60 | Podcast Feature: The Business of Agriculture - What an Aging Shrinking Population Means For Ag
Listen to this week’s Discover Ag episode: What an Aging Shrinking Population Means For Ag with Natalie Kovarik and Tara Vander Dussen now available on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio
This is a special bonus show where we are featuring a special episode from another podcast, called The Business of Agriculture. Hosted by Damian Mason, you can expect to listen to topics like:
The plummeting fertility rate and what it means for agriculture
How an aging population means big changes for our industry.
The nuances of these conversations and how it affects the consumers
And more!
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What Does an Aging Shrinking Population Mean For Ag?
The global population is getting older and fertility rates have been plummeting. Unless you follow Damian’s regular commentary, this is probably news to you. Most everyone in Ag is still operating under the misguided assumption that population growth is boundless. It’s not. As fertility rates drop like a rock, the population gets older. Fast. Here in the U.S. for instance, our median age has aged by more than a decade in the last 50 years. An aging population means big changes for our industry. From the product mix we produce (old people don’t drink milk), to the quantities we put on the plate (old people eat less), to questions of labor availability (working age population is at record high), there are huge challenges associated with an aging population. Todd Thurman joins Damian to discuss how Ag must admit and address this reality. (Shared from Apple Podcast)
How the Global Population Won’t Exceed 10 Billion
Kicking off the conversation, Damian Mason is joined by Todd Thurmon who has been on his show before to discuss how the global population, contrary to popular belief is actually on or will soon be on the decline. Most of what you hear in the news and coming from the media is “we will have to grow more food than ever to support an ever-growing population”. When in fact, Damian and Todd are saying that the population will never even see 10 billion. Here’s why!
One of the first examples that they bring up is that women across the globe are having babies later in life, therefore having fewer babies. Additionally, here in the US the median age of people has increased by 11 years in the last half-century, which means people are living longer but the majority of the population is now in the older age group. Another example given is how China is projected to have more retired people than working people by 2030. Let’s dig deeper into this idea.
The Aging Population and Consumption
The gentlemen start their first main point by diving deeper into the example of China’s aging population and what to expect from their consumption rates as that happens. Something to consider is that an aging population needs less food than the younger population. Using China in this example, they are the fastest aging country in the world due to several different reasons but one of the big ones is that several years ago they were concerned that the country would be overpopulated, so they put in place the “one-child” ruling, which essentially cut them off at the knees in current times as they older generation will take over the working generation because there are less young people to replace old people in the work-force. The biggest takeaway from the consumption conversation is that the agriculture industry will have to keep an eye on consumption rates and plan accordingly in order to cut back on production.
Interested in more episodes from The Business of Agriculture Podcast? Follow Damian on Soundcloud here.
