Skip to main content
Michigan Farm Bureau Family of Companies

Putting wheels underneath intergenerational exchange

From the Junior Farm Bureau to Farm Bureau Young People to today’s Young Farmer program, the organization has always prioritized leadership development. But what role might our most experienced members play in mentoring the next generation?
Date Posted: August 17, 2022

It’s human nature to stratify ourselves into categories based on age and what decade of pop culture we most closely identify with. Boomers dig their Classic Rock, Gen-Xers like me grew up with New Wave, and Millennials are already nostalgic for whatever upsetting racket rattled car trunks in the 90s.

Similarly, Farm Bureau’s Young Farmer program is exclusively for members 18-35. Past that we’re not gonna call you ‘old’ (not to your face; that would be rude), but they had to draw a line somewhere.

Now consider the resources poured into smoothing out the transfer of farms from one generation to the next: a thorny transition known for testing families’ integrity. Pulling it off means navigating a swamp of legal and financial technicalities, assuming the kids are ready to step into the boots they’ve been training for since childhood.

But not every farm is blessed with credible heirs from within their own brood. Imagine tossing the keys of your family’s land and legacy to some green, wet-behind-the-ears punk you don’t know from Adam.

The May discussion topic asked you to consider how we can better “attract and retain” Young Farmers: attract them to the industry and retain them once they’re in. Both are challenging.

I don’t know the percentage of farm kids who stick with it (much less take over) but we all know it ain’t 100%, so the pool of would-be heirs and successors is already shallow. The even smaller sliver of aspiring farmers looking in from outside the industry face a formidable learning curve, have fewer resources and even fewer advantages.

Regardless of which camp they’re from, your farm’s future operator can only benefit from the kind of guidance that only comes from someone genuinely invested in their eventual success — the kind of nurturing leadership and encouragement we all look for from our closest family and supportive friends and neighbors.

Agriculture prides itself on being a closely-knit community, but there’s a point where close-knit can become impenetrable, exclusive, unwelcoming. Taken too far, close-knit becomes closed-off, leaving agriculture bereft of its most vital ‘input’: its next generation.

I’ve seen this dynamic myself. I hired in “from the outside,” meaning I didn’t arrive via the customary track: farm kid → 4-H → FFA → MSU College of Agriculture → Farm Bureau field staff  home office.

It took me years to understand the organization and my role in it, but worse than my anemic experience was the discouraging attitude I ran into now and then (not often, thankfully).

“Do you come from a farm background?” is an innocent question, but it’s also a litmus test distinguishing between an Us and a Them.

Again: It only happened a couple times, but often enough to tell me there was a club that didn’t let in just anybody.

Mostly I was welcomed warmly by members overwhelmingly generous with their time, patience and understanding as they’ve shared with me their fascinating vocation — not to the extent that I could actually DO it, of course, but enough to be granted some grace and earn your trust.

Recently I encouraged members to rethink their attitudes toward urban farmers on the grounds that those with the best understanding of and experience with raising ag commodities are also those best equipped for guiding newcomers in the alchemy of creating food products from thin air, soil, water, sunlight and seed.

We learn everything we know by acquiring information from reliable sources: parents, teachers, libraries, media and the tough lessons of trial and error. It’s a lifelong process — and a messy one given the myriad resources from which to gain knowledge.

Not everyone is blessed with a “teacher hat” equipping them with the invaluable blend of patience, knowledge and communication skills it takes to enrich someone’s brain with the understanding they seek. But of the thousands of Farm Bureau members I’ve worked with over the years, I’m comfortable saying most are outstanding teachers!

Responses to the May discussion topic hit on some key components of what could become meaningful progress toward cultivating Michigan’s farm community in a way that better equips it to (a) retain Young Farmers who already have a foothold and (b) attract newcomers eager to break into farming. Some key fragments, edited and condensed:

  • There needs to be contact between the young and old…
  • We can support by starting a conversation and inviting them to participate in activities that interest them.
  • Young Farmers have much to offer us with their knowledge of new ways to do things.
  • Mentor… Rent them your land or loan them your equipment.
  • We can offer support, but they need to be willing to try and learn whatever they can.
  • It’s hard to get young people to associate with older ones unless their buddies do.
  • Be a mentor for other farmers, no matter what age, through the ups and downs...
  • Get new CAGs organized in each county. Put bugs in their ears about joining a group.
  • There could be a better connection between the time kids are in school and when they start farming. Get involved with FFA and see if there are ways the CAG bug could be put in their ears before they leave high school.

Two things I love most about these snips: (1) how well they embody both the will to mentor newcomers and the necessity of doing so, and (2) how they embrace the blending together of existing programs and generational boundaries.

Of course identifying the issue at hand is often easier than choosing a path of action.

This is where opinions and tentative first-steps will diverge in the general direction of trial and error. It’s messy and time-consuming but that’s how science works: experimenting with options until effective solutions are found. And since Farm Bureau is as messy as any other system, what works in your county may flop next door; the most important next step is agreeing their needs to be one and to try something.

So: Who’s first?

 

QUESTIONS

  1. How would mentoring a Farm Bureau Young Farmer differ from mentoring an ambitious newcomer to agriculture?
  2. Bridging the gap between generations is easier said than done. What can/will your CAG do to start the conversation with newcomers and/or Young Farmers in your area?
  3. Intergeneration exchange is a two-way street. What might you and your peers benefit from learning from young people once lines of communication are open?
  4. Conversely, how might young people most benefit from the wisdom and experience you might share with them?

 

SUBMIT YOUR RESPONSES

  • EMAIL: [email protected]
  • MAIL TO: MFB Community Action Group Discussion Topic Responses ATTN: Michelle Joseph, 7373 W. Saginaw Hwy., Lansing, MI 48917

Please include your name and CAG affiliation!

Rebecca Gulliver headshot

Rebecca Gulliver

Member Engagement & Field Training Specialist
[email protected]

DISCUSS: CAGs & Discussion Meets: One & the Same

Discussion Meets are a great example of what our network of Community Action Groups do each month: meet and discuss topics important to agriculture.