Where Will the Next Generation of Farm Workers Come From? A Conversation Farmers Need to Start Now!
- Joshua Brock
- 7 hours ago
- 5 min read
Farmers everywhere—row crop, livestock, specialty crop, you name it—are facing the same quiet but urgent problem: where do we find reliable workers in places that are rural, aging, and not traditionally agricultural?
The work we do is physical, unpredictable, and tied to the seasons. It doesn’t fit into a neat 9-to-5 box. And yet our operations depend on people who can show up, learn quickly, care about the animals and the land, and work alongside us.
But the old labor pipeline—neighbors’ kids, local families, folks raised around livestock or machinery—is shrinking. More young people leave rural communities than stay. Many who stay choose year-round jobs in manufacturing, health care, or retail, jobs that sound more stable than agriculture. Even in counties with long farming traditions, the labor pool feels thinner every year.
If we want our farms to survive, we need to rethink where the next generation of farm labor comes from, and what we’re doing to attract it. In this article, we've come up with some ideas worth discussing, testing, and refining together. Let's take a look at the topics we'll be covering in these seven strategies for finding farm labor.
We Need to Start Recruiting Like Other Industries Do
Agriculture is one of the only industries that still expects people to “just show up” looking for work. Meanwhile, construction companies advertise apprenticeships, trucking companies market their lifestyle, trade programs visit high schools, and local manufacturers hold monthly hiring events.
Farmers rarely think of themselves as recruiters, but we should, and we need to. A simple, consistent hiring strategy might include:
Posting openings on local Facebook groups, rural community pages, and job boards
Talking to high school counselors, FFA advisors, and shop teachers
Offering short-term “farm internships” for teens and young adults
Creating a simple website or flyer explaining what working on a farm actually looks like
Most non-ag people don’t even know what “farm labor” entails. They imagine 100-degree days, endless shovels, and mud. They don’t see the pride we feel in our work, the problem-solving we engage in throughout the day, or the satisfaction of real, tangible work.
If we want people, we have to show them the full picture!
We Should Widen the Net Beyond People With Ag Backgrounds
Some of the best farm employees I’ve ever met didn’t grow up within 50 miles of a barn. They were:
former mechanics
factory workers tired of indoor shifts
veterans looking for meaningful work
retirees wanting physical activity
people who simply want a job that feels real
people in office cubicles who found that work unsatisfying
There’s an untapped labor pool made up of people who are tired of staring at screens each and every day, enjoy hands-on work, want daylight, fresh air, and physical movement, value working with animals or crops or both, and simply want a job that makes sense.
But they don’t know the farm world is open to them. Most think, “I didn’t grow up on a farm, so I’m not qualified.” And so here is our collective mission - we need to actively challenge that myth!
Housing Is Becoming a Deciding Factor
For many rural farms, especially those outside traditional ag counties, the limiting factor is no longer interest—it’s where people can live!
We’re seeing shortages of affordable housing, rising rents, fewer and fewer rental units near farms and long commutes that workers won’t tolerate.
This is why food manufacturing, major dairies, and large ranches often provide on-site housing or partner with landlords. For small and mid-size farms, this might look like:
renovating an unused farmhouse, trailer, tiny home, or RV
building a simple modular bunkhouse
partnering with local landlords to guarantee year-round rent
offering a fuel stipend to offset the commute
In many rural areas, housing has more influence on labor availability than wages.
The Work Needs to Be Structured in Ways That Make Sense to Non-Farmers
The truth is, many people can do farm labor. What they can’t do is guess.
Farm jobs often fail not because workers can’t handle the work, but because:
expectations aren’t clear
training is informal
schedules shift without warning
the job feels chaotic
This is normal to us—we grew up in it. But for newcomers, it can feel overwhelming. Some farms are improving retention by providing written daily routines, using checklists for animal care or feeding, offering 30-, 60-, and 90-day training milestones, communicating weekly schedules clearly, and giving new workers time to build confidence.
You might also consider using Farmbrite, farm management software, to help keep your farm organized.
But structure doesn’t turn farming into a corporate job. It makes the job more accessible.
We Need to Tell a Better Story About Agricultural Work
Most industries highlight their strengths to attract talent. Agriculture, on the other hand, often downplays them. We talk about the hard days - the heat, the cold, the long hours - but we rarely emphasize any, let alone all, of the things that we love about farming:
the satisfaction of caring for animals
the pride of producing food
the trust built within farm crews
the variety of daily tasks
the chance to learn real skills
the physical and mental reward of honest work
There are people, many people, who crave exactly this type of work. If we start telling the story of farm work more fully, we attract not just employees, but the right employees.
Tapping Into Non-Traditional Pipelines
Other countries and industries use alternative labor channels effectively. Farmers could explore opportunities such as:
local community colleges with diesel, welding, or animal science programs
workforce development offices
re-entry or rehabilitation programs that match people to steady work
immigrant and refugee support organizations
military veteran programs
job-sharing agreements between neighboring farms
These pipelines work because they connect motivated people with meaningful work. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel; we just have to be willing to try it.
The Farm Community Must Talk Openly About Labor
Farmers often keep labor struggles quiet.
But the truth is, we’re all dealing with the same shortage, and no one benefits from pretending otherwise. Imagine:
counties organizing shared recruitment efforts
regional “farm job days” at high schools
groups of farms pooling funds to create housing
shared training programs for new workers
county-level ag workforce boards
farm co-ops helping promote agricultural careers
If local farmers can cooperate on equipment, feed, and markets, we can cooperate on workforce development, too.
Final Thought: Labor Isn't a Problem to Fix, It's a Future to Build
We’re at a crossroads.
If rural communities lose their farm labor, they lose their farms. If they lose their farms, they lose the culture, economy, and identity that shaped them. Finding the next generation of farm workers isn’t just an HR challenge. It’s a matter of rural survival.
And the solution won’t come from one farmer, one article, or one idea. It will come from farmers talking to farmers, experimenting, sharing what works, and building a new labor pipeline together - one that welcomes people into agriculture instead of assuming they already belong.
Joshua, his wife Jenn, and their dog Rooster live in North Central Pennsylvania. Joshua is the owner and operator of Hoffman Appalachian Farm, where they grow Certified Naturally Grown hops. Joshua has over twelve years of experience in growing crops, including growing in an organic system. In his spare time, he enjoys trail running, backpacking, and cycling.
