The hardest part of being a farmer is managing uncontrollable factors like unpredictable weather, pests, disease, and volatile market prices that can destroy a year's income instantly, despite intense physical labor and long, relentless hours. Key challenges include high-stress decision-making, financial uncertainty, and severe isolation.
The hardest thing about being a farmer is the very reason they enjoy it – trying to be very good at all the everyday jobs needed to be a successful farmer. Each day, including weekends and holidays, they make sure their animals are well taken care of by checking their health and watching their diet.
❏ Common farming stresses include machinery breakdowns, the death of a valuable animal, uncontrollable weather, variable crop yields and fluctuating commodity prices. ❏ Common family stresses include economic difficulties, turmoil in the world, loss of a family member or divorce.
A farmer works tirelessly under the scorching sun, in heavy rains, and through biting cold — all to ensure others never go hungry. Their day begins before sunrise and ends long after the world has gone to sleep. They risk everything — their land, their savings, and even their health — in the hope of a good harvest.
Ask a Farmer: What's the Hardest Part of Farming? | MD F&H
Why do farmers struggle?
Currently, many farm businesses are struggling to remain financially viable. Many businesses are marginal or loss-making and face an uncertain future. For decades, unfair trading practices and low food prices have fueled a vicious cycle, where farmers are faced with a choice to “get big or get out”.
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord.
National policy changes, the impacts of climate change, Brexit, the rising cost of living, and increasing concerns around mental and physical health have all taken a toll on farms and farmers in our region. Despite the challenges, there are also opportunities. I believe in the potential of our farms and farmers.
The average age of all U.S. farm producers in 2022 was 58.1 years, up 0.6 years from 2017, continuing a long-term trend of aging in the U.S. producer population.
A farmer with over 30 hectares of arable land is obliged to grow at least 3 crops. The main crop shall not cover more than 75% of the arable land; the 2 main crops together must not cover more than 95% of the arable land. Permanent grassland does not count as a crop for the three crop rules.
Nearly two thirds (60%) said they felt depressed, with 6% 'very depressed'. Despite such serious impacts on their wellbeing, less than a quarter (24%) of farmers sought help, raising concerns for many in the sector that the true consequences of pressures like extreme weather are going unreported.
The biggest obstacles for farmers, who try to sustain food security, are climate change, arid soil conditions, scarcity of water and a general lack of resources.
Fluctuating crop prices, rising input costs, poor market access, and mounting debts create a financial trap that many farmers find impossible to escape. Additionally, changing climate conditions, unpredictable monsoons, and frequent droughts or floods only add to their struggles.
The five main challenges facing modern agriculture are climate change, soil degradation, water scarcity, pests and diseases, and the need to ensure food security for a growing population.
Farming probably involved more work than hunting and gathering, but it is thought to have provided 10 to 100 times more calories per acre. More abundant food supplies could support denser populations, and farming tied people to their land. Small settlements grew into towns, and towns grew into cities.
The most profitable farms grow what people are willing to pay a premium for. In recent years, demand has risen for organic produce, free-range eggs, grass-fed meat, and niche crops like microgreens or mushrooms.
Nonetheless, agriculture is still seen as male-dominated,4 and women face challenges being accepted as farmers. In the most recent Census of Agriculture, over half of U.S. farms reported having at least one female decision-maker, and women farmers accounted for 36 % of all producers and 41 % of beginning farmers.
The average income for cereal farms was £39,400, and lowland grazing £17,300 for example. More concerning is that, on average, core farming activity was loss making for cereal farms, lowland grazing farms and upland grazing farms (see figure 1).
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), deaths to workers in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry occurred at a rate of 24.4 per 100,000 workers in 2023. Transportation incidents (including from tractors and ATVs) were the leading cause of death, but many other hazards exist on the farm.
In farming, the "7-year rule" primarily relates to Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning, where gifting farming assets (land, buildings) to beneficiaries requires the donor to survive seven years for the gift to become fully exempt from IHT, falling out of the estate, though recent reforms starting April 2026 cap full relief at £1 million. It also affects Agricultural Property Relief (APR), which usually needs 7 years of ownership (or 2 years if farmed by the owner) for full IHT relief, though new rules will limit this to the first £1m of assets from April 2026, creating a "seven-year lottery" for farmers planning their legacy.
Farming is a tough business to get into. To make a living, you often have to own a lot of animals, a lot of land, and a lot of equipment. That can make it difficult for young farmers who are just starting out. In this North Country at Work story, how one farmer in his late 20s is making it work.
The average (median) Household Share of Farm Business Income in England in 2021/22 was: £22,200 at the all-farm level, up from £12,400 in 2014/15. highest in general cropping (£41,000) and dairy (£39,900) farm households. lowest in lowland grazing livestock (£9,800) and horticulture (£12,000) farm households.
A gentleman farmer employs labourers and may also employ a farm manager, and the farm is usually not the chief source of his income. He generally has his own private income, works in a profession, owns a large business elsewhere, or some combination of the three.
