As we move forward there is going to be two somewhat different views of what farmer's primary focus on food production should be.On a world basis, agriculture means producing food for the world.As it stands agriculture is managing to produce sufficient food to theoretically feed the current population, although distribution is a major barrier to that actually happening.Poor nations suffer from two problems in terms of having their people receive sufficient food. On one level they simply do not have the cash resources to pay for import food, and even when they do manage to buy food resources infrastructure and corruption make it impossible for food to get to hungry mouths.As we move forward, the financial barrier is not going to get better. Realistically no efforts are being seriously undertaken to create anything close to a fair distribution of the world's wealth. In fact, within countries which have greater wealth, Canada and the United States among them, there is becoming an issue of a widening gap between rich and poor.So don't expect the money barrier to decline anytime soon.Then there is the growing desire among the affluent to have the healthiest foods possible. When money is not an issue food can be more than simply filling one's tummy.So farmers are finding interest in growing crops which fall into the health conscious diet mode of the affluent.Now there is nothing wrong with the concept of consumers being concerned about the foods they eat, but it does change the rationale of growing certain crops.Farmers certainly understand the health motivation in Canada where the specific properties of canola in terms of a providing a healthier food oil have created an entire industry.The distinctive oil profile of canola was different enough from its parent rapeseed to create new markets and that led Canadian farmers to switch to the new crop quickly.Today crop development scientists are of course pushing the genetics of canola to customize the oil in ways which make it fit specific markets generally based around health.Dow AgroSciences Canada for example has Nexera with its omega 9 oil profile which is accessing new markets. PepsiCo, which owns Frito Lay, is apparently looking to Nexera canola for its chip production because of the nutritional make up of the oil.Farmers will look to new crops, created through planting breeding and genetic modifications, which make those crops fit the demand for healthier food options for those who can look past where their next meal is coming from.Mass food production to feed all, or specific crops to meet health desires are going to continue to influence acreage decisions for farmers in the years ahead.
