Farmer Gripe
Plain talk about the squeeze on family farms

Farm Life and Mental Health

A Letter to the Next Generation: Should You Even Try?

This is a letter to anyone young and thinking about farming. It will not tell you what to do. It will try to tell you what a lot of people wish they had known before they started.

Illustration for the farm.FM story “World Spends $950 Billion on Farming, Farmers Check Mailbox”
A farm.FM story on young farmers fits this honest letter to the next generation about whether to try farming. Read “World Spends $950 Billion on Farming, Farmers Check Mailbox” on farm.FM.

Is it worth it?

Farming gives something few jobs can: work you can see, land you know and a rhythm tied to the seasons. It also asks a lot. Money can be tight, hours are long and weather and markets do not care how hard you try. Many people love it and still say it nearly broke them.

So the honest answer is that it depends on you, your family, your finances and your tolerance for risk. This letter will not push you either way. It is written by an opinion site with a point of view, but the point of the letter is to help you ask better questions, not to sell you a dream or talk you out of one.

What should you know about the money?

Land, equipment and operating costs are large compared with typical starting incomes, so many beginners start small, rent, work off the farm or join a family operation. Plan for a slow build. Watch debt carefully. Know that loans have to be repaid in bad years too.

Programs for beginning farmers exist through FSA farm loans, Farmers.gov and state resources like the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. Terms change, so ask what is available now. The basics are at this small farm guide and an ag careers guide.

What will surprise you?

The paperwork. The mechanical breakdowns that always come at the wrong time. The way a good year can be followed by a hard one. How lonely it can feel when the days run together. How much of the job is management rather than driving a tractor.

You may also be surprised by the community. Neighbors who borrow a truck, bring a casserole and show up in a crisis are real, and in places like Enid and the Oklahoma Panhandle they often make the difference.

What do skeptics say?

Skeptics argue that margins are thin, land is costly, and young people are better served by a stable career. They say romantic stories hide the risk. They are not wrong to say so. The decision should be made with numbers, not nostalgia.

Optimists respond that agriculture needs new people, that there are many ways in, from farming to ag business to technical careers, and that a life on the land has value beyond income. Both views are fair. Weigh them. Talk to someone who farms, someone who left farming and someone who works in agriculture without farming, and notice where their stories overlap.

How do you take care of yourself?

Farm stress is real, and farm life can be isolating. Build a few close relationships, keep some time that is not work and talk to someone when things feel heavy. Resources are available through SAMHSA and the Rural Health Information Hub.

If you ever feel hopeless or think about harming yourself, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You are worth more than any farm.

How do you start well?

Talk to people who are doing it. Visit a field day. Work for a season on someone else's operation. Ask your local OSU Extension office what training exists. Learn the financial basics before the first big purchase.

The NRCS offers conservation help and technical advice, with details to confirm directly. Keep records from the very first day. Write down what you spent, what you earned and what you learned, because in five years that notebook will be the most honest teacher you have, and a lender will take you more seriously when you can show your numbers.

What is the last word?

Try it if you can afford to fail, if you can learn fast and if you have people around you. Wait if the plan only works when everything goes right. Either way, the farm needs people who care, and there are many ways to stay close to the land, including ag careers, custom work and part-time operations that grow slowly with you.

Over at farm.FM the farming section has stories from people who made the leap, and a farm.FM story on young farmers is worth a read. When you need a break, the farm jokes page is a good place to land.

Sources and further reading

Ask locally: Ask your county OSU Extension office to connect you with a mentor or beginning farmer program.

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