SPRINGFIELD BUSINESS JOURNAL · 15 APRIL 22-28, 2024 FOCUS AGRICULTURE “This year, inputs are going to stay high, but we’re looking at selling under $5 for corn,” he said. Despite the interest expressed by students in the agricultural professions, Pendleton said it would be hard to become a farmer. “If I were to start from scratch – say I want to farm full time, farm enough to make a living – I’d probably have to borrow $2 million-$3 million,” he said. “Most of that I’d have to pay back in five years.” Pendleton and his wife, Rachel, have three children. A son is going to graduate from college in three weeks, and a daughter is also enrolled in college; both are studying agriculture, he said. His son plans to return home and work a parttime job while farming on the side, and his daughter is exploring agribusiness. “Hopefully, she’ll end up on the farm,” he said. The Pendletons also have a daughter in high school who may also gravitate toward farming. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports the average age of all U.S. farm producers is 57.5, and that’s rising. But the (literal) field can be tough to break into, according to Pendleton. For one, land is getting more expensive, and equipment is too. “Probably the biggest struggle is to upkeep equipment. You’re at the equipment dealer’s mercy to come and fix stuff, and that gets expensive,” he said. Acquiring the equipment in the first place is a challenge, too. “If you went and bought a new tractor right now, it would probably cost you $150,000- $400,000,” he said. Farming is different than many people might imagine, Pendleton said. “Tech is just getting better and better every day, and more useful every day, too,” he said. “With all the data management we can do on fields, we’re leaps and bounds ahead of where we were five years ago.” Even so, Pendleton said he wouldn’t trade the life. “If that’s what you want to do, go for it,” he said. “I don’t regret it one bit. It might be tough sometimes, but my wife and I have been farming full time for probably 15 years now, and I wouldn’t change it.” In the state of Missouri, 27 million acres are devoted to farm operations, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s state overview for 2023. That’s almost two-thirds of the 44.2 total acres of land in the state, as reported by the Congressional Research Service. The Missouri Department of Agriculture reports the state is home to some 88,000 farms averaging 308 acres each – most of them family owned and operated. The state ranks second in the number of farms after Texas. Across the state, the $93.7 billion agriculture industry employs some 460,000 people, according to current Department of Agriculture figures. The state exports $3.2 billion worth of products each year. Test-driving the tractor Maile Auterson, founder and executive director of Springfield Community Gardens, sees a lot of interest in the farming profession, despite economic pressures. “The very purpose of our federal funding – and state and citywide support – is to alleviate those pressures,” she said. One pressure is land access, which is especially grievous for underserved communities and people of color. “Farmers can sell to a developer, or they can sell to a large corporate farming conglomerate for more than a normal person can afford,” she said. That makes it difficult for people to purchase land to begin farming, but Auterson said Springfield Community Gardens offers education in regenerative agriculture methods that don’t require as much land or as many inputs as conventional commodity farming. The organization teaches best practices for purchases of inputs like seeds and supplies, and it offers connectivity, with a farmers’ cooperative to share tools, supplies and equipment. Additionally, it provides markets for products grown locally, such as flower farmers selling to MaMa Jean’s Natural Market. Additionally, the federal government buys produce from underserved farmers through the Local Food Purchase Assistance program. Through this, Auterson said, Springfield Community Gardens has distributed food to 17 counties through the Community Partnership of the Ozarks Inc. “Last year alone, we moved over $500,000 in local produce, and that’s a market we’ve helped to create,” she said. It’s hard to be a farmer, Auterson said, but human-scale methods, like high-tunnel growing, walk-behind tractors and land access through the Springfield Land Trust, offer interested people a way in. So does the Heartland Regional Food Business Center, which won $22 million to help farmers with business builder grants. While commodity farmers make only $5 per bushel of corn – less than the price of a family-sized box of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes – human-scale farmers can take fresh produce straight to consumers through farmer’s markets and community-supported agriculture boxes. “We are going to see a lot of these small growers,” Auterson said. “We can’t afford to only have these big $2 million operations, and I don’t think it’s good for our own spirit to get that far removed from our environment.” • Road: Missouri is home to roughly 88,000 farms Continued from page 11 1308 N. Glenstone Ave. | Springfield, MO 65802 | 417-832-1117 Your secret to affordable healthcare • Lower Premium Costs • Lower Out Of Pocket Costs • Wide Range of Medical and Occupational Services • Retention and Happy Employees • Increased Productivity • 24/7 Emergency Service Call For Your FREE Consultation Nichole BusdiekerJesse: Agricultural careers may not be the right choice for the risk-averse. Maile Auterson: Human-scale farming offers entrance point into the profession.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy