A class at the University of Missouri is designed to teach students the skills they need to overcome the financial and societal pressures they face when going back to the family farm or starting their own farms. The class is called Returning to the Farm and it’s taught by Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics Kevin Moore. Moore says students who are prepared to face the first five years of business can be successful in the farming industry. The class focuses on subjects like financial planning and developing business plans and features visits from farmers and professors who cover topics such as estate planning, business organization and tax management. This is all in an effort to address the need for younger farmers to enter the business. If younger adults are going to continue to choose not to go into the farming industry – Moore says we could run into a problem within the next decade or two – due to the lack of farmers in the U.S. He points out only five-percent of principal farm operators nationwide are under the age of 35. With one-third of U.S. farmers now at 65 or older – he says time is running short.