We asked Wayne Jensen to gather three of his farming friends together to discuss the future of the family farm… and whether it’s a good idea to pass the farming tradition on to the next generation. The following is an abridged version of that discussion. To hear the complete discussion, click here.

Wayne Jensen:
So are you having a good time farming this year?

Garry Esser:
Yeah, I am. You know, I love farming. It’s challenging. The prices have taken some of the fun out of it. It’s kind of sad that you would not enjoy farming because you worry about losing it.

The “no till” part has been fun. I have really enjoyed the newness of it and the challenge and watching things grow. Even the mistakes. If you don’t make a few you haven’t pushed the limits. So, yeah, I’m enjoying it.

Russ Zenner:
It’s been the challenge of making direct seed or “no till” work that has certainly kept me motivated.

We made a lot of modifications through the four years here, and made a lot of progress. It’s been slow at times it seems like, but I guess to see the effort that we sort of jointly put together have some results that looks like it’s going to lead to the success of the system has really been encouraging. That part of it has certainly kept me motivated.

There’s obviously a long ways to go, but we’re getting closer every year, and that’s the fun part of it.

Lee Druffel:
One thing that does concern me about the profession of farming in the future is I really hesitate to bring the next generation in, because I’m not sure how viable it is.

And if the stress and all the problems we have now with prices and expenses remain or escalate, do you want to set the next generation up for even a tougher go of it than what we’re having? So that bothers me.

We’ve had a fifth generation farm, and do we want to continue it to the next generation, or would it be better and more humane to the next generation to discourage them and allow the neighbor to farm it?

I’ve got a kid who’d like to return and he’s of the age and he would be good. He’s got the experience and the brain to do it, but should I bring him back or not?

Russ Zenner:
I think if you have children in the family that have a passion and a desire to do it, and they have a good groundwork laid as far as a successful operation, I’m convinced that there’s going to be survivors in this business that are going to probably do pretty well. Admitted, there’s going to be challenges, the prices and the expenses and those kinds of things, but the people that are sort of leading the pack a little bit and understand the things they need to do to be successful, I think there’s going to be opportunities for a good lifestyle.

But again it’s going to have to be a situation where you’ve got some love and some passion for it, or the stress will eat you up. You want to be sure that’s what you want to do, and I think there’s opportunities for the next generation.

Garry Esser:
You know, Lee, being someone who fought hard to get into farming, I think if you’ve got a son, like Russ said, loves it and wants to be a farmer, you’ve got to let him go and make his own mistakes.

When there’s someone out there who really has a passion for the land, you got to let them try. I think you just got to let them try.

Lee Druffel:
I guess the alternative is huge corporate farms or some different structure.

I guess if we don’t allow the next generation to come and keep it in the family, we’re opening the door for the corporate type structure, mega farms that I don’t think would be in the best interest of food production or stewardship.

We’d be down to mining the ground, so you’re probably right. It’s just difficult. You’re concerned about your own equity. Are you going to deal that away? You’re also concerned about allowing the next generation in? Are you really doing them a service or setting them up for something that’s going to be too difficult to accomplish?

Everyone has to make that choice. You guys are going to have to make that choice, too, eventually, as to what’s going to happen to the ground we’re farming for the next generation, because it’s up to us to set up that and make it successful.

I think all of our fathers gave up equity and time and sacrificed so we could be here now. And I guess it’s going to be incumbent upon us to do the same for the next generation. We’re aren’t going to get full value, but we do it in the effort to continue the family type farm.

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