New generation of young farmers increasingly college educated but indebted | General Homesteading Discussion | Forums

not really any different then any other profession, why not just go work on a farm for 4 years though?

Sonoma farmer Andrea Davis-Cetina didn’t discover her passion for farming until she went to college.

She entered Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., intending to study photography but, during a stint on the campus farm, found herself enjoying every aspect of agriculture instead, the 32-year-old said. So she switched course and instead earned a degree in sustainable agriculture in 2005. She now runs Quarter Acre Farm, which grows organic vegetables and seedlings.

“Studying agriculture in college was extremely helpful for me in becoming a successful farmer because I was able to study how to grow a plant from a seed or make a crop plan,” Davis-Cetina said. “I was also able to take courses in ecology, anthropology and rural studies, which prepared me for the lifestyle and challenges of being a farmer.”

At one time, young farmers inherited the family’s fields or gained valuable experience working neighboring crops. Today, driven by more complicated organic farming practices and agricultural technology, they’re increasingly winning their farm smarts in classrooms or during an internship, and either leasing or buying farmland from non-family members.

Like other starting farmers, Davis-Cetina said she believes a college degree allowed her to play catch-up.

“Once I decided I wanted to farm as a career, I felt the need to study everything I could get my hands on involving farming,” she said.

Young farmers are part of a demographic that agriculture officials say are needed to replenish a rapidly graying industry. In Sacramento County, the average age of a farmer is 57 years old, just below the national average. The aging farmer population means that nearly 65 percent of farmland in the U.S. is on the cusp of some sort of transition as many farmers near retirement age, according to the 2012 U.S. Department of Agriculture census.

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