Demographic Characteristics of Farm Operators: Age

The average age of principal farm operators has stayed fairly constant over the past three decades, ranging between 54 and 55 years of age.   Figure 6.8 shows the age distribution of principal farm operators for the Census of Agriculture year 2002. The greatest number, 30.4 percent, of farm operators are between 45 and 54 years of age. Nearly a quarter of the principal farm operators, 24.4 percent, are between 55 and 64 years of age.   Farmers ages 65 to 74 represented 13.6 percent of the total and 8.9 percent were 75 years or older. Thus, 22.5 percent of the Massachusetts farm operators were of retirement age in 2002. The smallest percent of principal farm operators were younger than 25 years of age, only 0.5 percent.   And, fewer than 4 percent of all Massachusetts farmers were younger than 35 years of age.  

Figure 6.9 shows the age distribution of principal farm operators by primary occupation. Farm operators who considered farming their primary occupation represented the majority for age groups 55-64 and 65 and over. In fact, more than half of the farm operators who considered farming to be their principal occupation were in these two age groups. While a number of previous part-time farmers who retired from their other jobs may be in these age groups, the 2002 Census of Agriculture data suggest an aging full-time farming population, with very few new entrants.