Carefully tending the future

New generation of Triangle farmers raises crops and awareness

The Carrboro Farmers' Market turning 30 this year and a smattering of markets opening this spring got us wondering about the next generation of Triangle farmers.

Who will sell us heirloom tomatoes in Carrboro 30 years from now? Who will continue their family's farm stand at the State Farmers Market in Raleigh? Where will the local food movement spread next: Wendell? Smithfield?

Farming has long been a graying business. The average age of the American farmer is 55. But North Carolina has a growing crop of younger farmers. While the aging of the farming population has been a concern, agricultural economists believe market forces will attract people to the business if shortages raise prices.

Younger farmers generally fall into one of two categories, says Blake Brown, a professor at N.C. State University and an agricultural economist. The majority are from families who have farmland. A much smaller, emerging group does small-scale sustainable farming, selling directly to consumers at local farmers markets. Sustainable farmers aim to use chemicals sparingly, if at all, in an attempt to maintain balance in the ecosystem and keep from harming the environment.

The latter is becoming more popular as the Triangle sees four new farmers markets start this spring. (See Page 12E for a list of Triangle farmers markets.) Farmers markets are on the rise nationally -- between 1994 and 2006, their number more than doubled to 4,385, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This trend is likely in response to growing concerns about the industrial food supply and the reaction to try to eat local fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy products.

A passion for the work

Regardless of whether today's young farmers are continuing conventional farms or starting small sustainable farms, they share the same drive.

Growing up watching his father and grandfather farm almost 3,000 acres in Harnett County, Charles Tart Jr., 20, believed farming was his destiny. "I knew I was going to," he says.

The other young farmers we found didn't grow up around farming. They went to college and interned on farms. Stuart White, 30, of Bluebird Meadows graduated from the New York Film Academy. Elizabeth Haarer, 30, of Wild Onion Farms earned a comparative religion degree from Duke University.

Political, personal or environmental reasons drew them to the land.

"It's sort of in opposition to the way things are done," says George O'Neal, 26, of Lil' Farm. "It's sort of a protest. ... I don't know where fast food comes from." (O'Neal claims to be the only farmer who listens to both rap music and old Metallica.)

Haarer became a farmer because fruits and vegetables at the grocery store didn't taste as good to her. "I'm just a slave to my stomach," she says.

And then there is Alice White, 28, who runs Bluebird Meadows with her husband, Stuart. Several years ago, she spent a month in the hospital facing near death. Afterward, she says, there was no time to waste: "I'm going to grow flowers."

They all face challenges, whether their farms cover thousands of acres or three.

The elder Tart worries about his son's future. Rising costs -- tractor fuel has gone from 79 cents to $3.64 a gallon -- are squeezing them, while what they can charge for produce remains the same. About his son's generation of conventional farmers, Tart says, "They have to come up with better ways to do things to be more profitable with what they've got."

Tart expects his son and other farmers will have to find better technologies and work together to survive.