In 2006, the Council of Agriculture launched a program to recruit youth to become the next generation of Taiwanese farmers. These young farmers are thriving, and many earn well above what the average office worker can expect. But quite a few of these young stewards of the land enjoy less success in their love lives. True love is hard to find in the tiny countryside dating pools, and modern-day farmers still have to contend with old prejudices about their trade. Tonight, in our Sunday special report, we learn what it''s like to search for a soulmate as a young farmer.Around 1:30 p.m., the Kuo family starts getting busy. Every day at this time they gather live shrimp from their nets to take to the wholesaler.The faster they work, the more they get done. But there is one matter for the Kuo family that cannot be rushed no matter how urgent it feels: the marriage of their son Kuo Hung-yu. Kuo Hung-yuFarmerI went on blind dates for arranged marriage up to last year. This year I didn’t do blind dates at all. I was like, forget it! I don’t want us to waste one another’s time. I went on 25 blind dates. Twenty five.One hundred kilometers away in Changhua, another young farmer named Shih Ping-hsien struggles with the same problem. In his circle of friends, there are more than a few bachelors like him.Shih Ping-hsienFarmerThere is one over in Puyan Township. And Tacheng Township has several, some a year younger than me, others two years younger than me. Then there are some two years older than me.These young farmers all want to marry but are finding it rather difficult.Tsai Pei-huiLawmakerI think that a big part of this is that these men lack avenues for interaction with potential partners. Here in the city, when a woman is unhappy she’ll go out for afternoon tea, and when a man is unhappy he’ll drink at a stir-fry shop. Or he might go to a pub. In other words, a social network exists for people in the city, but it’s uncommon for farming villages.Making matters worse is the way farmers make their living. Farming has a reputation of being exhausting and barely profitable, so few women aspire to settle down with a farmer. On top of that, life in farming villages is inconvenient, with little in the way of supermarkets or shopping centers. For the most part, all that is there is nature.Recently the National Farmers’ Association held a first-of-its-kind event devoted to letting singles mingle.Chang Yung-chengFarmers’ association headAltogether we had 125 men and 22 women register, because there was such a massive gender imbalance, we chose only 58 of the men. So you see. Many young farmers – and many people interested in agriculture – enjoy participating in these activities. Or they feel a sense of urgency. They register so that they can have a chance.But meeting one’s soulmate often takes more than simply joining singles events. You have to be on the lookout at other times, too.In Hualien''s Yuli Township, a young farmer named Hsieh Ming-chien 謝銘鍵 has just tied the knot. He says that opportunities for striking a match are abundant – if you know where to look.Hsieh Ming-chienFarmerDon’t the hospitals have nurses? If you cut yourself, don’t forget to fling your hair. And say, “Hello! I’m in farming. I earn a million NT a year.” Now, we buy farm machines, and there is a farm machinery store. The store’s boss must have a daughter or two, so we can start by pursuing the daughters. If that works out, we can even get some cheaper farm machines.But if you want a woman to marry into a farming family, you may have to first convince her that she isn’t signing up to become free labor.Hsieh Ming-chienFarmerLife was really more difficult for the previous generation. But now, everything is mechanized. There really isn’t much menial labor. When we were dating, I showed her what it was like in this industry. So she understood. She probably realized that the work wasn’t as grueling as she imagined.His spouse now jokingly refers to herself as “Lady of the Farm.” Her nails are beautiful and unbroken, and her skin is light and unbleached by the sun.Her noble title for herself is a joke, but it’s true that farmers can be well off. It’s common for a young farmer to make two to six times more than the typical office worker. Many make NT$1 million a year.Chen Yu-chiChiayi Youth Farmers AssociationThe traditional farmer of the past did it as his entire career. He would do things the way his father and grandfather did them. But after we young farmers came back here, we looked at the machinery and asked ourselves whether we could introduce machines that could ease our labor. And then there’s marketing. I have always said this: We have to go from being career farmers to professional farmers. That’s the way to make agriculture profitable.Nowadays many young farmers are like small business owners as tend to their crops with modern techniques and technolog...
