The aging American farmer : Who will work the land next ?
The aging American farmer : Who will work the land next ?
by Grant Gerlock
According to the U . S . Census , the average age of the U . S . farmer is 57 , and the fastest growing age group is those over age 65 . That demographic shift puts the agriculture industry on the precipice of a transition .
Though many farmers are clearly working well into the traditional retirement years , thousands of farms soon will be changing hands . How that occurs could reshape the industry that drives much of the economy in middle America . Working longer
Working beyond retirement is a fairly common refrain these days — but farmers seem to work longer than most . In the last Agriculture Census , 25 percent of all farm operators were over age 65 compared with 5 percent of the overall U . S . work force .
Why do farmers keep working ? For one thing , modern machinery makes it easier to work longer .
“ It ’ s more you use your mind rather than your back , so you can go longer ,” said Mike Duffy , an agricultural economist at Iowa State University .
Duffy said there ’ s also an economic incentive . Many farmers are making more money today than just about any time in their careers thanks to higher yields and high grain prices .
But there ’ s something else about farmers . In surveys of farmers in Iowa , Duffy has learned that regardless of the money or new technology , some farmers will just never quit .
“ Farmers are farmers ,” Duffy said . “ And that ’ s who they identify themselves as . They ’ ll leave horizontal .”
Bob Hawthorn is that kind of farmer . At 84 , Hawthorn ’ s hands and face are weathered . This year , spring came late , so on a bright April afternoon he was in a hurry to get corn and soybeans planted on
Aberle , from Page 2 including hunting , commercial and residential . LaVonne assists him with staying current on compliances and licensing as well as marketing and showing residential properties . And they still own over 700 acres of land , but lease it all out to three different young farm families . his 2,000-acre farm in the Loess Hills of western Iowa .
Hawthorn braced himself against the wind in the back of his red pickup and unstrung the top of a bag of seed corn . After nearly 60 years on the farm , he said , neighbors ask how long he plans to continue .
“ They keep bugging me ,” Hawthorn said . “ They say , ‘ When are you gonna quit ?’ I think I ’ ll tell ’ em I won ’ t quit farming till all hell freezes over . Something like that .”
The farm was started by his greatgrandfather , Trapper Hawthorn , in the late
1870s . Bob Hawthorn left for a brief career in aerospace before returning to Iowa in 1955 to farm with his father , Fred , who worked on the farm into his 90s and lived to be 98 years old . Longevity runs in the family .
But after four generations , the Hawthorn family farm will come to an end . He has had foster children , but he never had biological children and never married . No one is lined up to take over the farm , but then , Hawthorn has no plans to quit , either .
“ I ’ d be bored not having anything to do ,” Hawthorn said . “ I ’ ve also noticed that farmers , when they retire , buy a house in town and die of a heart attack about in the next year . It seems like farmers have to keep going or they just fade away .” Turmoil in transitions
Randy Hertz , a financial planner with Hertz Farm Management , in Nevada , Iowa , says even as the average age of farmers creeps ever upward , few families
The Aberle ’ s who have been married for 48 years have three children . Their oldest daughter is married to a farmer in the Bern area and is heavily involved in crop and livestock production . Their eldest son lives in central Illinois and is president and CEO of a manufacturing company that employees 150 people , make all the plans they could for smooth transitions .
“ It ’ s pretty ominous the number of farmers that plan to retire in the next five to 10 years ,” Hertz said . “ Some of them have no plan , and the default succession plan is , well , I guess we ’ ll just rent it to somebody in the neighborhood .”
The 2008 Iowa Farm and Rural Life poll found that 42 percent of farmers surveyed said they planned to retire in the next five years . But Paul Lasley , an Iowa State University sociologist who conducts the poll , said it ’ s tough to define retirement with farmers . “ The retirement process for many farmers may take years , even a decade or so ,” Lasley said . “ They slowly phase out of farming , and allow their adult children , who are often middle age , to take over , but they remain somewhat involved to ‘ make sure the kids do it right .’”
That ’ s how it is working out for the Arganbright family in the western Iowa town of Panora .
Jim Arganbright , 83 , three years ago started renting his cropland to his son Tom , the only one of his eight children who farms full time . Now , all Jim Arganbright has to worry about is the livestock — and he doesn ’ t have too much of that . “ I only have 12 cows and a bull and eight calves ,” he said .
Tom Arganbright farms his parents ’ 160 acres , several other rented fields and his own farm — in all , about 1,500 acres . He bought some of his acres from one of his uncles .
“ It ’ s not just any ground you ’ re purchasing , it ’ s part of the original Arganbright land , and it ’ s up to you to keep hold of it through good times and bad and be able to pass it along to the next
See Aging Farmer , Page 4
their youngest son runs a consulting firm in Sabetha and is currently relocating to Haiti to run a hospital that is part of a five year mission project . They have nine grandchildren . You can reach Roger : Email : roger @ barnesrealty . com Cell : 785-547-6289