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are both relatively subtle and imperceptible. These forces create the conditions which ready a rural community to move from one state of urbanization to the next and influence the pace of that transition.
The survey findings suggest that Rappahannock has moved a considerable distance along the urbanization continuum. In traditional farm families the farm is the family’s principal asset, its source of livelihood, and its way of life. The family farm was handed down from one generation to the next.
This is no longer the case in Rappahannock. The survey found that fewer than one third of our farmers had a parent who had farmed in the county. Moreover, only about two out of five farmers expect that one of their children or other relatives will inherit their land after they die and continue to farm at least part of it.
Rappahannock’s farmers’ average age is 58.6 years. About one fifth expect to quit farming in five years, and another fifth expect to quit within 10 years. It will be difficult for young farmers who do not inherit the land to replace them, since the price of county land far exceeds its value for farming.
Also gone is the time when a farmer could support himself and his family solely by farming. Nearly 60 percent of the farm operators reported outside employment.
89.0%