(1) Can you email me comments on your opinion as to whether adequate
numbers of young people can be interested in becoming farmers--will there
be a next generation of family farmers (sustainable or traditional), or
(2) can you mail me xeroxes of newspaper or magazine articles on young
people who either are already beginning farmers, or who are committed to
farming in the future? (Email me what the cost would be for your doing
this, and I will email you my regular mailing address.)
In my work regarding agriculture, people often say, "What's the point of
saving farmland for family farmers--members of the younger generation do
not want to be farmers. The big corporate factory farms will take over."
In fact, some seem so convinced of this that they have pretty much given
up on the family farm--whether sustainable or traditional.
I am not ready to concede defeat and am cheered on by stories of young
people who do intend to farm. Our local paper carried a heart-warming
story about a 17-year-old who raises pigs and chickens. He says,
"Everybody else wants to be a professional baseball player. I want to be
a farmer."
Another interesting thing that tells me this interest is considered
unusual is that it was the featured front-page article.
I hope that some of you can provide me with information about the next
generation of family farmers (sustainable or traditional). I will do my
best to put it to good use.
Marian Buckner
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