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Newbie Farmers Pair With Old Hands

By Drew Nelles,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 16, 2009 3:43 PM CDT

(Newser) – Matchmaking just might save the family farm, the AP reports. States such as Iowa, Virginia, and Washington have started programs pairing would-be farmers with those aiming to retire, in the hopes of beefing up independent agriculture and keeping rural areas populated. "I thought I may never get a chance like this in my life," one farmer-in-training says. "I knew there was no way I could do this on my own."

It’s a win-win situation: novices get training and, ideally, inherit some of the land, while would-be retirees know their farms are in good hands. It won't reverse years of decline in the industry, but it's a start. "John really took me under his wing,” the newbie says. “If I tried to buy a farm out there and work it by myself, I would have been a nervous wreck.”

In this July 14, 2009 photo, farmer Isaac Phillips stands in a cornfield on his farm in Richland, Iowa.
In this July 14, 2009 photo, farmer Isaac Phillips stands in a cornfield on his farm in Richland, Iowa.   (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
In this July 23, 2009 photo, farmers John Adam, left, and Isaac Phillips talk in a hog confinement building before processing hogs in Richland, Iowa.
In this July 23, 2009 photo, farmers John Adam, left, and Isaac Phillips talk in a hog confinement building before processing hogs in Richland, Iowa.   (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
In this July 14, 2009 photo, farmer Isaac Phillips stands in a hog confinement building on his farm  in Richland, Iowa.
In this July 14, 2009 photo, farmer Isaac Phillips stands in a hog confinement building on his farm in Richland, Iowa.   (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
In this July 23, 2009 photo, farmers John Adam, left, and Isaac Phillips walk on their farm in Richland, Iowa.
In this July 23, 2009 photo, farmers John Adam, left, and Isaac Phillips walk on their farm in Richland, Iowa.   (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
In this July 23, 2009 photo, farmers Isaac Phillips, left, and John Adam process hogs in a confinement building in Richland, Iowa.
In this July 23, 2009 photo, farmers Isaac Phillips, left, and John Adam process hogs in a confinement building in Richland, Iowa.   (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
Yourself
Aug 17, 2009 5:41 AM CDT
not really, the majority of the learning was staying within families and handing down the farms to their next generations. problem with that is alot of those same kids moving to big cities and not taking on the farming lifestyle. This ensures that someone who wants to be a farmer and didn't grow up on a farm can get into the industry.
cognitivefilter
Aug 17, 2009 5:20 AM CDT
sign me up, i'm ready to bust out of suburbia
NxBigmouthery
Aug 16, 2009 9:52 AM CDT
Um...I don't get it. This story is essentially 'Apprentices Learn From Masters.' This had not been happening in the farming world?

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