Youthful Optimism for the Ag Industry
Youthful Optimism for the Ag Industry. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.
I really enjoy talking to young people. Something about their “grab the world by the tail” outlook keeps me thinking anything is possible. The American Farm Bureau Federation’s 17th annual survey of young farmers and ranchers shows that group is optimistic about the future, despite numerous challenges that confront them. More than 20 percent agreed that availability of land and facilities was their top challenge.
MEALS: Young people need assets as they grow their business and land has been very difficult over the last couple of years because of the cost no matter what part of the country you’re in land values have increased and if we look at the survey that’s still a main concern for a lot of young farmers across the country.
Mathew Meals is chair of the AFBF Young Farmers and Ranchers committee and he’s also a first-generation farmer, so he knows those difficulties firsthand.
MEALS: It was very difficult for me to make that first step in purchasing ground. That was the hardest step in the whole process, in agriculture our land is our business. We need that land to be successful.
Young farmers say computers and the internet are becoming an important part of success, too. In fact, almost 92 percent said they use a computer on their farm or ranch.
MEALS: It is very important for our business because that is our connection to the markets. That is our connection to news and what’s happening in agriculture and that is the way that we are communicating with buyers, with sellers.
Meals talks about the high level of optimism amongst young farmers and ranchers in the prospect of taking over the family farm.
MEALS: Young farmers are staying optimistic in the future of agriculture. The other thing I noticed people are optimistic about their children being able to take over their operations. I think we are a positive group of young people and we do have a future in ag.
Being a farmer in this day and age is nothing like what our grandparents and their parents when through. Today’s ag industry is a maze of politics, science and of course some plain old good luck. One of the top challenges listed in the survey – transitioning from one generation to the next.
MEALS: With capital gains taxes and different penalties that are out there, it’s not a matter of just transferring the farm over to the next generation. There are a lot of hoops and hurdles that people need to jump through to get through that process and I think that is a major concern on young people’s minds. Are they going to be able to financially handle taking over that operation and is it being done at the right time?
That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
