Millennials in Agriculture Research Presentation

MILLENNIALS IN AGRICULTURE
PREPARED BY LESSING-FLYNN AND MILLENNIUM RESEARCH INC.

THE FUTURE OF U.S. AGRICULTURE DEPENDS ON
THE ABILITY OF NEW GENERATIONS TO ESTABLISH
SUCCESSFUL FARMS AND RANCHES.

OVER
OF FARMLAND WILL
70%
CHANGE HANDS BY
2020
FARMLASTS 2010: http://www.uvm.edu/farmlasts/

ACCORDING TO THE 2012 USDA CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE…

AS ADVERTISERS FOR SOME OF THE LARGEST
NAMES IN THE INDUSTRY, WE NEED TO KNOW…
1. Who are the young farmers that will take over the most 
efficient food production system in the world?

2. How are they different then the generation that came before them?

3. What influences their decisions and values?

4. What are the best ways to reach them with your message?

5. What does the future of American agriculture look like?

Here’s the sitch…

AVERAGE AGE: 35 YEARS OLD
METHODS: QUALITATIVE: 6 INTERVIEWS
SURVEYDEMOGRAPHICS
QUANTITATIVE: 78 EMAIL SURVEY RESPONDENTS

SURVEYDEMOGRAPHICS
AVERAGE ACRES: 
2,075
DAIRY COWS: 
12%
CORN: 
93%
PORK: 
20%
SOYBEANS: 
81%
WHEAT: 
31%
FEMALE  
RESPONDENTS: 5%
MALE 
RESPONDENTS: 95%
BEEF CATTLE: 
47%
ALFALFA:
55%

SURVEYDEMOGRAPHICS
MILLENNIAL FARMER #1
CODY

SURVEYDEMOGRAPHICS
MILLENNIAL FARMER #2
TYLER

“Straight out of college I was farming
full time with my dad. And then in the
past year and a half, I’ve been working
off-farm as well as farming with my
dad. Hopefully I can come back to the
farm full time. That’s my end goal. Don’t
know if that will happen yet or not.”
HOWTHEYGOTINTOFARMING

HOWTHEYGOTINTOFARMING
of farms 1000 acres+ are taken 
over from a family member
90%More than

“I do enjoy my job, it just is definitely
challenging when you’re working full
time and trying to farm, too.”
PRIMARY/SECONDARYJOB

83% OF ROW-CROP
FARMERS ARE FULL-TIME
42% OF SMALLER
FARMERS ARE PART-TIME

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR YOUR
FUTURE IN AGRICULTURE?

“I guess I like to be busy, and I like to see
results. So when the amount of time I invest
in getting the hay put up right, or getting
the cows pregnant when they’re supposed
to, and getting the calves right so they have
good weaning weights – those are the
kinds of things that make me happy.”
QUALITYOFLIFE

“Even though it’s hard work, I’m enjoying
myself while doing it. Yeah, there’s time
when you’re up in the middle of the night,
pulling a calf, and you need to be at work
at 4:30 in the morning, it’s not necessarily
enjoyable, but there’s still that new baby
calf that’s born alive. You get that sense
of fulfillment. Even though you didn’t get
much sleep, it’s definitely enjoyable.”
QUALITYOFLIFE

“I used to make more money before
I started working on the farm, but I
now have more family time. I can
take vacations in the winter. You can
have a better lifestyle on the farm.”
QUALITYOFLIFE

QUALITYOFLIFE HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE YOUR LIFE AS A FARMER
TO HOW IT WOULD BE IF YOU HAD LEFT THE FARM?

SPOUSE’S ROLE IN FARMING OPERATION

“[My wife] is very involved in all the
decision making. She likes to pick out bulls
that we use – we artificially inseminate all
the cows. She helps with the record
keeping. She does the feeding if I can’t.
The kids are involved, even though they’re
young, they like to go to the farm.”
SPOUSE’SROLEINFARMINGOPERATION

SPOUSES ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE INVOLVED
ON LIVESTOCK FARMS VS. CROP FARMS
SPOUSAL INVOLVEMENT
50/50
IN GENERAL…

ON SMALLER FARMS,
SPOUSES ARE MORE
LIKELY TO BE INVOLVED
IN DECISION MAKING.
ON LARGER FARMS,
SPOUSES ARE MORE LIKELY
TO WORK OFF THE FARM.

“[We make decisions] Together. [My
dad] obviously has the final say, but you
know, he’s more the idea, he comes up
with the ideas, here’s what I want, he
gets the ball rolling. I do all the
research and get as much information
about what he’s thinking, whatever
different options I think I can come up
with, and then we discuss it and then
kind of make a decision from there."
DECISIONMAKING

OF RESPONDENTS SAID THEY ARE ALREADY
THE PRIMARY DECISION MAKER FOR THEIR
FARMING OPERATION2/3
DECISIONMAKING

THE MAJORITY ARE ALREADY MAKING EVERYDAY
OPERATIONAL DECISIONS, PARTICULARLY CROP
DECISIONS AND TECHNOLOGY
DECISIONMAKING

MILLENNIAL FARMERS ARE EXPERIENCED,
EDUCATED BUSINESS OPERATORS.
of farmers worked off the farm 
prior to working on the farm
SKILLS
68.4%
67.2%have at least a college degree 35-44 year olds of the general
population have a Bachelor’s Degree
33%

MILLENNIALS VS. OLDER GENERATION

“My father has a lot of experience, but
maybe isn’t so inclined to adopt some of
the newer technologies. It sometimes
takes some convincing to explain the
benefits and how it can help improve the
breakeven point now and in the future.”
MILLENNIALSVS.OLDERGENERATION

OLDER FARMER
MIKE

“I’m more likely to use technology such as variable
rate and precision planting. I also do more of my
own research on my farm such as population plots
and experimenting with fertilizer and foliar feeds.”
MORE ACCEPTING OF NEW TECHNOLOGY
38%
What is the biggest difference in your approach to
farming compared to an older farming partner?

“Younger generation is overall more open to change
and innovation. We have always looked and paired
with universities for research, however, younger
generation is more likely to go with recommendations
whereas the older generation is slightly more resistant
to changes based on previous experiences.”
MORE WILLING TO CHANGE PRACTICES
21%

“The biggest difference is that I plan and 
my dad sits back and sees what happens.”
MORE AMBITIOUS
13%

COMPARED TO AN OLDER FARMER, ARE YOU MORE,
LESS OR EQUALLY LIKELY TO DO THE FOLLOWING?

MILLENNIALSVS.OLDERGENERATION COMPARED TO AN OLDER FARMER, ARE YOU MORE, LESS
OR ABOUT THE SAME WHEN IT COMES TO BEING…

“All the information that is presented at
trade shows, you can get online. The
information on the company, product,
service is all out there without having to
drive a hundred miles to go to a show.”
INTERNET

INTERNET
HAVE YOU USED THESE ITEMS IN THE PAST 6
MONTHS FOR FARMING OR PERSONAL USE?

“I sign up for AgWeb Daily, things like that come
up on my phone every day. Get those types of
posts and then I just read through them.”
SMARTPHONE

SMARTPHONE

“There’s all these different forums where
you can see what people are saying
about certain products or topics. I mean,
there’s just a wealth of knowledge.”
AGFORUMS

AGFORUMS

“A video of a product – if I can watch a video of
how something works and totally understand it,
then I’m more likely to purchase it.”
YOUTUBE

“I use YouTube a lot. You can see
videos of the product/equipment
working, you can get testimonials and
see actual farmers using it on their farm
without ever having to go anywhere. It’s
a fast way to do research on something
to see if it is viable for you.”
YOUTUBE

YOUTUBE

PERSONALRELATIONSHIPS
5. PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

“Most important that companies
develop the 1-on-1 relationship with
farmers. It’s still important for our
dealers and seed reps, chemical reps
spend time with our family. It’s not just
a farmer, but a family relationship.”
PERSONALRELATIONSHIPS

HOWTOREACHTHEM
WHERE DO YOU OBTAIN THE KNOWLEDGE YOU USE
TO MAKE GOOD FARMING DECISIONS?

Millennial farmers use their own experiences to make purchasing
decisions, supplemented with the internet
TAKEAWAYS
Think of millennial farmers not just as farmers, but instead, business
people in the business of farming
These farmers are in their formative years for developing relationships
Tests, trials, and samples are ways to convince and convert
Priorities hint at future reliance on others in areas of data, technology and
field operations
Millennial farmers are already the decision makers on their operation
Show them (with video), don’t just tell them

Millennials in Agriculture Research Presentation

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