Pantagraph: Program to put older farmers in mentoring role

[Tweed]

http://www.pantagraph.com/stories/011905/bus_20050119006.shtml

"For nearly 20 years, U.S. Census of Agriculture figures have told the same story -- farmers are aging as a population.

In 1987, the average farmer was 50.4 years old. The age crept up to 51.7 years in 1997 and then to 53.2 years in 1997. The latest census of 2002 showed the average farmer was 55.1 years old.

Some agricultural analysts have pointed to the incremental average age increase as a cause for concern. The capital demands of running a farm are monumental, posing a financial barrier for some young men and women who don't have family ties to farms. So who will produce food for the nation and world in the future?

A group of Illinois farm organizations and agribusinesses has taken a slightly different view of the situation. They see value in older farmers that money can't buy. Short of bottling years of financial and life experience, the group has formed Cultivating Master Farmers."

There's the weekly farm article from Chris Anderson. Seems like a program that could do some good.