Primary farm operator ages are increasing, but at a rate slower than US life expectancy trends, and they do not present an immediate danger to the availability of agricultural products or farmland production.
Farms classified as midsize and larger represent around 10 percent of all farms and 80 percent of production and have substantially younger primary operators than farms classified as small family farm operations.
Primary operators in agriculture tend to be slightly older than US business owners, and the gap can be attributed to the tax and capital gains advantages to retaining farmland.
Farm operations that are classified as midsize and larger often have multiple farm operators that are younger with some transition plan intact.