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8-7-07
REPORT OUTLINES BEGINNING FARMER OPTIONS FOR FARM BILL DEBATE
AMES, Iowa -- Payment limits and commodity programs usually dominate debates
about federal farm legislation, but a report prepared for the Leopold Center for
Sustainable Agriculture shows that options to help beginning farmers may be just
as important for the future of agriculture.
"Iowa and the nation are losing farmers, especially young farmers, at an
alarming rate," said Leopold Center Director Jerry DeWitt. "According to the
latest agriculture census in 2002, Iowa farmers over age 65 outnumbered farmers
under age 35 by more than three to one, and the number has been declining
steadily over the past 25 years."
A new report, the outcome of a research project supported by the Leopold Center,
examines proposals for beginning farmers and ranchers that are being recommended
for the 2007 Farm Bill. The report, "Giving a Beginner a Chance in the 2007 Farm
Bill," was recently released by the Center for Rural Affairs based in Lyons,
Nebraska.
Mike Duffy, director of the Beginning Farmer Center at Iowa State University,
and Traci Bruckner, associate director of the Nebraska center's rural policy
program and a member of the USDA's Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and
Ranchers, served as project investigators for the research. They analyzed farm
policies that impact sustainable, mid-size farmers and ranchers including
beginners as well as those converting to niche markets and/or sustainable
farming systems.
The introduction of the report states that “In 1978, the United States had
350,000 farmers that were 34 years of ages or younger. The USDA 2002 Census of
Agriculture revealed about 70,000 people 34 years of age or younger listing
their primary occupation as farming.” And the escalating value of land in the
Midwest is one of the most significant challenges that beginning farmers face.
The report examines the 2007 Farm Bill recommendations designed to address the
challenges facing beginning and mid-size farmers and ranchers and offers
examples of how they have responded to these challenges in today’s agricultural
arena. The report illustrates how “public policy recommendations would, if
included in the Farm Bill, encourage a new generation of agriculturists and
ensure the future vitality of rural communities.”
The Farm Bill component for beginning farmers and ranchers includes:
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The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, a
training and support initiative that would provide $25 million per year in
competitive grants to community-based organizations training and mentoring
beginning farmers and ranchers;
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Savings and lending provisions that help beginning farmers
and ranchers access credit and establish a pattern of savings, and
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Incentives to assist beginning farmers and ranchers and
socially disadvantaged farmers to establish conservation practices and
sustainable farming systems on their farms.
The research project was funded by the Policy Initiative of the Leopold Center,
which DeWitt leads. The 30-page report can be found on the Leopold Center's web
site at:
www.leopold.iastate.edu/research/policy.htm
For more information,
contact:
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