Senate hears bill to create Farming and Workforce Development Program to recruit younger farmers
Summary
Senate Bill 287 would create a Farming and Workforce Development Program within the Ohio Department of Agriculture to train residents ages 16–35 for seasonal crop farming; sponsors cited USDA data showing an aging farm operator population.
Sponsor testimony on Senate Bill 287 described a proposal to create the Farming and Workforce Development Program within the Ohio Department of Agriculture to train Ohio residents for seasonal crop farming and to encourage more young people to enter agriculture.
The sponsor said the program would be open to Ohio residents ages 16 to 35 and that county offices of The Ohio State University Extension and Central State Extension would develop program guidelines, application policies, coursework and implementation procedures. The sponsor cited 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture data to underscore a demographic challenge in the sector: he said roughly 90 percent of producers are 35 or older, the average age of a principal operator is about 58, and only about 29 percent of surveyed producers had established operations within the last 10 years. The sponsor said Ohio agriculture generates approximately $124 billion annually and currently employs about one in eight Ohioans.
Committee members asked questions but did not take a vote; the first hearing concluded with the sponsor available for follow‑up. The committee record contains no appropriation or implementation timeline tied to the program in the hearing.
