Lyons, Neb. ? The Center for Rural Affairs, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and other organizations want the 2007 farm bill to include a “New Farm Initiative” to help reverse the statistical trend toward older and older farmers and ranchers.

The most recent census by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, based on 2002 figures, says the average age of America’s estimated 2 million farmers is 55.3 years.

“The average age of the farmer is going up year after year after year,” said Pat O’Brien, an economist with the American Farm Bureau, earlier this year. “And one result of that is that we’re seeing right now more and more land being concentrated in the hands of older owners.”

Only a quarter century ago, the nation had 350,000 farmers and ranchers under the age of 35, said Traci Bruckner, the Rural Affairs Center’s assistant director of rural policy.

“That number has declined steadily until there will be fewer than 70,000 next year,” Bruckner said. “That is why discussions of the 2007 farm bill should begin with a real debate over what the 2007 farm bill can do to lift up the next generation of family farmers and ranchers.”

The Rural Affairs Center thinks there should be a major farm and ranch initiative to help beginning farmers and ranchers.

The initiative should give them the tools they need to become good stewards of land and water, Bruckner said. It must help them be innovative, entrepreneurial and readily adaptable to changing marketplace demands.

“If we want vibrant rural communities and healthy family farms, it is imperative that we invest in programs that serve beginning farmers and ranchers and enable them to get started farming successfully,” Bruckner said.

Among the New Farm Initiative proposals:

¢ Full funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.

¢ The 2007 farm bill should include a pilot program that uses matched savings accounts to help people with limited incomes establish a pattern of savings and to promote a new generation of farmers and ranchers.

¢ The 2007 farm bill should provide incentives to encourage participation in various conservation projects and practices.