In yesterday's Fresno Bee, reporter Dennis Pollock opened a story about aging farmers with a vignette of Shigeo Yokota, who at 89 years old and suffering from arthritis still climbs on a tractor to till orchards and vineyards around his home. Yokota's son, Glenn Yokota, is a staff research associate in Kent Daane's lab at the UC Kearney Agricultural Center.
The article says that a fourth of American farmers are 65 or older. Half are 55 or older. The average age of California farmers went from 53.2 years old in 1974 to 56.8 in 2002, the last year the federal government conducted an agricultural census, according to the story.
For his story, Pollack sought comment from UCCE economist Steven Blank.
"They're unable to retire," Blank is quoted "They can't afford it. If the sole source of income is the agricultural operation, and they have no retirement or pension, they reinvest profits to expand or update facilities."
Pollock also talked to Dan Sumner, director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center. Sumner notes that people in general are living longer and that the agricultural census can be misleading because it includes farmers who are part time and retirees.
"It doesn't mean we're running out of farms," Sumner is quoted in the article. "Some are getting bigger and more multigenerational, to take advantage of scale. Consolidation means a good middle-class living that's attracting talented people."
UC's Blank added that some of those new generations are bringing innovations that will be needed to keep the United States in the game as it competes globally against countries where production costs are considerably lower.
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