US agriculture deputy on mission to encourage next generation of American farmers, ranchers

Kathleen Merrigan

Washington Post — U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan sees an epidemic of sorts sweeping across America’s farmland. It has little to do with the usual challenges, like drought, rising fuel and feed prices or crop-eating pests. The country’s farmers and ranchers are getting older and there are fewer people standing in line to take their place. New Mexico has the highest average age of farmers and ranchers of any state at nearly 60 years old, and neighboring Arizona and Texas aren’t far behind. Nationally, the latest agricultural census figures show the fastest growing group of farmers and ranchers are those over age 65. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is beginning work on its 2012 census, and Merrigan is afraid the average age will be even higher when the data is compiled. “If we do not repopulate our working lands, I don’t know where to begin to talk about the woes,” she told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “There is a challenge here, a challenge that has a corresponding opportunity.” Read More News New Mexico

US agriculture deputy on mission to encourage next generation of American farmers, ranchers