New ag brings new profits

HEADNOTE

Growers are rolling with the changes in ag and coming out on top.

REMEMBER when city folks used to trek out to the countryside each summer to pick or buy bushels of vegetables or quarts of strawberries to

take home and process for winter meals? While some people are still doing that, their numbers have dropped off steeply over the last two decades. Smaller, two-income families have the money to buy fresh produce, but with busier lifestyles, they rarely have the time or inclination to pick, can, or freeze large quantities of anything.

CHANGING WITH THE TIMES

As a result, some pick-your-own operations or old-style direct marketers have either closed shop or are scrambling to stay viable. That's not to say that all retail farm businesses are going under. In fact, many are catching on to what one expert calls "new agriculture" and are tapping into ways of marketing that their grandparents could never have imagined.