The Graying Farm Sector Legacy of Off-Farm Migration

The graying trend among U.S. farmers is not new, but it seems to have accelerated during the 1980s and ‘90s. Older farmers are leaving the sector at slower and slower rates. One fourth of U.S. farmers and half of farm landlords are at least 65 years old. Farmers and landlords aged 65 and older own a combined one-third of farm assets. Historical experience suggests that there will be a gradual turnover of farm assets as farm operators leave the sector at increasingly advanced ages