In the recent Rural Life Poll in Iowa, farmers were asked who they thought would benefit from 10 new technologies. If we are truly interested in small farms, then we should be pursuing technologies and systems to benefit them. We need to keep the distinction between public and private research clearly in mind. I have given a paper on this and it is one of the important dichotomies to remember. Private research is for private gain.
Companies are in business to make money.
They should exhibit a social conscience and as consumers we should support them, but in the final analysis a company has to make money to stay in business. Public institutions and organizations should have complementary but different objectives. A paper by Wally Huffman and Richard Just made the distinction that private research should be in the topic areas to make money while public research should be in the areas of pre-technology, social issues, food safety, environmental quality and so forth. We must continue to examine a whole array of options. Every farm is unique and the more options that are available, the greater the chance for choosing successful ones.