New farmers!

[cowman]

I don't know where the next generation of farmers are going to come from. Maybe it is just the area I live in but it seems to me that we are just a bunch of old men! Over the last thirty years some farmers got very big, as they bought out the ones wanting to quit, and have built up some good farms but it seems their kids have no interest in taking over. And who can blame them? Who wants to work all the time for the crumby returns you get when you can go to the city and make a lot more and be able to enjoy what you do make?
I have a son, who has a degree in commerce, who wants to come home to farm. I'm wondering if they taught him anything, if he's that dumb!

[cakadu]

Hi Cowman. I think you have hit the nail on the head. Where are we going to get the people to do the farming in the future? There are many producers finding themselves asking the same questions you are - do you encourage the kids to take over? It is a hard question to answer.

The answer might lie in the fact that they can't come home and farm the way it has been done for the past 50 years. They may have to farm in terms of growing and producing the things that they can add value to - diversification - and that people will want to buy.

Growing commodities is not the answer anymore and hasn't been for some time. Having said that though, how do we get away from the status quo and farming the system and move towards something viable that will put money into producers pockets. (Although we don't farm the system nearly as bad as our south of the border counterparts). There are so many variables that have to change and simultaneously. We can't have producers growing what will sell, only to be trapped within the old systems and infrastructure. It's got to be done in a manner that sees a producer getting his fair share too.

No easy answers and certainly none that will happen over night!

Linda

[ianben]

Hi Cowman
Same over here in UK. Next to no good young farmers, nearly a generation missing already, the ones who tried to farm have had to take other jobs to raise their families.While prices for our produce rermain so out of line with the rest of the world how can a young person gain a foothold in our industry.

I do not see diversification as an answer.
That just makes us all hobby farmers because if diversification works??it will work a whole lot better with out the farm, so that makes farming just a hobby subsidized from the diversification
The only answer I can see to the future is that we learn to get a realistic price for what we produce. We must realize the true value of our produce,I had a couple of nights away visiting my daughter. One place wanted three tonnes wheat or half a steer for ONE nights bed and breakfast for four.
You gave us your examples in another thread Cowman. Things are way out of line you would think people didn't like eating.

We must price our produce against other commodities,set a minimum price and NOT sell for less. We just need to stick together or the multi- nationals will do it when us olds die or even retire.

Regards Ian

[cakadu]

We cannot attract new farmers to the "lifestyle" aspect of farming, because who wants to work long hours with barely being able to eake out an existence? The new entrants into agriculture will be the ones that look for the new technologies and developments that are occurring rapidly within the agriculture industry. They won't be looking at the romantic notion of life on the small family farm, because that ideology is slowly disappearing. We need to take what worked from the past, leave the rest behind and move forward.

What this means is that we can no longer grow "commodities" and hope that somebody will buy them at a price that will put a little loose change in our pockets. What it means is that we have to diversify and produce what consumers want to buy. Diversification means that you should be adding value to what you produce and not necessarily jumping into something totally new and/or the flavor of the week.

We can draw parallels with what happened to the fishing industry on the east coast. I have been speaking to a fellow that I know in agriculture on the east coast, and he said that for years the fishing industry there consisted of fishermen trying to catch the same thing because that is what they knew. Stocks of cod dwindled, prices remained low because they were trying to sell a commodity and processing was considered to be cleaning the fish. In the meantime the boats got bigger so that they could catch more of the same thing - you see the cycle. When the industry finally did collapse, the hue and cry was to put it all back the way it was, but for whom?

The same could be said for commodities in the ag industry. Who do you want to attract and for what purpose? We need to grow what is in demand by consumers, not what we think will sell.

A wise man once said - Chaos is a natural state in the cycle of change, the longer we fight it, the longer it lasts and the worse it gets."

There are many things happening out there in the ag industry and we hear now about this Life Science Revolution that is taking place. I think we need to get producers to understand and accept diversification before we can move on to Life Sciences.

The new entrants to farming are going to look at it from a business perspective and leave the romance and lifestyle out of it.

Linda

[ianben]

Hi Linda
I agree with your last line the new entrants will definitly be more businesslike. They will want to see a profit before they lift a finger, they will use the worst case senario, and if things are better they will have happy shareholders.They could be called Esso or Monsanto.
The price of wheat and beef will be what they think we can afford to pay. and guess what!! We no longer have a surplus just enough or even a small shortage.
Things have not changed that much people still need to eat!!
Commodities will always be needed and need to be profitable in their own right.
If small independant farmers can't organize themselves to get realistic prices eventually some one else will.

Diversification is just prolonging the day this happens if it works, the opposite if it doesn't.

When my accountant or a solicitor tell me they are diversifing into law or accounting and vets start treating people and doctors animals I might think about it.
Till then I think farming deserves to be a stand alone business which charges a realistic price for its produce.

It is the last bit were farmers today are letting the next generation down!!!

Regards Ian

[ValueChainFX]

Well your conversation is like many I have heard before. You can look at farming anyway you like to, but in the end if you do not make a profit then the end of the story is already told. When people speak of diversification or adding value, this does not mean that you have to go out and turn your present operation upside down, go into pink tractors or build manufacturing plants in your back yard. It does mean that you have to think outside the box and instead of standing like the three monkey's hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil I believe that you should be helping each other combat what we all know is a market place that is being taken over and controlled by those that can! You want to add value to your operation, there are hundreds of ways to do it and make a profit. You want to stay in the dirt kickin position and wait till it is your turn to go down, then that is your choice.

With technology today yes you can increase your profits, but you have to make the choices. I look at everyone in the supply chain and find that many people stand like an ostrich with their heads in the sand. It hurts to see the things that are going on, and even more it hurts to see many people I admire very much letting it happen.

I do apologize in advance if I hurt anyone's feelings here but I have worked beside you and with you for most of my life. I have also worked for the big corps. and know what their strategy is. You want a future, my suggestion, humble as I can give it, is get up and make it happen. Contact me if you like directly, valuechain@home.com . Oh by the way, I am not selling anything here, you are!

[gallard]

The next generation of farmers seem to approach some fo the economic problems in a different manner than the previous . Our son is taking over the farm with help from Dad but his management is more market tuned than mine!! His economic degree facilitates that but the bigger problem I see is resolving the labour problem. The present situation will change sooner than later and because of the competition in the market place he cannot compete.
We live adjacent to a large industry that pays their staff very well and that staff is gradually accumulating a 1/4 but because of size are self suficient. We run a farm that needs 1 & 1/2 persons and that help is not available or nor qualified to appear miraculously. I do think that ILO's can get permanent excellent female help.
Relatives in Eire described to me last fall exactly the same problem. Our cousin was using female help from Hungary but she was limited in the heavy work which he had previously been fortunate to have with a local Irish lad. This fellow went to "town" because the wages were better.
This is likely only one problem the next gen will face.
Stockman Grass Farmer editor,Allan Nation predicts in a recent editorial that most labour on US farms will be Spanish speaking and will come from Central America !!
I would appreciate more insight.

[ValueChainFX]

Yes sometimes it is hard to pay good wages in the market today. I still think that there is more margin and less cost that can be seen by those in this agri-business. It means that one must think outside the box and build strong alliances. Also means that you strength your position in the market from the initial producer to the end user of the product. This has worked in many cases and rather then compete with the big guys head on. There are many things the big guys can not do and we need to do them. Comments are welcome

[WantsToFarm]

Hey EVERYONE i am a young Guy hoping to be a Farmer one day, so there are still some of us!
Brad