Young Farmers in the News

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Young farmers in the news – National Young Farmers Coalition

What Does Student Loan Forgiveness Have to Do with Farming? Everything.
Kelsey Lindsey — Civil Eats and The Atlantic
NYFC has pinpointed a number of barriers of entry for new farmers, including sky-high land prices, lack of access to water, and lack of training. Along with these hurdles, NYFC has zeroed in on an issue affecting about 40 million Americans and around 70 percent of college graduates: student loan debt. READ MORE.

Millennial Farmers Fight An Uphill Battle. It’s Time To Support Them.
Joseph Erbentraut — The Huffington Post
American agriculture has a big problem to deal with. And there’s no easy fix on the table. According to the most recent data from the Department of Agriculture, the average age of an American farmer is 58 years old, and that number has been continually increasing for some three decades. […] Luckily, there is another statistic on U.S. farmers that offers some hope. READ MORE.

America’s Young Farmers: We Want Student Loan Relief
Neal Ungerleider – Fast Company
The organization is putting its weight behind legislation called the Young Farmer Success Act, which was introduced in 2015 by Representative Chris Gibson (R-NY) and Representative Joe Courtney (D-CT). If passed, the act would add farming to the list of professions currently eligible for student loan forgiveness, which include teaching, nursing, and student workers. READ MORE.

Young farmers are essential to ensure future food supply
Hannah Becker  — The Kansas City Star (Op-ed)
I’ve wanted to be a farmer as long as I can remember, so I went to college in pursuit of two degrees I believed would prepare me to produce high quality agriculture products in an economically sound way, a B.S. in animal and dairy science and an MBA. […] When it came time to start my own farm, I used my degrees on a daily basis, but they came at a cost. READ MORE.