WASHINGTON — The National Young Farmers Coalition is joining other agricultural justice organizations in launching the most inclusive survey of young and BIPOC farmers to date. The 2022 National Young Farmer Survey will gather the data needed to power our advocacy for equity, farmland justice, and climate action in the 2023 Farm Bill.
Every five years we survey young farmers across the country to present an up-to-date picture of the challenges and promises of the next generation in agriculture. Recommendations from our 2011 and 2017 surveys have been included in the 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills, including a permanent USDA microloan program designed for young farmers, historic funding for beginning farmer training and outreach to socially disadvantaged farmers, beginning farmer and rancher coordinators in every state, and an increased loan limit for USDA’s farm ownership loan.
With your support, we will bring together the voices of 10,000 working farmers, farmworkers, and former farmers to gather the data we need to power our advocacy for a brighter future for young farmers.
More about the National Young Farmer Survey:
- What is the National Young Farmer Survey? The National Young Farmer Survey is the only survey of its scale to focus not only on the current state of affairs in our agricultural system but, more importantly, on the next generation and the future of our sector. It uncovers the most pressing challenges and brightest opportunities for our nation’s young farmers and ranchers to inform and inspire this decade’s policy and business services innovations in support of a bright farm future. Question topics include access to land, credit and capital; responses to climate change and drought; and barriers to organic transition/certification. The National Young Farmers Coalition uses these findings to change the future of farming, with a specific eye towards the 2023 Farm Bill. It comes as we run out of time for bold policy to address land access, climate change, and racial equity.
- Data is super important! By taking the National Survey you’re adding your voice to 10,000 others across the country to draw a vivid picture of our farming communities and give Young Farmers and other agriculture justice organizations powerful arguments when we advocate for equity, farmland justice, and climate action in D.C.
- Our dream this time around is huge. This farm bill, it’s time for bold justice and climate action. We’re resilient but we’re exhausted. We can’t have another summer of fires, hurricanes, floods on top of ensuring our community’s safety and well-being through a pandemic. That’s why we’re bringing together 10,000 voices. That’s 10,000 people saying it’s time for justice in this farm bill. Our main ask? One million acres of farmland made available to the next generation of farmers, with BIPOC farmers at the forefront.
- We’ve done this before and it’s gotten us major wins. Recommendations from our 2011 and 2017 survey have been passed in the 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills, including a permanent USDA microloan program designed for young farmers, historic funding for beginning farmer training and outreach to socially disadvantaged farmers, beginning farmer and rancher coordinators in every state, and an increased loan limit for USDA’s farm ownership loan. The 2017 survey was featured on the front page of the Washington Post and both surveys have been widely cited by academics, government, and the press as the definitive data source on the nation’s young farmers.
- How is the 2022 Survey different from previous years? This year we:
- included a pathway for people who farm but not for income, leading to a more inclusive definition of who is a farmer
- expanded demographics questions (we added options for racial/ethnic identities and made gender/sexual orientation open spaces for people to self-identify) to allow for more nuance in people’s lived experience
- captured more detail about how many varieties/breed of products people are raising to learn about how diversified young farmer businesses are
- focus on federal programs (removed state policy related questions) to align with new strategic plan
- added questions about how young farmers are accessing water rights
- asked more about business and student loans that farmers are taking out
–National Young Farmers Coalition