1 . To engage and recruit the next generation of farmers we must think creatively and encourage innovation.

Speaking to the rich heritage and continual improvement seen in production agriculture, the FFA Creed, written in 1928, begins, “I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words but of deeds — achievements won by the present and past generations of agriculturists; in the promise of better days through better ways, even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us from the struggles of former years.”

Molded by challenging conditions, innovation is in a farmer’s nature: there is a saying that a farmer can fix anything with a little baling twine and duct tape. For generations, building or expanding an animal enterprise has been a way to bring the next generation back to the farm. Or, young farmers start custom service businesses, such as trucking, drone applications, or catering to a niche market, so that a farm can support the next generation.

As Missouri Pork CEO Scott Hays described to me, “For generations pigs have been a way to bring the next generations back to the farm. My dad expanded the pig operation and specialized in pig production when he joined the farm in the late 60s. I added sows to the farming operation when I partnered with my father-in-law to start farming in 1989. Two of my daughters built or bought pig barns to start farming in the last ten years. Some young farmers have added a pig trailer to custom haul pigs as a part time job to help themselves get established on the farm. We also have members who expanded their show pig project or started a niche market business to come back to the farm.”

Capital costs to enter the agricultural industry have increased significantly, but opportunities can be created to build equity and supplement a farm, including through animal agriculture and innovative ventures. We must support entrepreneurship and opportunities to build farms and agribusinesses through training, education and supporting the freedom for farmers to build agricultural opportunities through all facets of agricultural production.

As we support the freedom for farmers to operate and build new farm businesses, farmers will continue innovating by producing more using fewer inputs, which can lower barriers to entering production agriculture. As an example, according to the University of California Davis CLEAR Center, over 70 years, dairy farmers have reduced land use by 90 percent, feed usage by 77 percent and water use by 65 percent. Farmers have driven this innovation at the farm level, motivated by building a sustainable business which can be passed down to future generations, stewarding natural resources and enhancing animal comfort. Missouri Farmers Care annually presents the Missouri Agricultural Stewardship Award, highlighting the innovation occurring on the land related to agricultural production and highlighting producers who push the envelope of innovation to accomplish more with an ever-shrinking footprint.

Farmers are eternal optimists who plant in hope, cultivate in faith and hope to not end in debt. By encouraging innovation and creativity on the farm, we pave the way for the next generation of farmers and ranchers.

2 . To engage and recruit the next generation of farmers we must build agricultural education that prepares farmers and a future work force for a rapidly evolving industry.

As the speed of evolution in the agriculture industry picks up pace thanks to constantly improving science and technology, we must continue to improve our tools to educate a future agricultural workforce and farmers and ranchers. Agriculture takes a wide array of talent to meet the needs of a growing population while minimizing our utilization of natural resources. We must invest in educational programs to attract and invest in people drawn to agriculture.

Missouri Farmer Care’s Agriculture Education on the Move™ (Ag Ed on the Move), which connects elementary students to the agriculture all around them, plants seeds for agriculture’s future entrepreneurs and workforce. A student who grew up in an urban setting is introduced early to the potential career opportunities in agriculture while students from the farm may be introduced to science and technology jobs they were not aware existed. Through this innovative initiative, elementary students picture themselves in agriculture. After a lesson this summer where students germinated soybean seeds, I watched a classroom of suburban students excitedly proclaim, in chorus, “I want to be a soybean farmer!” and another classroom of rural kids spontaneously cheer after watching a video that showed robots using lasers to grade and sort fresh eggs. The high school and college students who teach Ag Ed on the Move are receiving similar exposure while also building their teaching, communication and mentorship skills valuable in agriculture.

While students have options to build the skillset they will need to enter agriculture, the industry is evolving and so must our tools. Agriculture has become increasingly reliant on technology, from precision agriculture to drone application to the incorporation of artificial intelligence to improve productivity. Not only are farmers needed, but programmers, scientists with a variety of specialized skill sets, engineers and data analysts are needed to continue pushing agricultural innovation.

As Keith Dietzschold, Agriculture Education Director and Missouri FFA State Advisor exhorts, “Agricultural education programs must expand to include courses on emerging technologies, sustainability and business management. This will prepare students for the diverse roles required in modern agriculture. Integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics into the agricultural curriculum is also crucial for fostering a new generation of professionals capable of advancing the industry. The future of agriculture depends on the leaders we prepare today.”

3 . To engage and recruit the next generation of farmers we must support opportunity and entrepreneurship at home.

Missouri Farmers Care, a coalition of Missouri’s agricultural associations, cooperatives and organizations, realized that there was a gap in welcoming new and returning farmers back to our local communities across Missouri. In 2015 we launched a program, Agri-Ready County Designation, to address the gap between support at the state level and in our local communities. Through this collaboration with local leaders, we collaborate to build the pro-business environment at the local level. Agri-Ready Designated Counties celebrate agriculture as a driver of their local economy, do not have regulations in place more stringent than state law regarding agricultural production and welcome new agricultural and agriculturally related opportunities.

Since 2015, 74 of Missouri’s 114 counties sought and have been granted an Agri-Ready Designation. Local leaders drive the discussion about the county’s strengths and opportunities and Missouri agriculture pulls together with locals to promote these counties as a great place to live, work and do business. Through this hyper-local effort, the agricultural community seeks to build opportunities at home for farmers and ranchers deeply rooted to their farms or attract new talent and ideas to places welcoming of what they have to offer. Agri-Ready Counties literally and figuratively have proudly hung up their ‘open for business’ signs.

On a broader scale, Missouri is positioning itself as one of the premier locations in the nation for agricultural businesses to grow and thrive. From our Governor to elected officials from our most rural counties, Missouri leaders are united in our mission to grow the state’s value-added agricultural capacity. Missouri welcomes businesses which utilize our abundant commodities. As a state that ranks in the top ten in producing ten different commodities, the opportunities are as unique and varied as the geographies of our state.

By creating an environment conducive to growth, investment and entrepreneurship, farmers and ranchers are supported in creating new opportunities. Together, we are working to build an even stronger, more diverse agricultural industry across Missouri to create opportunities for the next generation of agriculturalists.

4 . To engage and recruit the next generation of farmers we must bring sexy back to agriculture.

As Mike Rowe pointed out in a letter to then President Obama, fifteen years ago, “people understood that sweat and dirt were the hallmarks of important work. Today that understanding has faded. Somewhere in our economy’s massive transition from manufacturing to services, we have forsaken skilled labor, along with many aspects of our traditional work ethic.” With those changes, we stopped encouraging children to pursue positions in skilled trades, including agriculture. Couple that public sentiment with the farm crisis of the 1980s or sustained low commodity prices of the early 2000s, and America was encouraging our youth to pursue education and careers which provided financial stability and a ‘better life’.

One key to recruiting the next generation back into agriculture is by effectively telling the story of agriculture. This ties closely into the vision of Missouri Farmers Care: “All Missourians will understand the truth about modern agriculture, food production and farm life and their connection to Missouri’s food security, economy and social well-being.” With that understanding, there is an appeal to agriculture, even to those outside of the industry.

One of my professional missions involves telling the myriad stories of Missouri agriculture. In featuring diverse farming and ranching families from across the state, we do our part to bring a little sexy back to agriculture. We tell farmer stories to baseball fans over the airways, in stadium and in print in conjunction with the St. Louis Cardinals. We hold up role models and examples of people finding their own path, strengthening their connections to their land and animals and contributing to their communities. Through the Missouri Farmers Care Drive to Feed Kids, weshare a little bit of agriculture’s heart for our neighbors and communities by providing for those among us who don’t experience agriculture’s abundance.

When setting out on a career path, individuals, and particularly youth, often seek meaning, fulfillment, connection and value for their career and their purpose. While agriculture and other skilled trades may have been overshadowed while our country experienced an explosion of service and tech industries, agriculture is the front line of food and economic security for the entire nation. Food security equates with national security. A thriving agricultural sector equates with economic security.

5 . To engage and recruit the next generation of farmers we must ensure there are policies in place conducive to the risk taking required for production agriculture.

During this contentious election year, the federal Farm Bill, historically renewed every five years, quietly expired Sept. 30, 2024. The extensive programming authorized and funded through the Farm Bill includes rural development, crop insurance, food assistance, beginning farmer support, disaster relief and conservation. Among other programs, the Farm Bill supports beginning farmer programs such as loan guarantees and reduced down payment requirements which provide beneficial financing for those just getting started in production. The Bill also provides a safety net for farmers to make massive investments needed to raise food, feed and fuel while facing volatile markets and Mother Nature. If not renewed or rewritten by the end of 2024, many Farm Bill provisions revert to outdated and outmoded policies originally established in 1938 and 1949.

Row crop, livestock and specialty crop producers depend on the safety net provided by the federal Farm Bill. In 2012, Missouri was in the throes of a historic drought. By May, the pastures our cattle rely on to graze through November were drying up. Hay fields needed to grow winter feed were in the same dire situation. That fall, federal disaster relief was delivered to cattlemen, which provided the resources to purchase supplemental feed needed to sustain the herd through the winter. Without this relief, the drought would have forced our family farm to make hard choices, reducing our cow herd by half. That reduction would have taken years to recover from. Over time, disaster assistance and other safety nets established by the Farm Bill have provided critical assistance to many farms across Missouri facing disasters or sustained prices below the cost of production. It is important for Congress to pass a Farm Bill to provide a measure of security to America’s farmer and ranchers.

Read the full story here: https://medium.com/authority-magazine/ashley-mccarty-from-missouri-farmers-care-on-how-we-can-engage-and-recruit-the-next-generation-of-f0225d262519.