CORVALLIS, Ore. — For years, Tyler Jones, a livestock farmer here, avoided telling his grandfather how disillusioned he had become with industrial farming.

After all, his grandfather had worked closely with Earl L. Butz, the former federal secretary of agriculture who was known for saying, "Get big or get out."

But several weeks before his grandfather died, Jones broached the subject. His grandfather surprised him. "You have to fix what Earl and I messed up," Jones said his grandfather told him.

Now, Jones, 30, and his wife, Alicia, 27, are among an emerging group of people in their 20s and 30s who have chosen farming as a career. Many shun industrial, mechanized farming and list punk rock, Karl Marx and the food journalist Michael Pollan as their influences. The Joneses say they and their peers are succeeding because of Oregon's farmer-foodie culture.

"People want to connect more than they can at their grocery store," Alicia Jones said. "We had a couple who came down from Portland and asked if they could collect their own eggs. We said, 'OK, sure.' They want to trust their producer, because there's so little trust in food these days."

Garry Stephenson, coordinator of the Small Farms Program at Oregon State University, said he had not seen so much interest among young people in decades. "It's kind of exciting," Stephenson said. "They're young, they're energetic and idealist, and they're willing to make the sacrifices."

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Though the number of young farmers is increasing, the average age of farmers nationwide continues to creep toward 60, according to the 2007 Census of Agriculture. That census, administered by the Department of Agriculture, found that farmers over 55 own more than half of the country's farmland.

The problem, young farmers say, is access to land and money to buy equipment. Many new to farming also struggle with the basics.

In Eugene, Ore., Kasey White and Jeff Broadie of Lonesome Whistle Farm are finishing their third season of cultivating heirloom beans with names like Calypso, Jacob's Cattle and Dutch Ballet.

She said that they farmed because they felt like part of a broader movement, but that the farmer's life was not always romantic. Last year, their garlic crop rotted in the ground. Broadie, 36, is unable to repay his student loans. They do not have health insurance, or know when they will be able to afford to buy land.

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