Ohio’s new and beginning farmers are individuals who intend to enter the farming industry or have less than ten years of experience as a farm owner/operator in Ohio.
Ohio’s new and beginning farmers compared to established farmers, tend to be younger, operate smaller farms, and less likely to state farming as their primary occupation.
The Ohio Beginning Farmer Tax Credit Program supports new and beginning farmers by providing income tax credits to: 1) beginning farmers who attend a financial management program, and 2) landowners that sell or rent farmland to beginning farmers.
Profile of Ohio Beginning Farmers
According to the definition provided by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, a beginning farmer in Ohio must meet several specific criteria. An individual must be a resident of Ohio who intends to enter the farming industry or has less than ten years of experience as a farm owner/operator in Ohio. In addition, the individual must not hold any partnership, membership, shareholder, or trustee positions related to the assets they intend to acquire or lease. The individual must have net worth of less than $800,000, among other requirements.
Analysis of the 2017 Census of Agriculture offers valuable insights on Ohio’s new and beginning farmers. About a quarter of all farm and principal farm producers in Ohio are new and beginning farmers while the rest are established farmers. Contrary to a common assumption that new and beginning farmers are young, the age distribution of new and beginning farmers in Ohio spans a wide range of age groups (Katchova and Ahearn, 2016). While 32% of new and beginning farmers are 34 years of age or younger, a significant portion of them (9%) are 65 or older. On average, new and beginning farmers are younger than established farmers but there are also older new and beginning farmers in Ohio.
Although males still dominate both groups, the proportion of males among new and beginning farmers is smaller (61%) than among established farmers (68%). Only 24% of new and beginning farmers in Ohio report their primary occupation as farming, indicating diverse income sources. Over half of new and beginning farmers in Ohio engage in off-farm work for more than 200 days, unlike established farmers who are less involved in off-farm work. New and beginning farmers in Ohio typically operate smaller farms in terms of operated acres. Over half of new and beginning farmers operate less than 50 acres of farmland. New and beginning farmers in Ohio have a comparable percentage of owned or leased acres as do established farmers.
According to a USDA definition, economic class of farmers is defined as the market value of agricultural products sold and government payments. There is a higher number of established farms in every economic class especially in the largest value economic classes, compared to new and beginning farmers.
The Census of Agriculture reveals that oilseed and grain farming is the most common specialty for new and beginning and for established farmers. Most new and beginning farmers tend to specialize in oilseeds and grain farming (25%), other crops (21%), beef cattle (18%) and other livestock (17%). Compared to established farmers, new and beginning farmers in Ohio tend to specialize more in specialty crops, other crops, beef cattle, and other livestock farms.
Source: osu.edu
Photo Credit: pexels-nataliya-vaitkevich
Categories: Ohio, Business