What is happening to family farms?
Family farms in the U.S. are in serious decline. Between 1961 and 2001 the number of U.S. farms dropped from 3.82 million to 2.17 million, a loss on average of 41,333 farms per year. The average age of farmers is more than 55 years. Squeezed between expensive inputs and decreasing prices for their products, small-scale and mid-sized family farms cannot cover the costs of production. Debt, bankruptcy, foreclosure and forced evictions threaten family farms.
