Oregon has more than 5,000 farms that are 1 to 9 acres in size, and the flow of people interested in taking up the profession hasn’t slowed.

That’s a good sign, particularly as the average age of Oregon farmers continues to rise.

But beyond desire, neophyte farmers need a considerable skill set to turn a dream into an economically viable farming operation.

To that end, more than 175 prospective and beginning farmers took part in a one-day small farm school sponsored by Oregon State University’s Center for Small Farms and Community Food Systems.

Workshops included horse handling and emergency veterinarian care, tractor safety, soil testing, beekeeping and small engine basics, blueberry production, dryland vegetable farming, pasture management and more.

Garry Stephenson, director of the center, said the turnout for farm school was indicative of the continued intense interest, especially in urban areas, about where food comes from and how it’s produced.

That interest can energize agriculture as legions of baby boomer farmers near retirement age.

“We have a generation of people in their twenties and thirties who are interested in going into farming as a business and as a statement of how they see the world,” Stephenson said. “One of the hopes we have is that they will eventually scale up and become medium-size farms.”

We need more trained, experienced farmers who can take the place of aging farmers who will eventually retire.

Census figures show the average age of all farmers — those who produced and sold, or normally could produce and sell, $1,000 or more in agricultural products — in Oregon is 57.5 years.

In production agriculture, where the bulk of Oregon’s farm value lies, the numbers skew older still. Of the 17,684 operators who list farming as their principal occupation, 10,600 — 60 percent — are 55 or older. Of those, 6,559 are 65 or older.

There are another 4,351 who list farming as their principal occupation who are between 45 and 54 years old. Added together, 84.5 percent of farmers are older than 45.

There are 4,746 farmers who produce sales of $100,000 or more. Forty-nine percent of those farmers are at least 55, and nearly half of those are older than 65.

Even farmers wear out eventually, and each must be replaced by a younger man or woman.

Most large farms started out as smaller farms, and every established farmer was once a beginning farmer.

While not every farm must grow larger, a great place for an operator to learn how to manage a larger farm is to make viable a smaller farm.