The same forces causing the closure of Conrad Farms, a popular Bixby vegetable grower since the 1940s, are endangering the foundation of all American agriculture.
The three Conrad brothers - Vernon, Eugene and Melvin - are in their 70s and ready to retire. The Conrad family's younger generations are not interested in continuing the operation, and the high cost of land and production are an almost insurmountable barrier to beginning farmers.
And there's the fact that farming, as Vernon Conrad put it, is "a seven-day-a-week job, out in the cold and the heat and the wind and the wet weather."
Willing and able newcomers are few.
While farm income is at or near record highs, so are land prices and production costs. Prices paid for Oklahoma agricultural land have tripled over the past 15 years, to more than $1,300 per acre. In Tulsa County and the surrounding area, the price can easily reach $6,000 an acre - or more, if the farmland is converted to housing or commercial development.
"I don't think you could buy us out and make a living," Vernon Conrad said.
The confluence of urbanization, smaller families, longer life spans and higher start-up costs has pushed agriculture to a generational breaking point. Four decades ago the average American farmer or rancher was 45. Today the average age is nearly 60.
Back on the farm
One of the few bucking the trend is Brian Livesay of Porter, a 22-year-old Oklahoma State University graduate whose family farms 3,000 acres in Wagoner County.
Livesay says there was never any question about his returning to the farm.
"As long as I can remember, farming is what I wanted to do," he said.
It was the same for Arron Naugle. Two decades ago, when she left home for college in Missouri, she had no doubt she would be back to her family's 2,000-acre ranch in far west Tulsa County.
"It was pretty much all I knew," she says now.
Livesay and Naugle have the advantage of family land accumulated over several generations. Mike Spradling, Arron Naugle's father, said that about the only way for someone without land to get into the business is to "marry the farmer's daughter - which is what I did."
"With the price of land ... it's really difficult," said Bo Naugle, Arron's husband and a former farm loan officer. "They have to finance the land. They have to finance the cattle. They have to finance seed. They have student loans to pay off. If they don't have any equity, it's really hard."
Perhaps more typical of today's young farmer is 30-year-old Skiatook native Joe Henderson. He, his father and his 28-year-old brother Jarred grow pecans and hay and raise cattle on 500 acres north of Tulsa.
Like most farmers, Joe Henderson derives most of his income from another source - in his case, a job as a Tulsa firefighter.
Nationally, farm household income is about 25 percent above the national average. But that figure is deceiving. According to the Congressional Research Service, 84 percent of farm household income comes from nonfarm sources such as a job or investments.
In other words, farmers don't necessarily have more money because they're farming; in many cases, they're farming because they have more money.
"You've got to enjoy it because there's no money in it," Henderson said.
More, smaller farms
Fewer than 1 percent of Americans claim farming as an occupation; of that, fewer than half say farming is their principal occupation.
But even that definition is generous. Just 10 percent of U.S. farms and ranches account for 82 percent of production.
Conversely, 60 percent of farms and ranches total just 1 percent of production.
"Farmers and ranchers are getting older. Farm size is getting smaller," said Dave Shideler, an agricultural economist at Oklahoma State University. "When you look at total acres ... that's stayed kind of flat. But the number of farms has been increasing since the early '90s."
Almost two-thirds of the state's 87,000 farms have annual sales of less than $10,000. Although the average Oklahoma farm is a little over 400 acres, about 30 percent have less than 50 acres and about 60 percent have less than 180.
Much fewer in number, but growing at comparable rates, are operations of 2,000 or more acres and at least $500,000 in annual sales.
Brian Livesay's family moved to the Porter area in 1966 and over the years has acquired more than 3,000 acres. The Livesays are best known for their peach orchard, but they also farm a variety of field crops, raise cattle and grow apples, melons and pumpkins.
"I'm fortunate to be able to work full time on the farm," Livesay said.
"Here, I can see that I've really done something," he said. "At the end of the day you can see what you've accomplished. And I get to work with my father and my uncle. Not many people get to do that."
The role of women
Apparently, not that many 22-year-olds feel the same. Even among OSU agriculture students, only a minority plan to actually farm or ranch as a primary occupation.
Shideler, the OSU ag economist, said one trend is the growing participation of women in agriculture. Wagoner County Extension specialist Alan Parnell agreed, saying, "The husband goes and works in town, and the woman stays and does the work on the farm."
In truth, women have always been involved in agriculture. When George and Garnett Campbell began assembling the Flying G Ranch southwest of Sand Springs in the early 1930s, it was largely for Garnett's prized Hereford cattle.
"She was the rancher," said Lotsee Spradling, the Campbells' daughter and Arron Naugle's mother. "That was her passion."
Today, Lotsee Spradling is in charge of the Flying G's cattle operations while Arron Naugle manages the equestrian center. Lotsee's husband, Mike Spradling, oversees pecan groves on the ranch and on 800 acres north of Catoosa in Rogers County.
Bo Naugle does a little bit of everything.
The Flying G is unusual in that George Campbell, a lawyer, incorporated it as the town of Lotsee - pronounced Low-tzee - in the 1960s. Lotsee Spradling said this was to prevent the ranch from being annexed by Tulsa or Sand Springs.
That has helped preserve the ranch for a fourth generation - the Naugles' three sons, ages 12, 11 and 9, and Arron's two sisters' three children.
"I feel pretty confident ... that at least one of the six will keep the ranch going for their kids down the line," Arron Naugle said.
Rising costs
Not all new farmers are young farmers. Another trend in agriculture is the growing number of older people getting involved.
Ron Hall, who farms 70 acres west of Owasso, didn't really begin until he was 60.
"I always wanted to farm," he said. "And I wanted to have as complete an operation as possible."
Hall raises sheep and hay, and he also has some border collies. He said he's losing money, especially the past two years when drought all but wiped out his hay crop. White muscle disease, caused by a vitamin and selenium deficiency, killed some of his lambs.
"Two or three a day were dying," Hall said. "Talk about knocking the slats out from under you."
Hall said he would tell anyone contemplating a move such as his to "make sure you really want to do it. You have to have a burning in your heart. Unless you're really driven, don't do it. But I really want to do it."
In Oklahoma, agricultural land has tripled in price over the past 15 years. Production costs rose 18 percent nationally in 2012, reaching record highs and offsetting gains in commodity prices.
Overall farm wealth is at near-record highs, in large part because of the lowest debt ratios in decades. But even that would seem to reflect the industry's aging and long-term ownership.
Still, many observers are optimistic.
"We still have a lot of young farmers and ranchers," said Mike Spradling, who is also state Farm Bureau president. "What we see is more smart farmers."
Spradling points out the obvious: The world's human population is growing, and it has to be fed.
"It's easier work and you can make more money if you go to work in town, but there will always be enough people who want to farm to meet the demand."
Randy Krehbiel 918-581-8365
randy.krehbiel@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: A labor of love
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