Aging farmer nurtures younger generation with lease, lessons
By ELIZABETH LEE
Skip Glover ignored the backache at first. Farmers work through aches and pains, and spring was no season to shirk.
As the months passed, things got so bad he could barely move. At 64, Glover realized he couldn't keep farming forever. Yet letting his carefully tended soil fall into disuse was unthinkable.

Four years have passed since Glover confronted the realities of aging, years of searching for a way to preserve his dream of growing food sustainably on the outskirts of Atlanta. It's a dilemma many older farmers face.
The average age of American farmers is 55, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In Georgia, 35 percent of farmers are 65 or older. Fewer than 5 percent of the state's farmers are younger than 35.

The future of his land constantly gnaws at Glover, an only child who gave up plans to resettle his family in Australia three decades ago and returned to the farm after his father's death. The Douglas County farm has been in the family since 1823, but his three children all have thriving careers that don't involve farming. It's too early to tell what the six grandchildren will take an interest in.

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