What can we do to get young people interested in farming? Farming has a negative image with the general public. We have to re-educate the public about where our food comes from. Rural high schools should offer agriculture classes to get young people interested. Young people should be shown that you can make a good living farming, and it's a great lifestyle as well.
We have to think outside the box. We have to offer young people alternative ways to get started in farming. Young farmers don't have to start 100% on their own. They could buy shares in a larger operation where they will be supported by knowledge and experience from the current producers and they can slowly build their own equity.
In our area, we hear it all the time that people do not encourage their children to go into farming. We feel that young people need to be educated. There are a lot of different ways to make money in agriculture.
Through the Outstanding Young Farmers organization, we met a lot of young, very innovative people who are very creative in making a living from farming. A lot of these people started from scratch and built themselves a very viable business.