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Farmers Aging; What of Family Farm Future?

Posted on: Friday, 2 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

By Steve Tarter, Journal Star, Peoria, Ill.

May 21--HAVANA -- Nelson Fornoff hasn't given up the tractor yet.

At age 90, Fornoff recently finished helping his son David get his crop in.

"I retired a year ago," said Fornoff, referring to full-time farming duties on the 440-acre Havana farm where he's lived since 1969.

Fornoff's farming days got off to a slow start in 1941 when he and wife Laura moved to a 160-acre farm in Spring Lake, west of Manito.

"We didn't have electricity on the farm and that first year we had a drought that wiped out the wheat crop," recalled Fornoff. "We raised two calves that summer. We had to sell them to pay the gas bill." Of course, gas in those days was considerably cheaper than what we pay today. "That was when you could get eight gallons for a dollar," said Fornoff.

While raising three children, the Fornoffs moved from Spring Lake to a farm in nearby Kilborne where they spent 13 years before moving to their present location in Havana.

"Farming's in his blood," said Laura, 85, of her husband's lifelong occupation. "I wouldn't want to live anywhere but the farm," she said.

Fornoff has seen some changes over the years. "I used to plant with a team of horses. Now they've got 32-row planters," he said.

Along with the machines, the farms have gotten bigger, said Fornoff.

He also has less company than he used to. "You see fewer farmers. You see more vacant houses where there used to be a farm family," he said.

How does his and similar stories bode for the future of the family farm? Not well, if you look at the numbers.

Farming numbers dwindle That fact is borne out by federal statistics. In 1935, the number of farms in the United States peaked at 6.8 million. That number is closer to 2 million now.

The passing of the small farmer is cause for concern in rural America, said Norman Walzer, professor emeritus at Western Illinois University.

"The land will stay in production, but as you get into larger farm operations, there's less connection with the small towns. Large farms tend to make out-of-town purchases," said Walzer, past director of the Institute of Rural Affairs on the WIU campus.

A number of factors account for the typical American farmer continuing to get older.

The average age of the U.S. farmer is 55 years old, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with one-quarter of those 65 or older.

Active farmers continue to increase in age because agriculture isn't able to attract young people, said Tom Buis, president of the American Farmers Union in Washington, D.C.

"A lot of young people are not entering agriculture because it's such a struggle to make it," he said.

With land costs now around $5,000 an acre in some parts of Illinois, young farmers today face enormous start-up costs, said Buis.

Farmers also face such slim margins that U.S. farms continue to increase in size in order to show a profit, said Larry Mitchell, CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based American Corn Growers Association.

"Unless major changes are made in U.S. farm policy, I don't see much improvement," said Mitchell, who suggested three basic components in the nation's ag policy.

"We need a price support program instead of a subsidy program. We also need a grain reserve and a supply management program to help reduce overproduction of some crops," he said.

Greater concentration on energy crops and improving marketing efforts directly to consumers by farmers is also needed, said Mitchell.

Meanwhile, the only age category that showed a substantial increase among producers from last year's ag census was that of farmers 70 and older.

But then farmers generally don't count down the days to retirement, said Patrick Kirchhofer, director of the Peoria County Farm Bureau.

"They love to farm. That's why they're not retiring. It's a passion of theirs. (Farmers) love the outdoors and watching the fruits of their labor at harvest," he said.

It's something special Farming is a special occupation, said Kirchhofer. "It's an ideal environment. They have an opportunity to work with their family," he said.

Despite having worked the soil for years, older farmers need to keep in mind that reaction times slow down with age, said Kirchhofer.

"People need to take extra precautions as they get older, when handling machinery, to think about safety," he said.

Another reason farmers keep right on working is that many of them, like Fornoff, have known hard times.

Herman Menold, 90, a retired Morton farmer, never forgot the Depression that cost his father the family farm almost 80 years ago. That's why Menold worked so hard on his own farm, said his son Tom, owner of Menold Construction Co. in Morton.

"(My father) would get up at 5 a.m. for chores," said the younger Menold. "After that, he'd get ready for work, put on a suit and go off to Caterpillar. First, he'd pick up a number of riders on the way. When he got home from work at 4:30 p.m., he'd work on the farm until dark.

"You'd think he be real stressed out, but he was always cheerful. I don't remember him playing ball with us too often but we spent a lot of time together -- working," said Tom Menold.

Herman Menold recalled the 38 1/2 years he spent at Caterpillar. "I started in the fall of 1935 as a laborer making 47 cents an hour," he said.

After a stint in the Army, Menold returned to Caterpillar in a management capacity, working in inventory control.

In 1955, he moved to his own farm in Morton, into a farm house so dilapidated 60 gallons of paint were required. "It hadn't been painted in 19 years," said Menold, who later turned over the successful hog operation he developed to family members.

While retired from farming, Menold still stays busy. "He still helps me out here at the office," said Tom Menold, referring to his father's maintenance duties. "You can tell when he's been through here. Everything is straightened up," he said.

Similarly, Nelson Fornoff can't stay idle, said Laura, his wife of 66 years. While retired, he not only continues to assist with his son's farm operation but uses the tractor that stands ready in the barn to clear the road when the creek overflows.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Journal Star, Peoria, Ill.

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Source: Journal Star

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