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The Aging U.S. Farmer: Should We Worry?

In: Advances in Efficiency and Productivity

Author

Listed:
  • Harold O. Fried

    (Union College)

  • Loren W. Tauer

    (Cornell University)

Abstract

The average age of the U.S. farmer continues to increase and exceeded 58 years in 2012. This aging of farmers is not unique to the U.S. If older farmers are less productive than younger farmers then agricultural output may diminish. Although Malmquist techniques are often used to measure productivity over time, we measure the productivity of farmers of various age cohorts with DEA techniques using the 50 state-level age cohort data from the 2012 U.S. Agricultural Census. We define a global technology comprising data from all age groups and states. Productivity of an age cohort in a state is then measured relative to data from all age groups rather than between adjacent ages. The efficiency component of a state age group is measured relative to the other state observations in that age group. Technology is measured as the Malmquist productivity value divided by efficiency. We find that the productivity of the age group of 35–44 years old is 3% more productive than the youngest farmers under the age of 25, but that the productivity of farmers over the age of 65 is 10% lower than the youngest farmers. The decrease in productivity of old farmers is due to technology because on average they remain efficient.

Suggested Citation

  • Harold O. Fried & Loren W. Tauer, 2016. "The Aging U.S. Farmer: Should We Worry?," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Juan Aparicio & C. A. Knox Lovell & Jesus T. Pastor (ed.), Advances in Efficiency and Productivity, chapter 0, pages 391-407, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:isochp:978-3-319-48461-7_16
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-48461-7_16
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    Cited by:

    1. Alexandria Moxley & Roland Ebel & Cathy L. Cripps & Caroline Graham Austin & Mary Stein & Meaghan Winder, 2022. "Barriers and Opportunities: Specialty Cultivated Mushroom Production in the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-33, October.
    2. Adam, Lukman & Jin, Jia & Khan, Anwar, 2022. "Does the Indonesian farmer empowerment policy enhance the professional farmer? Empirical evidence based on the difference-in-difference approach," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

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