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October 7, 2004 North Dakota Farmers Continue to Grow Older According to the 2002 Census of Agriculture, North Dakota farmers are getting older. Fewer young farmers are entering the industry and older farmers are continuing to farm past their 70s. This month’s “Population Bulletin,” a monthly publication from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University, focuses on recent farm data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service (http://www.usda.gov/nass). The average age of a principal farm operator in North Dakota was 54.4 years in 2002, up from 51.4 in 1997. Between 1997 and 2002, North Dakota saw the largest decline in farmers ages 35 to 44. The second largest loss was farmers ages 25 to 34. The largest increase was farmers ages 70 and older, growing by 1,033 between 1997 and 2002. “We now have a situation in our state where 15 of 53 counties have more than 1 in 5 farmers over the age of 70,” according to Richard Rathge, State Data Center director. “Who will take over the farms of our growing senior population is the critical question as we continue to lose young farmers.” The number of farmers ages 45 to 54 grew by 608 and farmers ages 55 to 59 grew by 471 between 1997 and 2002. Nelson County had the oldest farmers in the state, with principal farm operators averaging 59 years in 2002. Traill County reported the youngest farmers with an average of 50.4 years. Nationally, farmers reported an average age of 55.3 years in 2002. While 33 states reported older farmers on average than North Dakota, North Dakotan’s have been farming the longest of any state - 25.3 years on average. ### Source: Richard
Rathge, (701) 231-8621, richard.rathge@ndsu.nodak.edu
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North Dakota State University |
