More farmers working off-farm

FRESNO, Calif. -- More than half of America's farmers work a job off the farm to make ends meet, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In California and throughout the country, farmers open up their land to tourists, set up roadside stands and travel the farmers' market circuit, but they also moonlight as mechanics, pool cleaners and even authors. They make jam and paint landscapes, work at banks and own businesses in order for the farm to survive.

Farmers such as John Mesrobian, 62, who grows grapes near Fresno, Calif., said he'd like to farm full time but still must spend much of his time at his document shredding business. "The plan was to slowly let go of my business and farm full time but, financially, that's not possible," Mesrobian said.

And so he became one of many moonlighting farmers, working an outside job in the day and spending the evenings and weekends clearing the rows, applying fertilizer and spraying for weeds.

The trend of farmers taking on other jobs to help pay the bills is hardly new -- Mesrobian remembers his farmer father working as a tailor for Sears -- but the figure has grown from 55 percent in 2002 to 65 percent in 2007. In California, it has remained a bit steadier, at about 50 percent in both 2002 and 2007, according the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Census of Agriculture.

Kansas figures vary by county. Bourbon County stats show that 491 producers also have off-farm jobs they work at for 200 days per year or more; Crawford County checks in with 426; Allen County shows only 266; and Linn County 385 producers working off the farm. Some western Kansas counties, where farms are much larger on the average, show lower numbers, i.e. Haskell County with only 77 and Grant County with 89 producers who also work off the farm for 200 or more days per year.

The frequency of working off the farm has also grown substantially over the last 75 years, according to a report by the USDA's Economic Research Service, which conducts the farm survey every five years.

In 1929, only one in 16 farmers in the nation reported working 200 days or more off the farm. By 1947, one in six farmers reported that much off-farm work, and by 1997, the ratio was one in three farmers. The 2007 survey reported that almost 900,000 farmers worked more than 200 days a year in other jobs.

"I'm not the exception. It's the norm now for a lot of small-scale farmers to have full-time jobs off the ranch," said Steve Spate, 50, who grows raisin grapes on 200 acres south of Fresno. He also works as a representative for the Raisin Bargaining Association, a job that has him out meeting and recruiting other growers to the group.

Most farms in the United States are small operations, with 60 percent of all farms reporting less than $10,000 in sales of agricultural products. Of the 2.2 million farms nationwide, less than half show profit from their farms. The remaining 1.2 million depend on non-farm income to cover farm expenses.

"It's difficult to pay yourself, as a farmer, the money you deserve," Spate said. "And the money you do make, you put back into the farm."

Farmers said another job adds stability as well as cash flow. "As a farmer, you have to worry about the weather and how your crops are going to price that year," Mesrobian said. "At least working a full-time job helps with insurance and benefits, helps cover your family."

It's a difficult balancing act, Mesrobian acknowledged, "How do you do both and still spend the time you need to with your family? There's no price on that," he said. And Mesrobian, whose 80 acres haven't turned a profit in two or three years, said he remains hopeful. "Farmers as a group are generally optimistic people," he said. "We're always looking forward to the next year to be a good year."

Editor's Note: Doug Niemeir is the County Executive Director for the USDA/Farm Service Agency. He can be reached by emailing him at Douglas.Niemeir@ks.usda.gov.