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MADISON, Wis. - Mine the opportunities.
That's the advice Lowell Catlett, a retired agricultural economics professor at New Mexico State University, offered at the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW) conference March 16 in Madison, Wis. Catlett encouraged his listeners to tap into and mine the possibilities that changing times bring.
"I truly believe in all my heart and soul that it's the best time to be in agriculture," Catlett said. "And it's the best time ever to be alive."
He offered examples, such as the way agriculture has met the demands placed on it. One of those demands was providing an average of 2,450 daily calories to a growing population, 3.6 billion people in 1970.
In the United States in 1970, 20 percent of disposable income went for food, Catlett said. The world number was far greater, at 60 percent. Now, Americans spend less than 10 percent of their disposable income on food.
Another measure of success is economic growth. The United States recently became the first $18 trillion economy, Catlett said. That $18 trillion is one-fourth of the entire world economy.
Other nations have shared in the success. China counted nine out of 10 of its people in poverty in 1970.
"And, today it's down to one in 10," Catlett said.
If projections about future population growth prove true, during the next 25 years the world will need to double the amount of protein derived from eating meat, Catlett said. Doing so will require more intensive animal operations, most of them in the United States. Meeting the challenge is an opportunity for United States farmers.
It's not only people who need calories. Catlett said more people both here and abroad keep pets, and they, too, are generally well fed.
"It's not only the best time to be alive, it's the best time to be alive if you're a dog, cat or horse," Catlett said.
The United States is home to more horses now than it was 100 years ago.
"Our horses used to pull us up and down the road. Now we pull them up and down the road," Catlett said.
The growth in specialty food is yet another opportunity for farmers. Catlett gave the example of slow chickens, as in slow growing so their meat is more tender.
Organic food presents an opportunity for farmers, said Catlett. The impact of organic agriculture was not even measured 25 years ago, but now it accounts for more than 4 percent of all food sales.
Agritourism is another field of opportunity. Rural people are earning money from endeavors ranging from leasing land for hunting to charging admission fees to corn mazes.
The use of new technology is helping create opportunity.
"Robots are coming," Catlett said. "The fastest use of commercial robots in agriculture, of course, is in this industry: robotic milking."
The average commercial robot not being used in agriculture is paid for in just two years.
"So, get ready for the robots," he said.
Robots are continually being improved. A recently developed robot is so skilled that it can thread a needle using one hand, Catlett said. The same robot is so sensitive that it can differentiate a ripe peach from one that is not.
"It's the best time ever to be alive," Catlett said in closing. "It's the best time ever to be alive if you're a cow. It's the best time ever to be in agriculture. But you [need to] mine it."[[In-content Ad]]

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