The Challenge

8.6% of farmland

The Current State of Agriculture

The United States has a population of more than 331 million people, yet only 1.4% of these are farmers, and these numbers are decreasing at an alarming rate. The average American farmer is nearly 60 years old, and the long-term trend of aging in this sector shows no sign of slowing as every year, fewer and fewer young people step up to assume careers in agriculture, and retiring farmers leave their land to developers.

3,672 acres in the United States is operated by those 34 and younger of Grand Traverse County farmland lost from 2012-2017

Source: 2017 United States Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture

The Grand Traverse region is no exception. Although we are fortunate to boast nationally-significant farmland protection programs that make it possible for farmers to stay in agriculture, the unprecedented development pressures squeezing our region’s natural and farm lands are unrelenting.

While there are significant numbers of people interested in pursuing agriculture, the barriers to entry in this arena are

“As a sixth generation farmer and someone who has taught and learned from farmers on four continents, I have come to appreciate that agriculture is fundamentally an apprenticeship-based career. In the best of cases, a farmer has sixty or seventy chances in a lifetime to figure out how to get it right. In today’s world of low agricultural margins and high land values, it is more important than ever to give beginning farmers all the tools they need for success at the very beginning of their careers. Unfortunately, many aspiring farmers are unable to connect with farmers who can teach them the necessary skills to make a living off the land--moreover, the regenerative and diversified agriculture practices that most closely align with the interests of our local residents are largely a lost art in this region. The Incubator Farm will help to educate a new generation of farmers and will allow our farmers to learn anew the practices that will enhance our local food economy.”

- Isaiah Wunsch, Old Mission Peninsula

Our region’s average farmland cost is $4,500/acre, and the cost to purchase or lease land is only the beginning in terms of required investment. Equipment, licensing, and other necessary start-up costs are often so great that they make realizing a profit from farming an unsolvable financial puzzle.