The increasing age of the average American farmer has been a topic of concern since the latest Ag Census was released, but new research from Farm Doc Daily says that it is nothing to be worried about.
The 2022 Census of Agriculture revealed that the average age of the U.S. farmer is 58 years old. That is 0.6 years older than what was reported in 2017 and nine years older than the 1945 census when age was first reported.
If you compare the average age though to the relative U.S. population, farmers are slightly younger!
Since 1960, the average age of the American farmer has increased by seven years while the median age of the U.S. population has gone up by more than eight years.
The census also shows that 85% of farmers who are older than 65 are involved with the day-to-day farming operations, 86% of those who are younger than 65 are too. Researchers with Farm Dog Daily say that farming requires inputs other than labor and there is nothing to worry about with the average age.
