Addressing the Challenges of Entry into Farming

As the 2012 Census of Agriculture data has shown us, to the extent that returns have been high relative to other sectors of the economy, they have not reversed the decline in the number of beginning farms. However, there is some evidence of success by young beginning farmers, including through their expansion in farm size, relative to older beginning farmers (Ahearn, 2013; Katchova and Ahearn, 2015). Older beginning farmers enter at a farm size that subsequently changes little with time, likely because many of these older beginning farmers are entering farming for the lifestyle and investment opportunities after engaging in a successful nonfarm career. This underscores the importance of measuring success relative to goals.  There is also some evidence that beginning farmers may find a successful niche in the direct marketing of agricultural products, for example, through farmers markets (Thilmany McFadden and Ahearn, 2013).  Key (2016) reported that beginning farmers that had positive sales of agricultural products in 2007 and sold in direct markets were more likely to report positive sales in 2012 than other beginning farmers without direct market sales in 2007.  This finding was true, regardless of farm size. Perhaps, the interest in urban agriculture will become a growth opportunity for beginning farmers in the future.  A bill was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate to support urban agriculture entitled the "Urban Agricultural Act of 2016." The bill has received widespread support from diverse groups including the major general farm groups—that is, the National Farmers Union and the American Farm Bureau Federation, as well as the Food Action Policy Network, and the National Young Farmers Coalition, among others. The bill proposes an important research component to better understand appropriate risk management tools, food safety, and environmental and economic factors affecting success of urban agriculture.