Farmers Are Aging. Their Kids Don’t Want to Be in the Family Business

This was the headline of an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal recently. It goes on to describe a fifth generation, 74 year old Illinois farmer, Don Guinnip, who farms 1,000 acres of corn and soybeans, and also raises 40 cattle.

He has 4 siblings and two children. None are farmers today. His siblings were not interested in farming, but do retain an interest in the family farm.

His two children have careers off the farm. At one time he was hopeful that they would take over running the farm.

His daughter is an attorney in Indianapolis, and his son is in pharmaceuticals in St. Louis. Neither has an interest in leaving their careers to run the farm.

Mr. Guinnip believes that “the future of American farming isn’t pretty.” He also believes that “it will be a contract model, in which farmers work the land for someone else, pay rent and are responsible for the debt to keep the farm running.”

In essence, he believes fewer family farms will exist in the future.

This article caught my eye for one particular reason. Twenty five years ago, I was involved in buying young horses in Germany, and importing them to our family horse farm, for development as show horses.

I had a number of individuals in Germany that I dealt with, and they introduced me to many family horse farmers. The same thing that Mr. Guinnip is experiencing, they were experiencing then. Their children had no interest in taking over the family business.

On many occasions, I had discussions with these farmers concerning the future of the horse industry in Germany. The outlook wasn’t great. Their children had opportunities that they never had.

The children had gone to University, and were now working in the field that they had specialized in, and they had no interest in returning to the family farm.

The question that they were facing then, is the same as many of our farmers are facing now, “what do I do now, how do I exit what has been my livelihood for so long?”

Farming, all types, is hard and 24/7. Many of us don’t realize that our lives depend on the crops that they produce. What will the future bring?

This brings us back to immigration. Many times, I have heard that immigrants are taking our jobs. Wrong! They are taking the jobs that we don’t want. We forget that we were and are, a country of immigrants.

Immigration could help the farmers, as well as many of our other employment issues, if approached with the intent to reach a positive resolution by our leaders

There is no question that our immigration system is broken. However, Congress refuses to deal with it. There is still no answer as to the “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA).”

This program was established by executive action in 2012 to protect certain undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. It was designed to protect them from removal proceedings, and allow them to work for renewable two year periods.

According to KFF, The Independent Source for Health Policy Research, Polling and News, there are over 500,000 active DACA children, from over 200 countries, residing in the U.S. Many are college graduates, and are positively contributing to our economy. However, they have no pathway to citizenship and are considered in “limbo.”

The current administration attempted to end protection during their first term in office, but were stopped by the Supreme Court in 2020. Congress continues to refuse to address the issue.

If we can’t resolve DACA, how can we expect our other immigration issues to be resolved?

This has a direct impact on farming and farming’s future. We need a responsible Administration and Congress to address this, as well as many other issues.

Jess Sweely

Madison, Virginia