America’s farmers are getting older, according to the USDA’s Census of Agriculture report. In 2022, they were just over 58 on average, which is a half-year increase since the last census was taken in 2017.

So what’s keeping young people out? For one, American farms are getting bigger and harder to buy, noted Sarah Low at the University of Illinois.

“There’s definitely a connection between commodity agriculture and barriers to entry,” she said.

Agricultural markets and U.S. farm policy reward producers that grow lots of one or two commodity crops. That’s hard to pull off if you’re starting from scratch, Low said.

“You need to convince people to lease you land,” she said. “You need to acquire that very expensive capital machinery.”

Even for young people set to inherit large farms, there’s the burden of student loans, a shortage of rural housing and child care.

“If we don’t have people to come in and steward those farms, that really makes it hard for rural communities to have thriving economies,” said Erin Foster West with the National Young Farmers Coalition.

It also means our food systems are in trouble. Foster West added that all this should be on lawmakers’ minds as they negotiate the next Farm Bill, which could include new supports for young farmers.