When Mom and Dad don’t have a farm to give you

You wouldn’t be surprised to hear that farmers are a growing minority. You also wouldn’t be surprised to hear of a youngster interested in farming, but just doesn’t think it's possible with today’s land prices, interest rates, and economic climate. But we’ve come across some excellent success stories the past few months. While attending a conference this summer, we met Laura Daniels, a young dairy producer from Wisconsin. She started farming along with her husband from scratch and is proud to say that it is possible, when others don’t think it is.

At the same time, we meet dairy producers regularly who do not have children interested in farming to pass the torch to. These farms often sell their animals to another herd and the farm lies vacant. The land might even be sold, later to become a Wisteria Lane-like new subdivision.

We’ve heard of programs like Iowa State’s beginning farmer program. The program matches retiring farmers with those interested in starting farming. Their website lists well over 20 farms in Iowa and the Midwest that are looking for new partners to continue the farm. There aren’t many dairy farms on the list, but many of them look like they could be good opportunities for someone with the farming bug. We’ve also found a lot of starting farmer grants and loans from those in the Ag Credit System and the Farm Service Agency. Maybe it is more possible than you think.

What are other good resources for starting farmers? Do you know of many farmers who have started from scratch?