To stay on the farm, more and more farmers are working extra jobs

On the Leelanau Peninsula, known as Michigan’s pinky, the rolling hills and insulating lake effect make it possible to grow fruit. Cherry farmer Phil Hallstedt said he never tires of looking at the landscape, but growing cherries here is not the stable business it once was.

“I don’t go to Vegas because I gamble every year,” he said. “Cherries are so, so risky.”

After several tough years, Hallstedt has switched to a labor-saving U-Pick model, where people pay to harvest their own cherries. He said his family made this change after years of juggling jobs off the farm.

“Two years ago, I was ready to throw in the towel,” Hallstedt said. “And my wife said, ‘I’m not,’ and I love my wife, and I follow my wife. And so I was like, ‘OK, I gotta figure this out.’ So together we’re trying this new business model.”

Only 37% of farmers held a primary job off the farm in 1974. Today, roughly 85% of family farmers rely on other jobs to support their livelihoods, according to a 2023 report from the Department of Agriculture.

The cost of seed, fertilizer and labor have generally gone up, but the prices farmers get for their products are down.

Agricultural economist Daniel Munch with the American Farm Bureau Federation said competing in a global market means farmers have to keep scaling up.

“We’re never in the position of saying it’s bad that farms are getting bigger,” Munch said. “They’re just doing it because that’s what they need to survive in the marketplace we have now … which is a harsh reality.”

In Nebraska, farmer Vern Jantzen grows corn and soybeans and sells to a local co-op. He said he’s debt-free, but he likely won’t break even this year.

“With an average yield and a below-average price, it doesn’t pencil out,” Jantzen said.

Jantzen is also a substitute bus driver. While initially it wasn’t for the extra income — he volunteered when the school district needed someone — now, he said, he’s glad to have the job.

“All we have left is good farmers, and we’re squeezing them out,” Jantzen said.

Some farmers are exploring ways to generate more income from their products. That can mean earning a “price premium” by turning a raw product like berries into jam or planting additional crops with a niche market.

And some, like Phil Hallstedt in northwest Michigan, are turning to agritourism. He plans to open campsites on his land to further cash in on the region’s tourist economy.

Even if cherries don’t pay, Hallstedt is determined to keep his farmland from becoming yet another subdivision. But to keep the orchard, Hallstedt said he needs to be able to stay in business.

“Once that house goes up, it’s gone. It will always be housing,” Hallstedt said. “We’re trying to avoid that. We love this land, and the land is special.”