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Young farmers and ranchers are extremely worried about the availability of land for their occupation. They also are asking for the federal government to be involved in establishing a comprehensive energy policy in which renewable fuels play a bigger role.
In addition, concerns about earning a profit in 2005 has more 18- to 35-year-old farmers and ranchers saying they want the government to assist by providing supplemental farm support payments.
These findings are from the 13th annual survey of participants in the American Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmer and Rancher program. The informal survey was completed during the group's annual national conference. A total of 294 respondents filled out the survey.
For the first time in seven years, achieving profitability was not the number one challenge listed most often by the young farmers and ranchers. They listed land availability as the biggest challenge facing their operations (26 percent). Profitability was second at 23 percent. The cost of government regulations rounded out the top three challenges at 16 percent.
For the first time in the survey's history, energy policy was ranked as the number one thing the federal government should do to help in farming and ranching. It was listed number one on 21 percent of the surveys. In the previous two years, passing an energy law that includes a bigger role for renewable fuels (ethanol, biodiesel, wind, etc.) had been a distant fifth.
Providing a counter-cyclical income safety net for agriculture at 14 percent came in second on the young farmers' list of needed government actions. That is up significantly from less than 1 percent in 2004. In third place was taking action to boost U.S. agricultural exports at 13 percent.
In a major swing in survey results, which reflects the group's concern about earning enough to stay in farming and also is related to the current discussions about the 2002 farm bill budget, there was a 15 percentage point increase in the number of respondents who think "federal farm policy should be supplemented to some degree by farm program payments." This year 33 percent agreed with the statement compared to 18 percent last year. Sixty-seven percent still believe that farm income should come from the marketplace (domestic and international).
Even though the highest percentage in the survey's 13-year history says they are better off today than five years ago, 90 percent compared to 86 percent last year, only 79 percent of the respondents are more optimistic than they were five years ago. This compares to 81 percent of them being more optimistic last year.
A larger percentage than ever before (9 percent) expect to be doing something other than farming and ranching before they retire. A total of 91 percent see themselves as a "lifelong farmer." The previous low was in 2002 when 92 percent expected to farm for life. The high point was 1995 when essentially 100 percent (99.5 percent) said they expected to be lifelong farmers.
No matter whether they will farm for life, the group sees farming as a good way of life. A total of 89 percent of the respondents would like to see their children follow in their footsteps as farmers and ranchers.
Trying to continue in farming or ranching is requiring more of these younger farmers and ranchers to work at least part-time off the farm. Both the husband and wife reported working off the farm in 30 percent of the responses; that is compared to 20 percent last year, and is an all-time high. Only 24 percent of the respondents reported neither the husband or wife work off the farm.
