Agricultural Digest
According to the latest USDA census, conducted in 2022 and released just last month, total US farm acreage decreased by almost 20 million acres between 2017 and 2022. The United States lost 142,000 farms during that period. The data also showed that there are 300,000 farm producers (defined as “a person who is involved with making decisions for the farm operation”) younger than 35; 1.78 million between ages 35–64; and 1.29 million over 65. The average age of farm producers is increasing, now sitting at 58.1 years, up from 57.5 in 2017. The producers are oldest in the South and West and youngest in the upper Midwest. The bottom line: America’s farming industry is aging out, and fewer and fewer family farms are being passed on. Part of that is due to just how hard it is to compete with large industrial farms that produce at scale, and the crushing burdens of paper work and regulation that small producers are expected to carry without the help of their own dedicated legal departments and …