'Farming together' gains ground as aging shrinks rural workforce

Sangju's Nanuri cooperative draws 470 households; Hongseong youth farm shares everything from crop selection to profit

KREI urges policy recognition of collaborative farming amid aging crisis

Photo is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]

As an aging rural population shrinks the farm labor pool, a model of collaborative agriculture — where households share machinery, labor, production and sales — is emerging as a viable alternative. In Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province, a cooperative that started on 32 hectares has grown to cover 574 hectares and 470 member households. In Hongseong, South Chungcheong Province, young farmers run a cooperative where members jointly decide what to grow and how to divide the proceeds.

A report by the Korea Rural Economic Institute titled "Shifting Rural Policy in Response to Low Birth Rates and Super-Aging" finds that labor supply instability in agriculture is intensifying as the countryside ages rapidly, raising the urgency of farmer-to-farmer collaboration and reorganized production units. With family labor shrinking and outside workers increasingly necessary, the institute argues that sharing farm work and resources among farmers can serve as an alternative alongside foreign workers and employment services.

The Nanuri Agricultural Cooperative in Sangju is a leading example. When it was designated an outstanding field management body in 2016, its cultivated area was 32 hectares; last year it expanded roughly 18-fold to 574 hectares. Participating households have grown to 470. Six regional directors divide responsibility across Sangju, overseeing contracted farm work and quality control.

Rather than requiring each household to acquire its own machinery and expertise, the cooperative distributes seeds and shares water management technology. It also performs farm work using its own equipment. A standardized double-cropping system of soybeans and wheat is in place, with sowing and pest control available to households on request. The cooperative handles harvesting, sorting and sales. Output in 2024 reached 1,500 tonnes, with 1,600 tonnes purchased.

Nanuri Agricultural Cooperative — collaborative farming at a glance Source: Korea Rural Economic Institute

The collaboration has extended beyond production into processing. In 2019, the cooperative established a separate entity, Damkkotse Agricultural Cooperative, to handle processing — producing soybean products and employing local residents. The Korea Rural Economic Institute cited the case as an example of how jointly using farmland and machinery, combined with double-cropping and processing, can raise household income and improve management stability.

Collaborative farming has also helped young farmers put down roots. The Young Collaborative Farm in Hongseong, South Chungcheong Province, is a cooperative where five or six members jointly manage every stage — from choosing crops to production, labor, ownership of agricultural output and profit sharing.

Founded in 2012 around teachers and graduates of Poolmu School, the farm jointly cultivates 3,300 square meters of greenhouse facilities and 13,200 square meters of paddy fields. It has 16 registered members, and a total of 43 people have participated, including those who have passed through the farm.

Machinery, facilities, equipment and farming techniques are all shared. More than 90 percent of the leafy vegetables produced are sold through Hongseong Organic. The model allows young people new to farming to work on the farm, learn agricultural skills and engage in community activities before growing into independent farmers. The Korea Rural Economic Institute described it as a case where shared farming and cooperative labor experience leads to the settlement of returning rural residents.

Similar experiments are under way elsewhere. The Heuksarang Agricultural Cooperative in Gamul-myeon, Goesan, North Chungcheong Province, counts 70 member households. It began in 2001 as a producer community of environmentally friendly rice farmers and was incorporated as an agricultural cooperative in 2003. Today, eight successor farming households and 30 returning-farmer households participate in running a joint farm and in inter-household learning and collaboration.

The Hangkkune Cooperative in Gokseong, South Jeolla Province, jointly cultivates 4,290 square meters of paddy and 3,300 square meters of fields among its 53 full members and 26 associate members. Members share farming materials and machinery, and operate cooperative labor exchanges and jointly farmed plots. The cooperative also runs residential and living spaces for young returning farmers, a village cafe and a small library.

Overseas, shared use of farm machinery is more firmly established. France's CUMA — a national network of agricultural machinery cooperatives — operates roughly 11,500 groups across the country. About 40 percent of French farmers belong to one, with an average of 20 farmers per cooperative jointly owning and using equipment. Of those, 1,560 cooperatives employ approximately 4,600 people, including operators and mechanics.

The Korea Rural Economic Institute said that while examples of joint farm work, machinery sharing and cooperative management are emerging domestically, the institutional framework to formally recognize and consistently support them remains inadequate. It recommended that policy move beyond a focus on farmland consolidation and scaling, and instead recognize a range of collaborative models — shared labor, equipment and joint production and management among small-scale households — as legitimate policy targets. The institute also called for support to help young farmers participate in existing cooperative farming structures in their communities.

"Rural policy in an era of low birth rates and super-aging should focus not simply on increasing the population, but on ensuring that residents can access the care and lifestyle services they need even as the population declines — and that agriculture and rural communities remain sustainable," said Kim Jeong-seop, a senior research fellow at the institute. "A policy shift tailored to rural realities is urgent, including formally recognizing township- and village-level resident organizations as policy partners and providing them with stable support."

adastra@heraldcorp.com