Here at the Center for Rural Affairs, we're constantly asked if there really is a future for farmers in agriculture. Usually, this question comes from somebody who lives in an urban area, or a jaded activist who has lost too many battles on the policy front. The answer is simple. Yes, there is a future in agriculture. But it is not easy. Farming and ranching are a tough business. Maybe one of the toughest around, when you think of all the government policy that favors a particular type of farming that offers little opportunity for young people, especially those not in line to inherit a substantial amount of land. Then you look at the difficulty of finding health insurance, securing credit- the list goes on and on. So it ain't easy.

But you can make it work. To do so, you really need to embrace two broad themes- innovation and customer service. These aren't revolutionary, but for a long time most farmers and ranchers have grown what processors demand, not what customers actually want, and those two are diverging ever more rapidly. And don't get me started on what farm programs do to innovation. Here's an example, from today's Des Moine Register:

Vande Rose Farms, which consists of three century-old farms near Oskaloosa, ships 40,000 pounds of premium Duroc pork and Hereford beef products to California each week and twice that amount to restaurants and retailers on the East Coast.
The company expects to hit $25 million in sales this year and is banking on 15 to 20 percent growth in each of the next few years.

To help sustain and increase sales, the company is concentrating on three new initiatives:

- Opening a Vande Rose Meat and Seafood retail store in California.

- Launching online sales of its meat products.

- Creating a customer base in Malaysia, Korea, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

Vande Rose Farms has hit on a hot market, said Gary Huber, food system program specialist with Practical Farmers of Iowa.

"Specialty pork products are being sought after," Huber said. "Consumers and food service workers are looking for quality products that taste good." [Full Article Here]

This sort of innovation isn't seen much in commercial-scale farming today, but it should be. Being the low-cost producer doesn't cut it anymore. This is the future.