12-25 IAN Young Farmers

 So many signs point to the fact that agriculture is very strong in a week economy and as a result of that can provide wonderful opportunities for kids seeking a career. A recent Associated Press article pointed that out and I called the Idaho Farm Bureau’s Wally Butler to ask his opinion. Wally’s been in the business for a long time. “Big article and I can just read the headline to you… more young people see opportunity in farming despite the risks involved in agriculture, it fared better than many parts of the US economy during the recession. So you have your bouncing baby boy on your knee, do you guide him in the direction of agriculture? Well there’s a fallacy in saying it’s my bouncing baby boy, it’s more like my bouncing baby grandson (laughter). But I would encourage him. It is obviously a high risk industry with huge overheads so there’s definitely downside to it. Many of us have been through that and it will repeat I am sure but the opportunities are sure great there right now. The other thing is that for years and years the average age of the farmers in the US have been getting older and older and now there are some real opportunities for younger people to get involved. I think it’s a real opportunity for agriculture. They bring a whole new mind set and technology savvy that a bunch of us old guys don’t have.