The future of agriculture in the Southern United States is facing uncertainty as fewer young people pursue careers in farming, raising questions about the sustainability of the workforce.
The decline in young farmers mirrors a global trend. According to 2022 data from the World Bank Group, only 26% of the global population is employed in agriculture, a number steadily decreasing since the early 1990s.
Jon Sparks, a 39-year-old chicken farmer in Water Valley, Miss., finds the trend concerning.
“That’s why I raise my own chickens,” Sparks said. “It’s a source of food for me and my family but also something I hope others will get back to.”
In the U.S., only 9% of farmers are under 35 years old, amounting to just 296,480 across the nation, according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture. In Lafayette County, just 20 out of 614 farmers are under 35.
“I’m actually surprised that the age is as young as it is,” Soil Health Academy Vice President Eric Fuchs said. “Most anybody that is staying on the farm is either inheriting the land or coming back into it that direction.”
Sparks, who grew up on a farm in Kentucky, has seen the changing landscape of farming firsthand.
“Kids these days want better paying careers, so they move away into metro areas,” Sparks said. “The world has changed tremendously since I was a kid, and the only way to get kids to work on farms again is to find the certain ones who are interested and let them lead the charge.”
One of the main challenges young farmers face is the rising cost of land. Fuchs said that many young people are discouraged from farming because they cannot afford to purchase land.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service found that the average price per acre in the U.S. rose 7.4% from 2022 to 2023 to $4,080 per acre.
“Farm policy dictates what’s grown, land prices, overvalued land prices. … The youth have to see the ability to be able to actually make a living on a farm. If they can’t, then that’s truly the problem,” Fuchs said.
Urbanization is worsening the problem, with fewer traditional farms remaining in rural areas.
The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Mississippi release shows a steady decline in Mississippi farms, with at least 300 farms disappearing each year between 2013 and 2023.
“With the amount of kids coming from big cities, families moving in to retire or be close to their kids, there just isn’t any traditional farmland left,” Sparks said. “Eventually, I could see Oxford as a place where there is little to no farming for a 10-mile radius or more.”
Allen Williams, co-founder of the Soil Health Academy with a Ph.D in livestock genetics, is working to connect landowners with aspiring young farmers.
“That’s a big part of our mission in what we do at Understanding AG and the Soil Health Academy,” Williams said at a screening of the agricultural documentary “Roots So Deep” at the Malco Theatre in Oxford. “Matching up landowners with young people who want to get a start (is what we do).”
The Soil Health Academy began with a focus on sustainable farming. However, professionals like Williams have expanded to address youth involvement in agriculture by providing scholarships for those who apply.
“We try to show a different way of farming, a less conventional method of how we can make a smaller farm better or even make it bigger,” Fuchs said. “Through scholarships, our training is the same whether you’re 8-years-old or 80-years-old.”
Carson Ferguson, a 24-year-old farmer from Monroe, La., has never met a farmer his age.
“I’ve met some in their 30s, but it seems like someone has to have family ties for young people to get into farm life,” Ferguson said.
Like many farmers, Ferguson joined the field through family connections.
“I was raised around farms like this, but I know plenty of people — young kids included — that just need money and have nowhere else to go,” Ferguson said. “I think I see more kids 15, 16 years old coming to find a job here more than I see 30-year-olds.”
Despite the challenges, Ferguson is hopeful about the future of farming.
“Farming isn’t going anywhere if that is what people are scared of,” Ferguson said. “Yes, we have a lack of interest in this field more than ever before, but there will always be a need for crops and livestock. I don’t see a day where farming disappears.”
Organizations like the National Young Farmers Coalition and the Soil Health Academy are addressing these challenges by helping new farmers secure land, resources and support while advocating for changes to farm policy.
Sparks, Ferguson, Fuchs and Williams conclude that the future of farming depends on inspiring and supporting the next generation as they take the reins.
