follow in their footsteps. “Producers are optimistic about the future of agriculture; otherwise, they wouldn’t see a place for their children in farming and ranching,” says the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Bob Stallman.

FUTURE FARMS

A $5 million “seed vault” will open soon on Norway’s Spitsbergen island. Its precious contents—millions of seeds—offer backup protection for the world’s crop diversity. Because the “bank” is located north of the Arctic Circle in permafrost, the seeds won’t be destroyed if the power goes out. Even considering global warming, computer models indicate that Spitsbergen will continue to be one of the coldest places on Earth.

GROWING BUSINESSES A grassroots culinary effort is under way at a Grange in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. There, growers use commercial ovens and cookware to prepare their produce to sell. “A farmer could sell tomatoes for $1 a pound, but turning the tomatoes into a $5 jar of salsa is what today’s farmers need to do to sustain their farms,” says kitchen manager Becky Turner.

More farmers are using online “farm forums” to compare notes. The two hottest topics: machinery and crop prices. Fifty-one percent of U.S. farms now have Internet access, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “The information age has finally arrived in the countryside,” says Mack Strickland, an agriculture professor at Purdue University.