Finding available, adequate land to begin a farming or ranching enterprise or expand an established farm, along with excelling in the endeavor, are struggles young farmers and ranchers are facing, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) annual outlook survey of participants in the Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) program.
Other issues ranked as top concerns by young farmers and ranchers included burdensome government regulations and red tape, availability of farm labor and related regulations, water availability, urbanization of farm land and health care availability and cost.
Participants for the informal survey were young farmers and ranchers ages 18-35 at AFBF’s 2014 YF&R Leadership Conference.