James Greiff , Columnist

Young Farmers Don't Need Taxpayers' Help

The country has all the farmers it needs.

Productivity personified.

Photographer: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recites the same lament when he is asked to size up the state of American farming. Things are dandy, but a crisis is looming because farmers are old and getting older all the time.

He usually ends with a question about who will replace them, as he did again last week at a speech at the annual James Beard Foundation Food Conference.