The Crown Point couple are young — Ben is 33, Anne, 32 — they’re new to the industry, both are Munster natives and are only entering their second year of farming, and they cultivate only 1.5 of their 11 acres, growing vegetables, fruit, nuts and mushrooms.
And Anne, an active partner in their Grounded Earth Farm, is among a growing number of women or minority farmers in the state and country.
“I realized, along with my husband, that farming was our calling,” said Anne Massie, who had been planning on going to law school when she heard someone speak about his hydroponic system and changed course.
She said Grounded Earth is not a certified organic farm, but they use organic methods.
According to the Indiana Department of Agriculture, the census found that while a majority of farmers in Indiana are male, the number of female producers grew by 30 percent from 2012 to 2017. It also found there were more than 23,000 new and beginning farmers in 2017 and the number of minorityowned farms had also increased.
“We are seeing a trend of diversity in agriculture, and I couldn’t be more proud to see the significant jump of women and minorities involved in this industry,” said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Indiana’s secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development.
In the U.S., there were more than 1.1 million farms with a women listed as one of the producers in 2017, according to the census.
The census, taken every five years, is the nation’s most comprehensive agricultural survey and shows trend data on a variety of topics ranging from production to economics to farmer demographics.
It showed that there were more than 94,000 farmers with an average age of 55.5 in Indiana in 2017. This was up from 53.8 in 2012.
Bruce Kettler, director of the state’s department of agriculture, said he was a little surprised to see a 12.3%, increase in the number of producers in Indiana ages 35 and younger. He said there was a period when fewer college students were planning to return to the family farm, but there has since been a change of mind in many of the younger generation.
“Optimally, we’ll eventually get them back
to the farm,” Kettler said.
Anne Massie is optimistic.
“I’m extremely hopeful for the future. We need more farmers. The 2017 census shows we need more younger farmers to pick up the pace with older farmers retiring. We need to look at our food system’s dynamic,” she said.
Kettler said there were about 1,000 more small farms with just 1-9 acres, like Grounded Earth, in 2017 than in 2012, while the number of farms from 10179 acres dropped, the number with 180-1,000 acres stayed the same and those with more than 1,000 acres saw a slight uptick compared to 2012.
There are still more larger farms than smaller ones, however.
Anne Massie said it would cost about $5 million to start a conventional large corn and soy farm in Indiana today.
“For a small farm like ours, you need very little investment comparatively. There are so many advances in small farming. Most of the farmers we talk to only cultivate about 1.5 acres,” she said.
Kettler said a large percentage of the smaller farms are operated by individuals who also have another form of income. Ben Massie, likewise, holds another job.
Kettler said part of the increase in the number of women farmers could be due to the fact that the
census is now looking at everyone involved in a farm, not just the principal owner.
“Women may not have been classified as an owner or principal in the past due to the way the questions were set up,” he said.
Other finds from the census: Indiana had 56,649 farms in 2017, down 2,046 from 2012, while farmland increased to 15 million acres, or 65% of the state’s total land.
Of the total number of Hoosier farms, the 8,700 that produced $250,000 or more in 2017 represented more than 87 percent of the total value of production, while the 38,900 operati ons making under $50,000 represented just 2.9 percent.
Indiana agricultural production was valued at $11 billion in 2017, putting it in the top 10 for total agricultural products sold.
The top products in order were grain and oil seeds, poultry and eggs, hogs and pigs, milk producing cows and cattle and calves, with vegetables, melons and potatoes coming in 6th place, and fruit, tree nuts and berries in 10th place, Kettler said.
The census also found that Hoosier farmers are using more conservation methods, including planting cover crops and practicing reduced tillage on more acres.
Anne Massie said she’s received a lot of support and mentoring from other local farmers and spent her first year as a farmer trying to understand soil health and fertility.
Like many of today’s smaller farmers, the Massie’s sell their produce locally — either at the Miller farmer’s market in Gary or through community supported agriculture, where community members purchase a portion of produce from a farmer ahead of time knowing that they will in return get the vegetables and other produce when they’re ready.
Parents to 6-year-old daughter, Teagan, and 4month-old son Barrett, the couple now plans to start farming year-round, using solar heat and layers of plastic to grow plants during the winter.
“I really like having the ownership of the whole process of being a business and getting feedback from customers on our vegetables. It’s what gives our job its greatest purpose,” Anne Massie said.
“For a small farm like ours, you need very little investment comparatively. There are so many advances in small farming. Most of the farmers we talk to only cultivate about 1.5 acres.”
— Anne Massie, Crown Point farmer