Agribusiness Will Survive

Early in our marriage, I often heard The Mister bemoan the fact that the number of farmers in America continued to decline. I was moaning right along with him as I wondered how we could continue to feed and clothe our nation. His answer to that was that we continue to improve our farming skills so that farmers are more efficient and get greater yields per acre on their crops than in the past. As I watch and listen to The First Cousin's sons improve their farming techniques in Gila Bend (did you know that there is such a thing as a tractor that is guided by GPS? It helps make straight rows, adjustments for variations in the field and other amazing benefits.), I am reminded that agriculture is very much alive and well in the U.S., even though the number of farmers might still be declining. I did find a census performed by the USDA in 2002 that stated there were just over 2 million farmers in that year; the surprising thing about that was that the census performed in 1997, 5 years earlier, showed just UNDER 2 million farmers.

I got a further reminder from this article in today's AZ Republic about food-chain followers:

Not many people know the entire process of how agricultural commodities go from pitchfork to table fork.

So, the Morrison School of Agribusiness and Resource Management at Arizona State University's Polytechnic campus is taking students on a tour of firms in the region that are involved in all stages of the process, said Raymond Marquardt, the school's dean.

This is the second year for the field trip. The tour is the bulk of a weeklong course Marquardt will teach with assistance from Dale Berry, a member of the school's advisory council.

The course starts Monday.

For the first four days, about 40 seniors who will take the course will visit companies, including Schnepf Farms, Poore Brothers, Bay State Milling, American Italian Pasta Co. and a Wal-Mart Supercenter as well as a Wal-Mart distribution center in Casa Grande.

"There's a surprising number of agribusiness firms here," Marquardt said.

On the final day of the course, students will be required to submit a written report and deliver a marketing presentation.

"We're not going to tell them which company they have to deliver a report on until Day 4," Marquardt said.

And yes, there is a relationship with the ASU Morrison School of Agribusiness. The Mister's parents donated the funds to set up the school and endow the chair.

Agriculture has a way of getting in one's bloodstream and never leaving. Farmers are a resilient lot; that's why I'm pretty certain that Agribusiness will survive even in this era of dwindling acres and farmers.