The average age of farmers in the U.S. continues to increase, while the number of farms continues to decline, according to new numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) latest Census of Agriculture.
The average American farmer is now 58.1 years old, which is an increase of about half a year, compared to the last census in 2017.
Additionally, farmers who are 65 and older increased by 12% over USDA’s 2017 numbers in the recently-released census, while farmers aged 34-64 decreased by 9%.
There’s nothing wrong with farmers continuing to farm as they get older – it’s a positive thing in fact – but what should be of concern to all of us, including public policy-makers, is that we’re not bringing more younger people into farming. Based on the math, today’s farmers are “aging out” of the business and we aren’t creating a climate that brings anywhere enough younger people into farming, which is essential to sustain American agriculture and food-producing sovereignty.
At the same time America’s farmers are getting older, farms are growing bigger on average and declining in number, according to the USDA census. This is clearly a sign of consolidation, which we’ve seen happen in a myriad of other industries, such as oil, gas, steel and many others, in the U.S.
In the recently-released U.S. Census of Agriculture (the data for the 2024 census was gathered in 2022), the total number of farms in the U.S. decreased 6.9% over the 2017 census numbers, to 1.9 million. According to the new census, farms cover 880 million acres, which is a whopping 20 million acre decline in five years (2017-2022).
The consolidation is particularly profound when you take a look at the changes in the different sizes of farms. Over the last five years (the 2022 census data compared to 2017) every size of farm in the U.S. saw a decline in total numbers, except for farms of 5,000 acres or more, which is the largest size.
Consolidation isn’t good for farming because what’s made the U.S. the greatest agriculture powerhouse in the world since the end of World War II is our system of smaller, family-owned and privately-held farms. Diversity of ownership and production are key distinguishing aspects of American farming that have led to great success.
Bigger but fewer farms tends to mean corporate or investor ownership rather than family and individual ownership. The former structure most often results in pursuing shorter-term profit and loss goals, while the latter structure is based on long-term – even multi-generational – goals and considerations.
The former is playing itself out right now in California’s Central Valley where a number of private equity firm-owned almond farming corporations have filed for bankruptcy protection because the price growers have received for their almonds has dropped by 30-40% over the last couple years. In contrast, family farmers, who still grow the majority of almonds in the Central Valley and elsewhere in the state, are riding out the financial crunch, adjusting and looking longer term for the price to improve, which it will.
The reduction in farms and farmland hasn’t become a crisis issue to date because American agriculture and America’s farmers have continued to become more productive and more efficient, producing higher yields on less acreage, for example. As a result, U.S. food production hasn’t suffered. We still grow enough food to feed ourselves domestically and export a lot of food to countries throughout the world.
The fast-growing rate the U.S. is losing farms and farmland – 20 million acres in five years – today though is and should be cause for concern – and action.
Fewer but bigger farms come at a cost. For example, large farming operations require a lot of overhead, which is a huge barrier to entry for new farmers, which gets us back to the fact that the average farmer in the U.S. is nearly 60 years old.
We need to reduce not increase barriers to entry as part of the strategy of getting more younger people to get into farming. Fewer but larger farms do the opposite.
We need to elevate the discussion of the related issues of aging farmers and fewer farms and farmland this year. It also needs to be at the top of the agenda as Congress continues to discuss and debate the Farm Bill.
Bottom line: There needs to be more attention to and concern over this important reality. The average American has no idea, for example, we lost 20 million acres of farmland from 2017-2022. They do know though that they are spending 30% more at the grocery store today than they were in 2020. The two are related. Less farmland will ultimately mean less production, even with productivity gains via technology, which will mean even higher food prices at the grocery store.
The federal government and farm state governments, particularly here in California, the nation’s leading diversified farm state, also need to be more concerned about these related issues – and to take action on them in terms of public policy.
There is some hope in this regard. For example, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently called the reduction of farms and farmland data, which was identified in the USDA census, a “wake up call” for the U.S. He says USDA is addressing the issue.
Congress needs to address the issue too, starting with the House and Senate committees responsible for agriculture policy. This should be a bipartisan issue with bipartisan solutions. What’s needed are new policies that help staunch the loss of farms and farmland and encourage more young people to get into farming.
The major thrust of new public policy needs to be financially-focused. The government needs to create financial incentives in the form of tax policy that keeps farmland in the hands of farmers and provides incentives for existing farmers to sell it to current or potential farmers.
In conjunction with this, the federal government needs to create new loans and even grant programs that will enable younger people who want to get into farming to do so. Access to capital for younger people wanting to get into farming is currently near-impossible.
Fewer farms means less diversity – it will ultimately lead to more corporate consolidation and less diverse food production, particularly when it comes to specialty crops.
Additionally, as a nation we don’t want to lose another 20 million acres of farmland in the next five years like we did from 2017-2022. This isn’t a sustainable trend for a country like the U.S. that not only is food sovereign domestically but also plays a major role in helping to feed the world.
Experts are forecasting that the world, which is expected to grow from 7 billion people to 9 billion by 2025, will have to double its food supply to keep up with the current population growth rate. The U.S. currently plays a huge role in feeding the world – California alone provides around 12% of the nation’s ag exports, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture – and will have to play an even greater role going forward to 2050.
Farming is more than a business in the U.S. It’s also a national and domestic security issue. Fewer farms and farmland and the “aging out” of farmers qualify as both national and domestic security issues warranting greater public attention, greater concern and immediate public policy action.
My Job Depends on Ag Magazine columnist and contributing editor Victor Martino is an agrifood industry consultant, entrepreneur and writer. One of his passions and current projects is working with farmers who want to develop their own branded food products. You can contact him at: victormartino415@gmail.com.
