young farmer buying land

Hi Permies,
I keep hearing statistics about how most farmers are over the age of 55, young people aren't interested in farming, most farmers don't have a plan for who to pass on their farm to, etc. As a young person wanting to buy land and start an organic farm (in Southern Oregon), is it possible to make use of the fact that there is a high future need for farmers without much supply? Are there any grants that are available to new farmers? Are retiring farmers every willing to sell their farm at a better price to someone who will farm and take care of the land? Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks,
J

Hi Joe ; Welcome to Permies!

I do not know if grants are/were available, my gut feeling with the current administration is if their was grants … then that program has probably been cut.  
Aging farmer's who have no one to take over after they are gone, might work out a deal. The problem is finding those farmers (notorious stay at home folks) then gaining their respect about yourself and your ideals/ motives.
I would say you need to be living in the area.  Finding ways to meet these folks and getting to know them. Volunteer to help your older neighbors . Make yourself known in the community as a friendly , polite hard worker. Talk to folks, slowly let it be known you want to learn about farming. Some old farmer down at the cafe will hear about it and let it be known he could maybe use some help... unpaid of course...  The food you get fed working on a farm is always plentiful and good.

Make yourself indispensable ... beware farmers daughters :) they will get you in hot water really fast.
If you can do these things, then maybe you might be glad you did 10 years down the road.

The USDA provides loans, but not apparently grants, for new farmers wanting to buy land.  https://www.usda.gov/topics/farming/grants-and-loans

There appear to be grants available for some crops. https://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/grants-and-loans-farmers

Try poking around in churches, rotary club, lions, etc. If people get to know you they might work something out with you. There are some older folks out there with no kids. Rare, but it exists. I've gotten some fantastic resources from older folks. Beehives, tools, knowledge, etc, that probably totals thousands of dollars. That's one avenue you could try that may or may not work. Where in southern Oregon?

Thanks everyone for the advice so far - much appreciated. As for where in Southern Oregon, i'm not sure yet. Probably somewhere within 30-40 min of Medford

if you want to contact me with a private message and i will give you some  good ideas, it would be worth it to you.

Paul

Joe Wexler wrote:Thanks everyone for the advice so far - much appreciated. As for where in Southern Oregon, i'm not sure yet. Probably somewhere within 30-40 min of Medford

It's a good area. I lived in Ashland for a while and loved it. Very expensive though.

There's a neat community of people down there (not an intentional community) who do natural beekeeping and stuff. Laura Ferguson (who runs College of the Melissae) would be a great person to contact. I've never met her in person but she is well loved. It would be a good group to consider tapping into.

This probably goes without saying, but wherever you buy down there, be considerate of water resources and wildfire risk. Good luck with the search!

Thanks, I'll check out the intentional community. And paul, I sent you a message. I'm also open to advice about other areas of Oregon or even Northern California.

Just don't disappear on us, Joe.  Let us know how it all turns out, at the very least, but feel free to ask any questions you might have.  We already know you're not one of the people who post one question and then never post again.