Family Farms

Today there are over 2.1 million farms in the United States alone, many of which are small family farms (EPA, 2012). Some of these farms have been in the family for multiple generations past, but now are being lost due to the struggle to stay afloat in hard economic times. With the growth of big corporate farms comes the corporations taking up the majority of governmental aid towards farmers, leaving little to be had for the small family farms. These small farms are sometimes simply passed by and in some cases, completely forgotten all together. With an alarming number of family farms going under each week it is important that something is done to draw attention to the little guys. One solution to this problem is the creation of farming co-ops and farmer's markets as they create a venue for local farmers to sell their products while also stimulating the local economy and creating jobs.

Since the '1930s', there are now five million fewer farms in the United States, and of the two million that are left, only five-hundred and sixty-five thousand of them are family operated (The Issues Family Farms, 2012). Every week approximately three-hundred and thirty farmers are walking away from their land due to being forced out (The Issues Family Farms, 2012). This may not seem like such a big deal to most people, but it should be. When small farms close up shop they are typically not being replaced with new farms and newer younger farmers (The Issues Family Farms, 2012). This change directly effects most people even if they don't realize it as small farms do a lot more for a local community than meets the eye. Small farms don't just produce fresh, high-quality foods, they provide a wealth of benefits for the entire local community and in some cases entire regions (The Issues Family Farms, 2012). Many people don't realize where exactly there food comes from, but more people are starting to care as they feel that local food is better for their health and that it simply just tastes better. Unlike their big corporate agricultural counterparts, small farms don't have the goal of making the absolutely highest profit no matter what needs to be done to get there. Small farms are less likely to pollute their communities with chemical pesticides, noxious fumes and excess manure (The Issues Family Farms, 2012). Instead, small family farms live off the land that they farm and do what they can to preserve the land and people around it. The big corporate farms don't care as much about the land and protecting it because when they are done with it they just move on to another area.

If family farms go out of business it can sometimes effect an entire community. Farmers live on the land and tend to support the local economy when they need something rather than going and ordering things from elsewhere. This connection of farmer and local community isn't something just the farmer has, but many of their employees have that connection as well. Small family farms employ local residents so if the farm goes under it isn't just the farmer who loses their job, but rather every employee who works for them. Sometimes this lack of employment can also effect other local businesses as their customers are not buying the items they used to.

The alarmingly high number of small farms that are going under is caused by multiple different reasons, but all of them are important in their own way. One of the most common of those reasons simply comes down to money, and the lack there of it. Small family farms, often times are operating on a tight budget and struggle just to get by. When an unexpected event such as a natural disaster, drought, extra rainy seasons and so on take place, it can wreak havoc on their livelihood. These events can be devastating to the small farms and some of them never bounce back.

Another reason that many farmers are giving up their land is due to age. In the United States, the average farmer is now between the ages of forty-five and sixty-five years old (The Issues Family Farms, 2012). This means that many of our small family farmers are coming upon the age of retirement, and some do not have anyone to pass their farms on to as the younger generations have become uninterested in farming all together. Right now, although rare, in some areas farming has become popular with younger generations, only an estimated 35% of farmers are under the age of 35 (The Issues Family Farms, 2012). This might seem insignificant, but it really could make a difference in family farms for years to come.

The largest reasons that family farms are having problems is the growth of big corporate farms and governmental subsidies. These farms, although sometimes owned by families, are geared towards growing and selling to make a large profit, rather than growing to sustain life like most family farms. The corporate farms are crowding out smaller farms, and then collecting large amounts of government subsidies to keep their farms going, while the smaller ones are losing out on government help. As with anything else, governmental regulations also take a toll on small farms as they are held to the same high requirements that the large scale corporate farms are (Byczynski, 2011). The government requires that farms keep strict records, pass inspections and have multiple infrastructure requires, some of which small farms simply cannot keep up with. These small family farms do not have the man power and funding to comply with some of these regulations which can force some of them to go under as a result.

Many of the family farms are also struggling due to the distance in which they need to go to get to the large processing plants to sell their goods (Philpott, 2012). This distance makes it almost impossible for the small farmer to make any money on their goods as the transportations costs alone can sometimes cost more then the profit they would have made by selling them to the processing plants.

In the past few years, there has been substantial growth in the number of people who want and seek out, healthy, organic, local foods. This ever growing group of people often times find the items that fulfill their wants