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Young farmer, rancher optimism hits survey high
81 percent more optimistic about ag than five years ago
"Young farmers and ranchers are truly excited about the future of agriculture and the roles they will continue to play in producing the world's safest and most abundant food supply. All Americans should share that excitement because this survey shows that the future of American agriculture is in competent, capable and caring hands."
--Bob Stallman,
president, American Farm Bureau Federation
Young farmers and ranchers this year expressed an unprecedented high level of optimism regarding their futures in agriculture, but said they continue to be challenged by overall profitability and would like to see government do more to help young people just starting out in farming.
The 12th annual survey of participants in the American Farm Bureau Federation's Young Farmer and Rancher (YF&R) Program, revealed that 81 percent of the respondents said they were more optimistic about agriculture than five years ago--up more than 20 percentage points from last year and the highest level of optimism since the survey's inception in 1993. The previous high mark for stated optimism was 80.7 percent in 1997.
That was one of the key findings of this year's survey of 342 young farmers and ranchers from 45 states, ages 18 to 35. The survey was conducted by AFBF during the organization's 2004 YF&R Conference, held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Overall, the survey revealed that young farmers and ranchers are committed to their mission of providing food, fiber and fuel for the nation, while they care for the environment and invest in new technology to sharpen their business skills for today's competitive world.
For the sixth straight year America's young farmers and ranchers said the biggest challenge facing them is overall profitability. And, for the first time ever, the young farmers said providing help to beginning farmers and ranchers was the best way the government could help.
"Young farmers and ranchers are truly excited about the future of agriculture and the roles they will continue to play in producing the world's safest and most abundant food supply," said AFBF President Bob Stallman. "All Americans should share that excitement because this survey shows that the future of American agriculture is in competent, capable and caring hands."
Ranking the challenges
In spite of their high level of optimism, overall profitability (18.6 percent) was the top concern cited by the young farmers and ranchers. That mark, however, fell considerably from last year's 31.9 percent.
The young farmers indicated the limited availability of land and other resources was their second highest challenge, selected by 16.5 percent of respondents, also down from last year's 21.9 percent. Third on this year's list of challenges was the cost of government regulations (15.7 percent, up from 13.6 percent in 2003). Over the survey's 12-year history, profitability has topped the list of concerns nine times and regulations three times.
The fourth biggest challenge on this year's list was the availability of healthcare, selected by 10 percent of the respondents. Fifth on the list (9.3 percent) was the challenge of urban encroachment on farmland, followed by challenges related to parental control of farm decisions (8.1 percent), the availability of water (7.3 percent) and agricultural financing (5.2 percent). Competition from more established farms finished in ninth place. Labor issues, aftereffects of the U.S. bovine spongiform encephalopathy incident and tax burdens rounded out the list.
A helping hand
When asked the most important step the U.S. government could take, nearly a quarter of the young farmers (23 percent) said they would like more help for beginning farmers. That was last year's second-place choice with 14.5 percent in 2003. Just three years ago, help for beginning farmers was only in fifth place.
After six consecutive years in the top spot, boosting U.S. agricultural exports slipped to second spot this year with 19.2 percent, a drop from 2003's 24.1 percent. Federal tax reform was third with 13.4 percent, while strengthening protection for property owners (11.7 percent) and mandating an enhanced role for renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel (9.6 percent) rounded out the top five.
In spite of the continued importance of farm program payments to the current economic survival of America's farmers and ranchers, more than eight out of 10 (81.8 percent) said future farm income should come from the marketplace. That's up more than 10 percentage points from 2003. This year's number was the highest vote of confidence in the marketplace since 1996, when the percentage was 87.9 percent, compared to the lowest (34.5 percent) just four years ago.
Technology use
The use of technology by young farmers and ranchers has become commonplace, with a record-high 92.4 percent having access to computers at home or on the farm. Cell phone use (89.7 percent) and Internet access (88.3 percent) also were at unprecedented high levels. Just five years ago, only a little more than half of the young farmers (52.2 percent) had access to the Internet.
Today, young farmers and ranchers who use the Internet do so for many reasons. While accessing general and agricultural news was the highest reported use (69.9 percent), many are using the Internet for entertainment (60.8 percent), family education (49.1 percent), record-keeping (41.5 percent), purchasing equipment and supplies (39.5 percent) and political activity (32.5 percent). The use of e-mail showed another sizeable increase, shooting up to 87.4 percent -- a five-percentage-point increase from last year.
The use of personal handheld computer devices rose four percentage points to 23.4 percent, while the use of pagers fell more than three points to 6.1 percent. Home satellite television reception dipped just a bit to 35.4 percent.
Conservation and the environment
Mirroring past surveys, this year's respondents reported a strong commitment to conservation and the use of environmentally beneficial farming practices. More than half (52.9 percent) said they employ conservation tillage on their farms. Nearly half (47.1 percent) said they regularly test soil or crop tissue prior to the application of nutrients and 44.4 percent said they practice crop rotation with three or more crops. Nearly a quarter (24.6 percent) said they use integrated pest management techniques such as field scouting to reduce crop protectant use.
Regarding other practices: 18.7 percent have land enrolled in the conservation reserve program; 13.5 percent use contour farming or strip cropping; 13.5 percent actively manage wetlands resources; and 12.3 percent leave buffer strips to benefit wildlife.
More than 86 percent of the young farmers surveyed said they select farming practices based on both the environment and economics. According to the survey, 68.4 percent said both with a slight emphasis on economics, while 18.3 percent said both with an emphasis on the environment. Those results generally mirror the findings from previous years.
Just four out of 10 (40.3 percent) of the young farmers reported they would plant biotech crop varieties this year. That is down significantly from more than 54 percent in 2003. The young farmers' use of global positioning systems, where satellite technology is used to plot precise field activities, increased by approximately four percentage points to 19 percent.
Managing and marketing
This year's survey also reveals that young farmers continue to employ a number of special management and marketing practices and services to gain a competitive edge. The most common was accounting services, used by 39.2 percent of respondents. Second was the use of professional crop advisers, 36.6 percent.
Other management and marketing practices employed included: hedging with futures and options, 29.8 percent; engaging in contract production, 26.9 percent; using marketing information services, 23.1 percent; and using professional marketing or management consultants, 18.7 percent.
Income and image
To supplement farm income, more than 70 percent of the young farmers surveyed said that they, their spouse or both work off the farm. That's up slightly from last year, but generally tracks with past surveys. Of those young farmers reporting off-farm employment, 42 percent said the cost of health insurance was the primary reason.
In addition to off-farm employment, 60.1 percent of the respondents said their farm income is supplemented by other farm-related enterprises such as custom work, truck driving and seed or supply sales.
According to the survey, 40.3 percent of the respondents started farming or ranching as a member of a family partnership, while 32.7 percent started on their own. While 15.5 percent said marriage led them to farm, about 11.5 percent reported that they inherited their farm or ranch.
Opinions and attitudes
When quizzed about their opinions regarding the public's attitude toward farmers and ranchers, 43.4 percent (up from 35.9 percent last year) said they thought the public would weigh in positively, 20.4 percent said the public would respond negatively and 36.2 percent said they thought members of the public generally did not think about them at all.
When asked if they felt better off financially than they were five years ago, 86 percent said "yes," up considerably from last year's 81.4 percent and 2002's 83.1 percent. The record-high response for that question was 89 percent in 1998, while the lowest was 76 percent in 1994.
A steady percentage of the young farmers and ranchers (93.7 percent) said they planned on being farmers for life. The record high for that question came in 1995 (99.5 percent), while the record low was 91.8 percent in 2002.
More of this year's young farmers also said they would like to see their children follow in their footsteps, 89.3 percent, compared to 88 percent last year. The record high for that question came in 1996 (95.5 percent), while the record low was 84.5 percent, recorded in the first YF&R survey back in 1993.
AFBF's Young Farmer & Rancher program includes both men and women between the ages of 18-35. The program's objective is to provide leadership skills for building a more effective Farm Bureau, which will preserve individual freedom and expand opportunities in agriculture.
Date: 4/8/04
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