A week ago I attended a Young Farmers event at nearby Greig Farm. Most of us give very little thought to how the food we eat gets to the dinner table.
At the event it was brought to our attention that the average age of a farmer in the US is 57 so in the next 20 years many will be retiring. The question is who, will fill the gap? Young farmers. Easier said than done because of issues facing the present young farmers. The major issue is that of land ownership. Many of them cannot afford land and have to resort to renting which has major drawbacks such as the fact that if the land is rented the young farm cannot put in any permanent infrastructure since they don't own the land.
Ben Shue, the speaker at the event is one such young farmer. Ben Started Hearty Roots in 2004 as a CSA(community supported agriculture) where members buys shares and pick up produce weekly or bi-weekly in season. This form is operated on 25 rented acres on the existing 500 acres Grieg Farm.
I was struck by the fact that many of these young farmers did not come from a farming background but learned organic farming from other farmers. Young Farmers have now banded together to share ideas as well as better farming processes, the network is called Farm Hack.
The best part of the event was the tour of the farm, and this was a tour with a spectacular view, as you could see the Catskill Mountains in the background. We first stopped by a large garlic field and this was of interest to me since I had never seen planted garlic - just the end products. Ben also explained the reason for planting a variety of crops; by doing this there is less chance of an entire season getting wiped out as the various crops are affected by different diseases or insects, so this is a kind of control method.
At the end of the tour we returned to Gigi market which is also located in a large barn on Grieg farm. There we had more of an opportunity to mingle and enjoy tasty refreshments prepared by the staff at Gigi's market. Again there were additional speeches on why it is important to support the young farmers.
Copyright © by Jennifer Fivelsdal, all rights reserved-Who will fill the gap now that the average age of a farmer is around 57?
Jennifer Fivelsdal - JFIVE HOMES REALTY LLC - 845-758-6842- jennifer@jfivehomes.com
www.jfivehomes.com or www.midhudsonhomevalue.com
