The Future of Florida Agriculture

              In the first segment of The Future of Manatee County Ag we went over how the number of farms has reduced, cost of doing business has gone up, market value of Ag products has gone down, and the insatiable demand and prices for land in our county has ballooned.  Those facts frame up the how things are changing part of the question.  This next part of the question, the one everyone likes to ask but has no answer to will be answered, why are farmers selling to housing developments. 

              The largest threat to agriculture is the age of our farmers, the average age of a Florida farmer is 59.4.  The average age of retirement in Florida is 63, and it is recommended an individual have just under 1.1 million dollars to retire in Fl at that age according to Yahoo! Finance. When looking at the 2022 Ag Census, 40% of our farmers are 65 years old or older, beyond the average retirement age.  Couple that state with the fact that 26% of farm owners are 55-64 years old and it’s very clear that over half of Florida farmers will be at or past retirement age in the next 5 years.  That’s not the scary part, read on…

              According to the USDA, “Thirty three percent of Principle Operators who plan to retire in the next 5 years anticipate passing the operation on to someone in the family, with half of those operations to be passed on to family members who currently work on the farm and half to family member who do not.”  To recap what we have so far, in the next 8 years 66% of Florida farmers will be retirement age and only 33% of those farms have a plan in place to keep that farm running by handing it off to the next generation. Let’s thin the herd even further….

               The Small Business Administration reports less than 33% of family owned businesses survive the transition from first to second generation, and only half of that 33% will survive the transition from second to third generation.  With these statistics in mind, Manatee county stands to lose approximately 1/3 of its’ farms in the next 8 years.  This is a horrifying prospect.  Everyone knows what happens when a Hurricane comes, empty gas pumps and empty shelves.  With the American standard practice of bringing food in from other countries like Mexico or South America, what happens when a hurricane hits them.  When a war breaks out and shipping is halted, we should be able to turn to our proud American farmers.  However, in 8 years’ time we statistically should have 1/3^rd less farms in FL.  This number took the wind out of my chest.  We had 47,590 farms in 2017 and 44,703 farms in 2022; if we follow our projected path of retirement, and failure to transition generations, we would be looking at a mere 29,952 farms in Florida in only 8 years’ time.  Don’t forget 1,000 people move to Florida every day. 

              We are constantly looking to improve ourselves here at The Veranda View. A book we recommend to everyone is “Dare to Lead” by Brene Brown. She has a quote that rings so true for this article.  “The more grounded confidence parents have, the more likely they are to prepare their child for the path by teaching courage, praising effort, and modeling grit, versus trying to prepare a perfect path for their child.”  We have developed a generation on people who think things can be gained instantly with money and that they will always be there. That the quick dollar outweighs the slow and steady life.  George W. Bush once said, “ We’re a blessed nation because we can grow our own food.  A nation that can feed its people is a nation more secure.”  This statement is so true; during WWII every American grew a Victory Garden.  These gardens were to ensure we could feed ourselves and communities, as all high volume production farms were sending food off to support our troops.  If we begin to solely rely on other countries for our food, and they go to war, we become a casualty of war. 

              Mike Rowe, someone who knows about working on a few different farms, is famously quoted, “We’ve  told an entire generation that the best path for most people is the most expensive path… and we’ve also promoted college not on its merits, but at the expense of every other kind of degree of any kind of certification training.”  I am very thankful for all the doctors of the world, the scientists, mathematicians and engineers. I do wonder how many people we really need with a BA in business vs. farmers who know how to fix a tractor with spare parts and bolts until the correct part arrives in the mail so they can finish a harvest on time.  As Brene said in her book, we have to stop preparing the path but rather prepare the next generation for the path.  Sorry for being too quote happy, but here is my last one by Les Brown, the one, the only, the motivator!  Les says, “ Do not go where the path may lead, but go where there’s no path and leave a trail.” 

              We have issues that need tackling, how do we build houses for everyone moving down and keep farm land affordable so we can ensure our own survival while addressing a changing climate? This will not be easy.  It is up to our generation to find the path, find the courage, buck the societal norms, and blaze a new trail.  It starts with getting to know your farmer, who knows, maybe your destined to be in the 33% of future farmers that give life to Florida and America’s future. 

-Written by Janyel Taylor

Be sure to subscribe to get our blogs straight to your inbox!