I was watching a YouTube video the other day, the video being a report about the future of farming in the United States. One statistic jumped out at me and hit me like a ton of manure: it is estimated that in the next twenty years, $24 trillion in farm property and equipment will change hands, the largest property exchange ever in this country.
Why?
Baby boomers who are farmers will be retiring, giving up the farming ghost, as it were, selling their farms and their farm equipment.
As you know, I’m sure, the Baby Boomer Generation was the largest in numbers this world has ever seen, and a decent percentage of that generation chose to operate farms back in the 60’s and 70’s.
As you also know, I’m sure, farming is a back-breaking, exhausting, all-consuming profession, and the Baby Boomers are getting older and more tired with each day. Now, in past decades, farmers would simply pass their farms down to their children, and the children would pick up the torch and carry on the tradition. The only problem is that the children of Baby Boomers, for the most part, have no desire to carry on the tradition. Did I mention that farming is back-breaking, exhausting, and all-consuming?
Which leads us to this question: who is going to pick up that torch?
The frightening answer to that question is corporations, and it is happening as we speak. Thousands of acres of prime farmland are being purchased by foreign corporations; in addition, existing mega-farm corporations here in the U.S. are adding to their holdings. And that, quite frankly, should concern you greatly, for the day that mega-corporations control the production and distribution of food in this county, we are all in a world of hurt.
Oh, wait, we already are!
We need small farms.
Bev’s son and his wife operate a goat farm. They have, currently, about eighty “milkers,” and from that goat milk they produce quality cheeses, most notably their award-winning chevre. Let me tell you, they work their asses off. A farm requires a 24/7 commitment, and on the best of days it is exhausting to the max. Bev and I help out on the farm when we have time, and even the part-time work we provide is enough to make me grateful I do not do it full-time. Perhaps when I was younger it would have been enticing, but not at seventy-six, so I totally understand why the Baby Boomer Generation is ready for a break.
This is all a rambling statement of concern and nothing more. I do not want to see the day when small farms do not exist. I want to see farmers’ markets flourish, not disappear. I want to see young families continuing in the footprints of those farmers who came before, and I do not want to see the day when small farms go the way of the dinosaurs.
Please, if at all possible, support your local farmers.
