Missouri ranks second in the nation for the number of farms, with more than 85,000.
Beginning farmers in the state and across the nation may soon get a boost from Washington. Beginning farmers are defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as those who have farmed for 10 years or fewer.
The bipartisan "New Producer Economic Security Act," recently introduced in Congress, proposes a USDA pilot program to help new farmers overcome key challenges such as securing land, funding operations, and accessing markets. Between 2017 and 2022, Missouri saw an almost 8% drop in farmland, making it harder for young farmers to get started.
Nicholas Rossi, policy specialist for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, explained the looming changes in the agricultural industry.
"The average age of a farmer in the United States is 58 years old, I think a little above 58 years old," Rossi pointed out. "We see in the next couple of years there's going to be one of the largest transfers of agricultural land this country's seen in a long time."
The program could fund low- or no-interest loans, land-access grants, and community-ownership models such as land trusts and co-ops.
Nationally, the 2022 Census of Agriculture showed beginning farmers make up 30% of the country's more than 3 million farmers, an increase from just over 26% in 2017.
The stakes are high when it comes to who gains access to farmland in the years ahead, Rossi emphasized.
"A lot of that land that's transferred is either going to go and just continue to make the biggest farms bigger, or it can go towards this next generation of farmers," Rossi stressed. "We can hope we try and reverse that trend of decreasing amount of family farms in the U.S., and also look at decreasing the average age of farmers in the United States."
Statistics show states along the East and West coasts had a high share of farms with beginning producers compared with farms in the Midwest. Rossi hopes to see the pilot program become a permanent part of the comprehensive Farm Bill.
The Missouri Public News Service is a partner with KRCU Public Radio.
