Sunday, January 13, 2008

Organic for Beginners

"The lack of young farmers is threatening the future of agriculture. Plenty of young people want to get into farming and ranching, but few can afford the high startup costs of land, machinery, and operating capital.

Most production today is marketed as generic grain or livestock, where the only way to compete is to produce for less. These short-term gains are quickly lost as others learn these skills or adopt the new technology.

The one practice that has kept many farms solvent is an increase in production. But steadily increasing production means greater investment, an option not available to most wanting to get into agriculture. Is it possible the “get bigger or get out” philosophy is making it impossible for young people to get in?"


Read the article