Bringing in the Next Generation of Arizona Farmers
“I’ve been trying for years and years to get young folk into agriculture,” laments Jim Manos, CFO of Hickman’s Family Farms in Buckeye.
And Jim’s not alone in these sentiments. In Arizona, the average age of a farmer is 61.1, which is significantly higher than the national average of 55.9 years.
“Some dairies are over 40% short on labor,” acknowledged Director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture, Mark Killian, “Our industry is really feeling the aging trend.”
Despite this aging trend, agriculture is one of Arizona’s top industries. We are the third largest producing state for fresh market vegetables, and 4th in the country in acres of organic vegetables. Our agriculture community is also extremely diverse - Arizona is the only state in the nation in which more than half of all farmers and ranchers are American Indians.
To continue this industry going strong, we need younger farmers and ranchers to fill the shoes of those looking forward to retirement. However, there are a number of obstacles in front of new farmers, including access to training and education, access to land, student loan debt, and access to health insurance. Meanwhile, learning how to be a farmer is becoming increasingly complicated. In addition to horticulture and animal husbandry, producers must navigate land tenure, financing, marketing, business planning, human resources management, ecological stewardship, health, community engagement, and social justice. The agriculture industry requires hands-on, on-the-job training over several months and even years in order to be able to enter and succeed. In fact, farmers are considered to be “Beginning Farmers” for their first 10 years of operations.
Developing a Workforce
Despite the importance of agriculture for the State of Arizona, the State does not acknowledge agriculture as an official “workforce development program,” preventing academic credits, legal benefits, or financial support from being allocated to beginning farmers or the producers and organizations offering hands-on training.
The Arizona Department of Economic Security currently recognizes over 60 workforce development programs, all in the fields of utilities, healthcare, IT, security, insurance, construction, and mechanics. These programs provide a coordinated on-the-job paid training opportunity with 2,000 hours of hands-on-learning and a minimum of 144 hours of classroom learning. Successful apprentices receive an industry-recognized certificate and are fully-equipped to enter the industry with the knowledge and relationships needed to succeed.
We have the opportunity to add “Agriculture” as a recognized field, which will serve two major gaps in the industry:
Provide a career pipeline for new farmers, and
Provide qualified and committed labor for existing farmers and ranchers
Through this addition, food-producing agricultural businesses, non-profits, and community colleges would receive reimbursement for providing internships to individuals interested in entering the agriculture workforce.
Bringing in the Next Generation
Arizona Agricultural Workforce Development Coalition has identified this gap and is committed to developing guidelines for a shared apprenticeship training program and campaign to pass legislation to support beginning farmer trainees at the state level.
“This program has an opportunity to bridge the gap between production agriculture and small urban agriculture,” says Nina Sajovec of Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture, convener of the Coalition. “We want to increase revenue for all our growers and bring in the next generation of farmers across the state.”
Agriculture apprenticeships are proven to work. Similar programs have launched successfully in Colorado and Wisconsin, and have even been piloted here in Arizona: “Growing up in my culture there wasn’t much agriculture. My father before me never had any experience in agriculture,” remembers Sterling Johnson, Farm Manager at Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture. “I got to be part of an apprentice program. I also get to train the next generation of who’s behind me. Because all the elders that I know that farm are no longer here. So, for me, this is a way of keeping culture alive but also preparing us for what’s coming in the future.”
The resulting program will be available to all, regardless of their backgrounds or geographic location. A grassroots farmer-to-farmer network will be also be established by the program, which will further support Arizona’s agriculture growing in all its diversity.
Next Steps
Active Arizona farmers and aspiring farmers can support this effort by completing our surveys to better inform the bill and campaign.
Your feedback will give us valuable information for the campaign: testimonials, experience, and data that help ensure the apprentice program is as effective as possible for our industry leaders and aspiring farmers and ranchers.
To stay informed on the campaign, sign up for updates here: http://bit.ly/AZFarmers2020
