3 Farmers Under 30 Hustle to Live Out Their Dreams

Unicorns walk the rows: Farmers under the age of 30 in command of an agriculture operation are the rarest breed. Representing roughly 5% of producers, under-30 farmers are a drop in the bucket that holds a dwindling 2 million farms, the lowest number in history.

USDA defines a young producer as someone 35 or younger and a beginning farmer as anyone who has farmed for 10 years or less. The latest Ag Census data available (2017) shows roughly 321,000 young producers in the U.S.

As agriculture's law of the jungle sees bigger swallow smaller in steady consolidation, three under-30 producers from Mississippi, Ohio and Illinois sound off on the struggles, pressures and hopes of farming's next generation. Willing to squeeze a nickel until the buffalo screams, they are thriving, rather than surviving.

Look high or low, it's hard to find a farmer grinding harder than Logan Yancey. Ready to charge hell with a bucket of water, Yancey has paid the price of admission to agriculture — and then some.

"I’d rather work 100 hours for myself before I’d work 40 for someone else," he says. "That's what it took for me to get started in agriculture, and I was willing to pay the cost."

In the hill country outside Ripley in northeast Mississippi, Yancey, 28, is a first-generation livestock producer with a bi-vocational approach split between cattle production and fencing. At 11, Yancey began working for a local farmer: "I never looked back. I loved it," he recalls. "My family had a small amount of land that was rented out or overgrown, and I figured I could raise cattle on it someday."

Starting with eight cows and zero experience, the Tippah County bootstrapper built a 5-acre fence as a teen that exploded several years later into Yancey Livestock Fencing.

He earned an agriculture science degree at Mississippi State University and bought and sold livestock throughout his education, honing his skill set — and fence-building expertise.

"In college, I started building fence for farmers, and it turned into a full-time career and opened the door for my own farming," he says.

In addition to fencing, Yancey now runs 70 cow-calf pairs. Life is a blitz: Feed in the morning, fence for nine hours, and finish the evening with chores and a helping hand from his grandfather, Larry Wood. With marriage, local farm organization service and volunteer fireman duties, Yancey stays on the move.

"Nothing is easy in agriculture," he says. "Right now, land is the limiting factor for most young people, and we all know it. But there are other heavy factors such as interest rates, or, in my case, material costs doubling since COVID, or inputs, but those are all pieces of a puzzle that can be solved."

Yancey's advice to other young producers? Connect agriculture to an outside job.

"If you’re starting cold like I did, you could go bi-vocational," he says. "If you fail in farming, you won't be in a hole because of the other job, and you can use the tax benefits to help you overall in your first few years. For example, I use my fencing equipment to farm. Tractors, side-by-sides, trucks and trailers all apply directly to my agriculture operation."

On the flats of Crawford County, in north-central Ohio, Zoe Kent is a farmer on fire. At 28, the eighth generation in a chain of Buckeye State growers, Kent stands at the helm of a corn and soybean operation with roots reaching to at least 1820.

Her father, Mickey, passed the wheel when Kent was 26. "I never intended to take over so young," she says. "My dad's health, a neurological genetic condition, sped things up. He still guides me, but there is nothing standard for young farmers — everyone makes their own unique path."

In 2021, Kent began dropping farm-related posts on Instagram and TikTok. Bees to honey, the viewers swarmed, and she collected 100,000 Instagram and 75,000 TikTok followers.

"There are no guidelines I can offer, except to warn about chasing money in social media because it's a long shot," she emphasizes. "I’m full-time on the farm and not able to have an off-farm job, but I still want to hustle beyond our fields and, for me, that means online."

Contrasting with the shine of social media, Kent contends farming comes with an inherent burden placed by history: legacy.

"I don't want to be the one to drop the ball," she says. "You bet there is heavy pressure never seen by the public. I’m like anybody else who hasn't had decades of experience — I need my dad around to tell me everything will work out. When market volatility kicks me down, I need him to assure me. We all need a dad or mentor who's been there to help us, and I’m not afraid to say that."

Kent stresses a widening field of opportunity in agriculture for the under-30 crowd.

"There is a real opening for small farmers," she says. "I see so many kids getting a start on other people's farms, and the common denominator is the readiness to do whatever it takes. If you’ll genuinely put in the effort, you don't have to be an eighth-generation farmer."

Across a mix of level land and gentle hills outside Murrayville, in west-central Illinois’ Morgan County, fourth-generation producer Rudy Pate grows 2,600 acres of strip-till corn, no-till soybeans, wheat, oats and 100 acres of hay, along with a cow-calf setup and a backgrounding operation on 400 acres of pasture.

At 29 years young, Pate already understands the cost and reward of delayed gratification as he focuses on working hard, staying honest and trusting God's plans.

"The greatest opportunity for a young farmer is to do a really great job and get better," Pate says. "When you put in the hard work and show you keep your word, then you start to build a reputation, and that's when opportunity comes. That opportunity might be expansion or a new enterprise, but it will develop down the line."

Mentored by his father, Harry, and never pushed toward a life in the rows, Pate attended Illinois College and earned a business degree — opening roads off the farm.

"Instead, I saw the opportunity to farm and work with my family, carry a legacy and feed my family," Pate explains. "I wanted to come back and not take — but give."

When Pate graduated from college, the operation totaled 1,000 acres of farmland and 20 cattle. Pate's passion and eye for opportunity were essential to growth.

"The biggest challenge for young farmers is to not take a single day for granted," he says.

Roughly 40 crops remain in Pate's farming career, and he projects the decades ahead will be opportune for young producers.

"I believe we’ll see endless change, but there has never been a better time to be in farming because solutions for every challenge will be found," he says.

With heavy responsibility on his shoulders, Pate tempers pressure with perspective. Work, marriage, church, community and ag organizations all demand attention, but Pate is thankful for his lot.

"My overall purpose is to be a good husband, son, brother, farmer, father and Christian," he says. "Farming is only one part of that list. I want to be in farming forever, and I will scrape with every ounce of my ability to do so, but if something happens out of my control and I don't remain in farming, that's God's plan. Therefore, there's no pressure except to do my absolute best."

These young producers, Yancey, Kent and Pate, are bullish on opportunities for under-30 prospects.

"If you say you want into agriculture, then what price are you willing to pay?" Yancey asks. "There are open doors right now but get ready for the good times and bad. Be certain you love farming beforehand, and then stick with it because your first years might demand harder work than you ever imagined. Stick with it, and you will have the opportunity to better yourself."

For more from Chris Bennett ([email protected] 662-592-1106) see:

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