Agricultural producers across the nation are aging out. In her podcast Reframing Rural, Montana-born journalist Megan Torgerson explores this issue and others that impact rural communities across the state. In her latest season, Succession Stories, Torgerson asks Montana farmers and ranchers one of the biggest questions they face today: who’s going to take over their land? MTPR’s Victoria Traxler sits down with Torgerson to hear what she learned.
Victoria Traxler: Megan Torgerson is here today with me, the creator/producer of the podcast series, Reframing Rural.
Megan Torgerson: Thanks for having me, Victoria.
Victoria Traxler: Thanks so much for being here. Tell me about Reframing Rural. What are you sharing with listeners?
Megan Torgerson: So, Reframing Rural is a documentary podcast that I founded in 2019 that hands the mic over to rural people in Montana and beyond, and really challenges mainstream stereotypes about rural people, places and culture. And in this fourth season, we've profiled five Montana farm and ranch families who are transitioning their operations over to the next generation.
Victoria Traxler: What did you learn about the issue of succession planning in Montana?
Megan Torgerson: All of the factors that contribute to the farm crisis of today, whether that's the rising cost of inputs because of tariffs, or commodity market fluctuations, grain prices that have maintained the same for the last 30 years, a labor shortage, land that is valued for its recreational potential rather than its agricultural potential, and an aging farmer demographic, all of those fold into the issue of succession, and all of those factors make it harder transition a farm or ranch to the next generation.
Victoria Traxler: So how big is the scope of this problem in Montana? Do you have any data that you feel like represents this issue?
Megan Torgerson: Well, 40% of the nation's farmland is owned by people over 65, And over the next 20 years, it's estimated that one third of all of the farmland in the lower 48 states will change hands. And then I do know that in Montana, the number of farms and ranches went down between 2017 and 2022, which could be representative of some farms being absorbed by expanding operations or others being paved over for development too.
Victoria Traxler: So what were some of the main themes or challenges that emerged through your reporting?
Megan Torgerson: Succession has its own unique challenges in unique communities. For instance, I told the story of the Fritz family in Chester and they're in the Golden Triangle. And a lot of Hutterite colonies are buying properties there, and they have a larger buying power, so they're able to out-compete farmers and ranchers who are not part of those colonies.
Then in Malta, I told a story there about the Hammond family and there are a lot out-of-state buyers in that area. The Hammond family, at one point, they were surrounded by 56,000 contiguous acres of land owned by out-of-state owners.
So, it's really hard for the next generation to get a shoe in the door and purchase land if they need to start from scratch or if they to expand their operations, because the status quo of agriculture, as it is right now as a result of the Nixon era policy to get big or get out of agriculture, has really been that you need to get big. You need to buy more acres, otherwise you won't be able to make it.
Victoria Traxler: For people who might not understand, can you explain why this issue is not as simple as just handing the farm or ranch off to your kids?
Megan Torgerson: Family farms and ranches are really complex businesses. I mean, you have inputs that are hundreds of thousands of dollars. You are participating in the global commodity market. You're often hiring foreign labor through the H2A program from countries like South Africa or Denmark. There's so many factors and components of agriculture today. That's why the mental health crisis in agricultural communities is so apparent. But you have to be considering all of those factors when you're looking to pass it on to the next generation. And that next generation needs to be not only privy to, of course, but willing to carry that flag forward. And it's a huge pressure to those next generation stepping in
Victoria Traxler: You're from Dagmar, Montana, up in a very rural northeastern corner of the state. Could you share why it was important for you to start this project?
Megan Torgerson: I got the seed of the idea around the 2016 election when I was seeing overly simplified narratives of rural America in the news that were really portraying them as a monolith and I just got the bug to do something about it, I guess, to kind of turn the microphone over to rural people and offer them the opportunity to tell a more nuanced story and go deeper in a long-form documentary narrative style.
Victoria Traxler: Megan, thanks so much for being here today.
