I've added a new category called the "Agriculture Economy" to the Technology News section. For several years, I have encouraged rural regions to look closely at new models of agriculture that are entrepreneur-focused, rather than relying on traditional agriculture models where the farmer is basically just the factory floor--food products are "produced" and then put on trucks, hauled away, and sold by others, who also make most of the profit.
In the emerging Agriculture Economy, technology and entrepreneurism are drivers of successful ag businesses. One of the most profitable areas is organic and/or fresh food. Month by month, the organic produce section of our local grocery stores expands. Five years ago, you had to make a special trip to the local health food store to buy organic carrots. Now, the local Kroger offers organic carrots as well as a wide variety of other organic foods.
Specialty fresh foods are also an emerging market opportunity, and I decided to add this new topic area after reading an article in the Roanoke Times about a tobacco farmer who just harvested his first crop of shrimp. Grown in freshwater ponds, the shrimp sell for $7 a pound, and the shrimp farmer had a huge crowd of people lined up to buy them. He is now thinking about adding a pick your own broccoli field.
With heightened awareness of chemicals, additives, and genetic manipulation of factory farm food, more and more people are willing to pay a bit more for locally produced and/or organic food. Sold directly to grocery stores by the entrepreneurial farmer, the profit margins are much higher. The high tech/entrepreneur farmer will also be using technology to monitor crops, keep quality high, and to reduce the human labor required to produce food. And the Internet is a key marketing partner; fresh food can be sold directly to customers via the Internet, delivered fresh by overnight delivery services.
There are simply not enough "high tech" software and technology firms to bring jobs to every rural area of the country. A tunnel vision economic development strategy that places too much reliance on "high tech" or "biotech" without looking realistically at the odds of being successful is just as damaging as continuing to hope for some good Manufacturing Economy jobs.
Tobacco farmers are well positioned to make this transition successfully, as they already understand how to manage small acreage, high cash value crops. But small farmers in other regions may need help from economic developers, especially on the technology and business/entrepreneurial side of the business.