Lexi Missouri

American Youth Farming

There should be incentives for youth who farm. Our farms are decreasing and if youth got involved in farming then our farms might increase.

Dear next president,

There should be incentives for youth who farm. If young people got scholarships for having a successful farming project it might spark more of an interest in farming. Did you know the number of farms in our country has fallen? According to an article, "The Decline in the Small American Family Farms in One Chart", Roberto A. Ferdman, a reporter from the Washington Post, states, “the number of farms has fallen by some four million between then and now-more than six million in 1935 to roughly two million in 2012.” A number of farms continue to grow on one end of the spectrum, the rest are shrinking, leaving fewer and fewer mid-sized farms. The fall of smaller farms will affect people because without smaller farms you don’t have anyone to focus on various crops where factory farms only focus on one crop. Farmers work hard to produce good food for all of us to eat. All farmers care about the land and animals they raise for food. We all have more to learn about agriculture in our immediate and global community. By involving kids in farming at a young age, they will be interested in Agriculture and have some experience with farming. If kids get started farming at a young age, then they are more apt to grow up and have a farm of their own. This could help stop the decreasing numbers of farms today.

Sincerely,

L.B.