Changing Face of Agriculture

Two demographic trends changing the face of agriculture...

First, what could be described as the feminization of farming: The number of women farmers in the United States climbed 13 percent between 1997 and 2002. Women now run one out of every ten farms, and the share is likely to grow even larger in coming years.

Pennsylvania, for example, lost 2,000 farms within the last few years but gained 1,000 managed by women.

Meanwhile, Hispanics are carving a larger niche in American agriculture --- a trend facilitated by programs such as the New Farmer Development Project, run by New York City’s Greenmarket program aimed at encouraging Hispanic immigrants to farm in the region.

The number of Hispanic workers who rely on farming for their livelihood has almost doubled to 29,050 within the last decade.

Posted by Jim Langcuster at November 1, 2004 10:44 AM | TrackBack