Programs for beginning farmers on the rise

By MICHAEL KRANSZ
Capital News Service
LANSING — On average, the state’s farmers are 56 years old, according to Michigan Farm Bureau. But an interest in local and organic food might yield a younger, fresher crop of farmers. “It has a lot to do with people being awakened to the issue that the food system is broken and there are a lot of opportunities to fix it and also make a living,” said Lindsey Scalera, the Canton-based co-chair of the Michigan Young Farmers Coalition. “It’s tough. People’s farms do fail.