Economic and Marketing Information
FOR INDIANA  FARMERS
Prepared by the Agricultural Staff of Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana   
March 31, 1970
Factors Related to Success or Failure in Getting Started Farming
by John Aubrey Watzek
former research assistant in Agricultural
Economics, now in Monroe, Louisiana
A
STUDY CONDUCTED in
Clinton County, Indiana during
the summer of 1969 indicates that
it is still possible for a young man
with limited capital to start farming. The study was based upon
30 men who began farming from
1964 through 1967.
Of the 30 beginners, 24 had substantial family assistance and, of
these, 19 went into partnership
with their father, mother, or
father-in-law. The other five who
had family assistance either
rented land from a relative, received a gift, loan, or inheritance
from a relative, or had a relative
co-sign promissory notes for them.
The two major obstacles to getting started farming appear to be
the limited number of openings
and the high capital requirements.
The impact of these obstacles was
significantly reduced for those
who had family assistance. Many
family members consciously
created an opening for their son
or son-in-law. On the other hand,
those who did not have family
assistance, moved onto farms
where the previous operator simply was no longer capable or de
sirous of continuing to operate the
farm.
After their initial entry into
farming, the beginners' most
serious problem seemed to be lack
of adequate acreage. Because of
the severe competition for land,
some of the beginning farmers
found it necessary to rent several
small tracts of land separated by
as much as 20 miles. Others simply could not find additional
rental land and had to supplement
their incomes with nonfarm employment. Still others encumbered themselves with heavy
mortgages to purchase land.
There were striking similarities
among those who had the least difficulty in renting land. In comparison with those who had the
most difficulty, they tended to be
older, have larger and newer machinery, and were less likely to
hold a nonfarm job. Apparently
landowners prefer not to rent to
inexperienced young men whose
machinery is barely adequate, and
whose time and energy is largely
absorbed by the requirements of
a nonfarm job.
The mean age when starting
was 20.8 and the median was 20.5.
Only three men started before
age 17 and only three started
after age 23. The mean years of
school completed was 13.4 and
the median was 12.0. Only one
person had not completed high
school and nine were college
graduates.
Seven of the 30 were still unmarried during the summer of
1969. Of the 23 wives, all had
completed high school, and seven
were college graduates. Only five
families had any children when
they started farming. By the time
of the survey, 14 families had at
least one child and seven had
two or more.
All except two of the 30 men
were farm-reared. The two who
were not, married farm-reared
girls and went into partnerships
with their fathers-in-law.
Eleven of the beginners had
never been employed prior to
starting to farm and only ten had
been employed for a year or more.
Thus, prior employment was not
a source of capital accumulation
for most of the men. However, a