Average age of farmer and habitat

landman

landman

New member
The USDA just reported that the average age of farmers is now 57 year old up from 55 just five years ago. What does this mean?

It could be that in just 10 years time we will see many small farmers retire from farming. And since there aren't many young farmers to take over those farms they will be likely be taken over by larger farm corporations who generally are less interested in habitat and recreational pheasant hunting. Unless of course, they can generate significant income from hunting.

LM
 
I can tell you what is happening here in Washington. When a farmer retires he will lease his land to a neighbor or relative, They do it on shares. The retiree gets 1/3 the operator gets 2/3. With the increase in technology, better Tractors etc,, The Farmer can work more acres quicker and still spend about the same time in the field. Most farmers in my area are farming 2000-4000 acres. Some are doing more than that.

This makes it rough on the hunter. The guys working the land and has control of the Hunting Rights could live 10, 20-40 miles away form the actual site. I am one that will not enter on a piece of land to hunt without permission and the name and address of the person that gave that permission. Believe me having the name and address has saved my butt many times.---Bob
 
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Maybe we're looking at this wrong. Maybe we should all strive to be farmers if we would only age 2 years out of every 5?????? I suspect that there are more than 4 variables in the equation that figures this change in median age and it is hard to judge what is happening by just looking at the final number. What it does resemble is the median age of hunters as well. Looks like both groups are having trouble recruiting replacements for themselves. I do hope we can change this trend. Unfortunately, the shift from 95% of America's population being on the farm around 1900 to 2% today, these stats may well be significantly fixed in an aging slide. I'm just glad I'm not just starting my hunting career. Folks my age and older have probably seen our best years afield.
 
There some good posts here with very good points. I agree with Rocky, I was back to Minnesota a while back I came in Through Albert Lea and up to the Twin Cities and just about all the way up was Just about solid house. Back in the late 60's and early 70's those were my hunting fields. I lived at that time in
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Inver Grove Heights. Prairie Drifter makes reference to the ages and hunter and farmer both are losing people. I am saddened to say he so right and I wish it wasn't so.---Bob
 
Kansas' Future

I am most familiar with Kansas and the challenges before us on 1) Upland bird populations; 2)Available hunting acres; 3) Number of hunters; 4) Recruiting new hunters.

Kansas, of course, stands to lose many acres of habitat as the CRP expires over the next few years. Along with those acres will be loss of acres in our Walk In Hunting Areas(WHIA). All of this could mean fewer birds and fewer opportunities to hunt, therefore, the hunter numbers could go further down. Is there anything that can be done?

I do not have all the answers, but I want to encourage you that efforts are being put into place to address these issues and develop solutions. Look for upcoming announcements.

There are several programs aimed at recruiting new hunters to our ranks. One that I am familiar with and support fully is Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors, Inc. Mike Christensen in Wichita heads this program that is working in several states. One way to support the PIO program is to purchase raffle tickets for the upcoming drawing. Starting Wednesday, March 4, 2009, a gun will be given away each Wednesday for the next year. One ticket will get you into all the drawings. A good way to support a program bringing youth into the outdoor activities of hunting and fishing and a chance to add another gun to your cabinet.

Check it out-
http://www.outdoormentors.org/gun-a-week.htm

The time to get your tickets for the â??09 Gun-a-Week Drawing is NOW!

Next week, weâ??re going to give away the 1st of 54 guns!

Some lucky winner will win a Franchi Deluxe 48 AL 20 gauge shotgun!

48al_field_20ga_lg.jpg


The retail on these, according to the Franchi site is $1,199!

And weâ??re going to be giving away a gun every week for 50 weeks. And someone is guaranteed to win at least 2 guns as we put all of the winner in a hat at the end and draw for a bonus gun!

Get your ticket today by going online at http://www.outdoormentors.org/donate.htm. For a $50 donation, you will get 1 ticket that is entered into each of the 52 weekly drawing. For a $100 donation, you will get 3 tickets!

If you would prefer to give me your credit card information over the phone, just give me a call at 316-290-8883.

Or you can mail your donation to the address below.

But donâ??t wait too longâ?¦that nice 20 gauge is gonna have a new home next week!

Thanks for supporting Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors!

Mike Christensen

Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors, Inc.

310 E 2nd

Wichita, KS 67202

316-290-8883

mchristensen@outdoormentors.org

http://www.outdoormentors.org

P.S. To see how the Saints Baseball team in Liberal is helping to get kids outdoors, check out this link:

http://athletics.sccc.edu/2008-09 Archives/Hunting.html
 
I know Colorado stands to lose 500,000 CRP acres in 2009 alone, and another 700,000 to 1MM acres in the next two years unless USDA can come up with a plan to extend those contracts until a solid solution can be found.
http://www.denverpost.com/huntfish/ci_11706925
Hunters as a whole must be active and in the ears of their representatives in Washington. Tom Vilsack is Obama's secretary of Ag. He is the former two-term governor of Iowa prior to joining Obama's cabinet. He has a keen understanding of hunting/tourism's economic impacts, in addition to the benefits to farmers and land of taking mediocre soil out of production in Iowa. Vilsack is as good a selection for Ag as hunters could hope for (apparently keeping Schafer wasn't an option...he was good too). Get your representatives knocking on his door. If you have found yourself hunting on CRP land more than 40% of your hunting days in the past 5 years, you should be concerned.
 
Well said, Wilson. I know that I am in the ear of my legislators at both the state and federal level all the time. It feels like my single voice does not do much good, but knowing that others are out there makes me feel like my voice can be one of many.
 
My family is prety much falling into the gone out of business rule. My uncle is the only one farming my grandparents farm by himself and has no kids and he is 64. I was raised on that farm raising hogs and crops and loved that life.My cousins have gone the big rout, farming 1,000s of acres. But the land that my mom stands to inherit is going to be split by 9 kids then 3 of us so if there is a scrap of land that trickles to me it will be a miricle, Not that I expect anything but I would like a small part of the family farm in north central IA to put into Pheasant habitat and leave that to some one who will appreciate or public hunting.
 
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