Aging farmers, lack of successors threaten future of US agriculture

30 Jun 2025


News

The 1980s farm crisis didn’t just impact balance sheets, it changed people’s interest in being involved in agriculture.

“The farm prices didn’t just hurt those in production, the ripple effect was across the industry,” said Aaron Locker, who has spent his career helping agricultural businesses find talent and leadership.

Locker, who serves as managing director at Delaware-based Kincannon & Reed, an executive search firm focused on the food and agriculture industry, testified during a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing this month. He joined several others including American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall in the hearing titled “The Aging Farm Workforce: America’s Vanishing Family Farms.”

Finish reading the full article here and add to your calendar that WEDC will be hosting Farmer succession planning with Keep Farms Farming in early December, the same day as our annual pancake supper.