Iowa agriculture has made a drastic shift in the past few years from producing the traditional meat and potatoes to more specialized produce for specific tasks, according to some Iowa State professors.

Stanley Johnson, editor in chief of Agricultural Economics and vice provost for ISU Extension, said agriculture is shifting to a more consumer-driven business, requiring farmers to make changes in what and how they produce in order to play an active part in Iowa’s farm economy.

“I think increasingly the demands of consumers are being transmitted through the food chain,” he said. “Producers are finding it increasingly profitable to respond to these kinds of [changes].”

Johnson said some agricultural changes stem from consumers’ developing awareness of food quality and safety, and their desire for genetically engineered characteristics and source identification.

Larry Johnson, director of the ISU Center for Crops Utilization Research (CCUR) — no relation to Stanley Johnson — said advancing technology has consumers better able to recognize values, therefore exerting greater influence on the agricultural system.

“Consumers have more say now. The marketplace is becoming more segmented due to consumer expectations,” he said. “The market is becoming much more specialized, somewhat being driven by our ability to modify the crop.”

Larry Johnson said farmers are going to have to continue to bend to consumers’ wishes in order to stay successful in an agriculture market.

“You have to take the attitude that the consumer is right and we have to be willing to [produce] whatever the consumer wants,” he said.

“I think farmers are going to have to be more flexible in the future and not just think of themselves as producers of a commodity. There’s going to be other opportunities that may be more profitable.”

Larry Johnson said the demand shift represents a market that was not available in past years.

“There has been immense change over the last three years. I think we’re right in the middle of a transition, I think it’s going to move much further than it is today, we haven’t felt the full impact of it yet,” he said.

“Our producers are going to have to be much more responsive to changing demand.”

Stanley Johnson agreed and said consumer-driven agriculture can be beneficial.

“I think [the changes] will be to our advantage if we move to embrace them,” he said.

“We have very good growing conditions, technically capable farmers and the info-structure that can support the growing of specialized crops, maybe more than any other state.

“Iowa farmers should see this as an opportunity more than as a threat — if they take the initiative, it can be a huge opportunity for them,” he said.

John Lawrence, ISU Extension livestock economist, analyzes the impact of such changes on Iowa and works to help farmers deal with them.

“Iowa is very well positioned. Our natural resources are such that we will long be dominant in the food business; however we are probably also experiencing changes,” he said. “The change to new ways often times is unsettling to people.”

Stanley Johnson said teaching students who will be entering careers in agriculture how to keep better records and keep track of information is an important part of education that can help calm apprehensions.

“These kinds of ideas are finding themselves into the curricula. In the more technical areas, the increased precision in growing crops is a big part of the curriculum,” he said.

“[It is] also finding its way into our practitioner education programs in Extension.”

Johnson said Extension also is making connections with local processing efforts, providing grants and collaboration to farmer groups that are becoming supply networks.

Lawrence said a “long-standing trend” in agriculture education is the move toward technology, and Iowa State has been a cornerstone in this process.

“We are moving to a knowledge-based society, I think agriculture is an excellent example of that,” Lawrence said.

“We are moving into an era where knowledge, decisions and skills are a good capital..

“[But] you can’t replace the brainpower, and that’s where education comes in,” he said.

Another ISU agricultural program, CCUR, explores possibilities in produce technology.

Larry Johnson said the center finds new uses for produce including developing value-added products and using traditional agriculture products for non-food applications like ethanol, plastics and building materials.

“In the U.S. we have a very adequate food supply, so either we’ve got to export it or we’ve got to turn it into something other than food supplies,” he said.

Stanley Johnson said farmers also are responding to changing demands by organizing producer-owned supply networks and by farming on contract.

“One of the results [of these changes] is farmers will find it in their interest to cooperate and coordinate their effort more than in the past,” he said.