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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 40 percent of American farmers are 55 or older. That’s cause for concern.

It’s long been the feeling in the farming community that young people are abandoning the rural lifestyle for the bustle of the big city. The latest example of this phenomena is beautifully depicted in TLC’s new reality show Breaking Amish.

The show follows several Amish and Mennonite who decide to leave their communities and try their hand at living in New York City. Viewers watch as the young Amish stand in awe of the Big Apple and nearly succumb to panic attacks caused by the hustle and bustle of the city. I would totally watch the show if I didn’t feel absolutely horrified for the young, unsuspecting Amish.

Rural flight

It seems like common knowledge that rural America and agriculture have been in the midst of a mass exodus for years, but New York Times writer Natalie Kitroeff, sheds light on an interesting phenomena: college students leaving suburban life for the soil.

Kitroeff followed a group of 23- to 28-year-olds who work as farm hands in New York. Many of the farm hands grew up in suburban environments and never had any experience being on or around farms. If you’re wondering why these young, college-educated, folks are trading briefcases for wheelbarrows, one of the farm hands, Abe, said, “Working on a farm doesn’t feel like being part of an oppressive institution.”

The draw

Maybe young people are becoming tired of the corporate ladder and the competitive nature of the world’s cities.

It could also be the dismal job market or the need to reconnect to the outdoors. Forest Pritchard makes a good point in his article, “The Rise of the College Educated Farmer.” He writes, “After a half a century of suburban living, an entire generation (or even two?) has become fully disconnected from agriculture.”

Think about it, America is filling with people who spend more time indoors in the suburbs than outside in the county. My generation thought the only way to live was inside air-conditioned classrooms that prepared us for air-conditioned offices.

Pritchard is himself college-educated. He argues that his intellectual pursuits have actually made him a better farmer.

What do I think? Well, it’s encouraging, for sure. The fact that we farm fewer acres with fewer farmers is a scary thought, even though we’re technically growing greater amounts of grains.

Some interesting facts: 42 percent of the current undergraduates in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences are from suburban or urban backgrounds.

Undergraduate enrollment is at an all-time high in the college, at 2,345 in the Main Campus and 612 at the Agriculture Technical Institute in Wooster, Ohio. — That’s a 32 percent increase since 2005.

As a member of the computer and concrete generation, I understand why farm work is attractive. It’s relatively simple and straightforward, meaning input equals output. Farmers often work with tangibles. In other words, you reap what you sow. But, more importantly, it’s foreign to many of us. Our fingertips crave more than the feedback from a computer mouse or a tablet. We need to see the, pardon the pun, fruits of our labor. Maybe we‘ve lived in a world of intangibles for far too long.

Farming will get younger

If you’re worried about the future of agriculture — -rest assured. Enrollment is increasing at major agricultural colleges around the country and urban farms are bridging the supply-demand gap in major cities. It’ll be very exciting to see what my generation has in store for the world’s most important profession. Maybe in a few years the average age of the American farmer will be 35 and not 55.

Young farmer stories:

Here’s a story of a young farmer from Farm and Dairy.

If you’re a young farmer and would like to share you story, contact me!

Will is Farm and Dairy's newest writer. He's recently moved to Lisbon, Ohio where he lives in a church turned community theater. He enjoys writing (of course), theater and hiking. Will Flannigan

View all posts by Will Flannigan

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