There are so many economic indicators, statistics, trends, cuts, gains, and projections in the agricultural industry. But who feels these more than the farmers?
They can speculate about what Kamala Harris would do regarding agricultural policy if she becomes president. Farm Policy News looks ahead to some possibilities here.
Or they can try to figure out if their business will suffer if Donald Trump escalates his previous trade war if he becomes president. CNBC lays out what might happen here.
Regardless of whether they own the land, share it with investors, or rent it from a relative, they live every fluctuation. Every import. Every export. Every interest rate move. Every political calculation.
They might have taken a risk with a small organic farm in Pennsylvania or planted the largest peach orchard in Georgia. No matter their farm’s size, no matter the specialty, they are the American experience.
Brent Worley -- When you are the sixth-generation family member running the farm 65 miles southwest of Nashville, Tennessee, there is a lot of pride and pressure. Worley can feel the weight of the land that his ancestors tended for 200 years.
His dad, his mentor, passed away. So, Worley has to find his own way. He is 34 years old and among a select few farmers of his generation in his home county.
WTVF-TV in Nashville shared Worley’s story of corn and cattle, and why fixing equipment that breaks down makes him nostalgic. Watch that story here.
Alan and Hannah Perry -- Misery loves company. Or so the saying goes. Drought brings misery. Television meteorologists frequently show the drought monitor maps when 95% of a state is in one. That was the case for the Perrys in Kirksville, Missouri. The couple runs the Cheha Ranch.
The commitment to maintaining native Missouri prairie plants –with their long roots – helped save their grasses during those days when rain refused to fall.
The Columbia Missouri told the Perry’s commitment to sustainability as part of a multi-media exploration of the region. See that here.
Jackson and Amanda Drost – Their life on the farm near Oskaloosa, Iowa, is supported by a career off the farm, too. Corn, beans, alfalfa, hay, and oats cover their land. The Drosts believe in diversification. They supplement their operation with outside jobs.
That adds to their workload. It reduces the financial load. The Drost children even started a popcorn business.
American Farmland Owner featured the Drosts for their commitment to sustaining both their land and their livelihoods. Watch the interview with the Drosts here.
Shrinking fast -- There were about 1,894,950 farms in the United States when 2024 began. If this year is like previous years, there will be fewer at year’s end.
The country lost 5,700 farms from 2022 to 2023.
When this century began, there were 2,166,780 farms. That means in less than a quarter century, 271,830 farms have disappeared or merged.
13% of individual farms gone over that time, making the determination of the Worleys, Perrys, and Drosts even more impressive.
RELATED: Track the trend of the number of farms in the United States shrinking over the years in this illustration from Statista.
