{"id":28963,"date":"2024-03-01T01:01:12","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T08:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/farmers-are-aging-out-of-the-industry-will-students-step-up\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T00:45:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T06:45:42","slug":"farmers-are-aging-out-of-the-industry-will-students-step-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/farmers-are-aging-out-of-the-industry-will-students-step-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmers are \u2018aging out\u2019 of the industry. Will students step up?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Carson
Carson Stark, Farmington High School senior, uses a shovel at Growing Forward Farms in Aztec on Feb. 23. (Alx Lee\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>Alx Lee<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

At a Feb. 13 Farmington school board meeting, Marie Johnson, student nutrition coordinator, said she was concerned about the lack of next generation farmers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a duty to help our generation learn about food,\u201d she said, \u201cI\u2019m very concerned about the fact that the average farmer is 65.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her concerns are real, and hit home in San Juan County, New Mexico.<\/p>\n

According to a 2021 U.S. Department of Agriculture farm labor report<\/a>, the average age of all agricultural occupations is 41, and 18% of jobs are held by those under 25.<\/p>\n

The most recent USDA Agriculture Census<\/a> reports that San Juan County is home to 2,877 farms, dropping by only 88 from the 2017 census. New Mexico saw a decline of 4,068 farms from 2017 to 2022.<\/p>\n

There have always been curriculum around agriculture at Farmington schools, but it\u2019s Johnson hopes to connect them together.<\/p>\n

Johnson said the district has received financial support in grants from the USDA and knowledge based support from the members at New Mexico State University\u2019s Growing Forward Farm.<\/p>\n

FoodCorps service members are working with students at elementary schools in the Farmington district this school year to provide exposure and teachings around agriculture.<\/p>\n

Johnson sat in on a pollination lesson in which students used Cheetos dust from their fingers to pollinate flowers printed on a piece of paper.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a wonderful lesson,\u201d she said \u201cThose are the things that I want to impact our students, get them curious and make it fun, and that way they retain it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indoor gardens and cooking classes have been the staple at some of the elementary schools with a FoodCorps service member.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping that ultimately, these small steps will plant some seeds within them to want to pursue a farming or agricultural type career in the future,\u201d she said \u201cBy engaging them from the K through five grade level, you start them to think and explore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Students
Students at Esperanza Elementary look at the plants being grown inside the school\u2019s indoor garden, that would make up the ingredients for salsa. (Courtesy of Marie Johnson\/Farmington Municipal Schools)<\/span>Alx Lee<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Andrew Foster, Growing Forward Farms project coordinator, said the New Farmer Training Program has brought in prospective farmers who are interested in exploring the territory of farming.<\/p>\n

Foster said those who grow up around local farms often find themselves leaving the area to pursue careers in technology. Farmers traditionally will pass down the land and trade to family members; however, communities are dispersing more.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo at the end of the day, the real question is, how are we going to manage that handoff,\u201d he said. \u201cHow are we going to get a younger generation into farming?\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Aztec-based farm, that looks like exposure and opportunities, Foster said.<\/p>\n

The life of a farmer and the knowledge they hold may be completely unknown to some youths, and Foster is working toward clearing that barrier in a nurturing environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that young people have the chance to come out to a farm that maybe wouldn\u2019t normally, so that they can maybe be inspired to think of farming as a viable career, which it absolutely is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Carmen
Carmen Martinez, director of the San Juan College Small Business Development Center, gives a presentation to local farmers as a part of the New Farmer Training Program at Growing Forward Farms in Aztec on Feb. 22. (Alx Lee\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>Alx Lee<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The New Farmer Training Program is aimed at those who are interested but do not have the experience working the land.<\/p>\n

The program involves access to a plot and experts from New Mexico State University.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we\u2019re giving those opportunities to people to get into farming to bridge that gap of the age dynamic where our industry is top-heavy with people who are aging out,\u201d Foster said. \u201cWe need to give new people opportunities to learn how to farm so that when they think about going out into the community and taking over a farm that people are aging out of, they\u2019re going to be able to step in there and be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

One student that is taking the steps toward bridging that gap is Farmington High senior Carson Stark.<\/p>\n

Stark began his journey as a backyard farmer during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

With over an acre of land, Stark used his own money to transform his passion into a business.<\/p>\n

An array of produce including peppers, cucumbers, cantaloupes, squash, okra has been the product of Stark\u2019s plot at Growing Forward Farm.<\/p>\n

Through the New Mexico Grown program, that produce would make it back into the Farmington school district.<\/p>\n

Stark gave props to the efforts of Johnson in providing students access to local produce and the knowledge of where and how that produce came to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that is so crucial now with younger children,\u201d he said \u201cShe\u2019s basically been having teachers grow lettuce and the kids get to eat the lettuce that they\u2019ve grown and that is such a cool experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Basic knowledge of plant life stages in elementary was the only memory of Stark\u2019s that involved farming literacy.<\/p>\n

For Stark, there is a family connection to farming with his 82-year-old grandfather still pursuing the job but the industry was still new to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the aspiring generation, we need more farmers, we really do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The job has required time and determination that in return impacts the local community in a positive way, Stark said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a hobby and a job that a lot of people struggle to retire from because people love it so much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Carson
Carson Stark, Farmington High senior, started a backyard garden that grew into leasing land through Growing Forward Farms in Aztec to harvest produce that would go back into the school district. (Alx Lee\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>Alx Lee<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

of farmers in San Juan dropped by more than 50% from 2012 to 2022, according to USDA reports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1240,1222,155,799,28,1241],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-28963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-aztec","tag-bloomfield","tag-education","tag-farmington","tag-headlines","tag-kirtland"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28963"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80593,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28963\/revisions\/80593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28963"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=28963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}