New Mexico has the highest percentage of older farmers and ranchers, at 37 percent, followed by Arizona, Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma.

“We need more tools to draw in new, young farmers in America,” said Merrigan during a recent visit to the University of Colorado - Denver, where she also pointed out that the dairy industry faces an even more dramatic aging trend, with many farmers in their 80s.

Click here to read more about Merrigan's visit to CU Denver.

North Carolina's Agriculture Commissioner, Steve Troxler, makes similar visits to regional campuses. He recently told the Southern Farm Network that the average age of a farmer in North Carolina has also been creeping up steadily and is now 57.3 years old.

He says the only way to reverse that upward trend is to recruit more young people to take up farming.

Click here to listen to Troxler talk about the aging of farmers in North Carolina and the U.S.

Merrigan and Troxler both mention the National Young Farmers' Coalition, specifically the policy changes the group promotes, which would make it easier for beginning farmers and ranchers to start and strengthen agricultural businesses.  FG