About the series:

The demo- graphics of farming have been grim for decades. But young farmers are part of a countertrend.

It's hard to pin down the numbers. The last agriculture census was almost five years ago. It includes a familiar story: over the last 20 years, the North Country lost 50% of its dairy farms. But the total number of farms has dropped by just 10%.

It is relatively new alternative farms--vegetable, fruit, and livestock--that are filling the gap.

Many are owned by young people. 40% of all farms in Franklin and Essex counties, dairy included, are owned by beginning farmers. Beginning farmers own 30% of the farms in St. Lawrence and Clinton counties, 25% in Jefferson and Lewis counties.

In our series Farmers Under 40, we're hearing from farmers of all kinds, big and small, from traditional dairy, to alternative small farms. But they're all young, and most of them college-educated.