Fish Farm-Young Farmer

As the average age of agriculture producers increases, pro-ag authorities nationwide are worried that new generations aren't getting into the business of growing America's food.  Roger Batt, Executive Director for The Coalition for Agriculture’s Future suggests that there is all too often a perception that farming isn’t economically viable and selling farm land at big profits is too attractive an option to keep young people in the game. But here’s one that I never heard before coming from Dan  Keppen, Executive Director of the Family Farm Alliance discussing  a water shutoff due to a fish farm’s water rights and parents talking to their kids about a future in farming. “ He had 2 kids, they were both primed, ready to take over the farm in 2001 and then the water got shut off. So he and his wife went through tremendous financial difficulties, all these things add up and this guy and his wife look at each other and they tell their kids we’d love to have you take over this operation but frankly we don’t recommend it. There’s too much uncertainty, it’s a very stressful lifestyle.”