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Abstract
Farming is in the midst of a major transformation-not only in technology and
production practices, but also in size of business, resource (land) control and operation, business
model and linkages with buyers and suppliers. This paper describes the fundamental drivers of
today's structural change in U.S. agriculture. The impact of the drivers are illustrated by
describing some illustrations of the kinds of innovative farming operations that are developing in
agriculture, not the typical farms but those who appear to be leading and shaping the new
agriculture. Finally, farm policy implications of the transformation of farming to an industrial
manufacturing model are discussed.