This time, I invested with friends in a large indoor fish operation growing Tilapia for Asian markets in Chicago, Toronto and New York. Adapting to alternative enterprises has kept me actively involved in agriculture. Farm diversification is not the easy way out, but it can be a help to those who dare consider it. I believe diversification served a valuable role in helping agriculture make a smoother transition to the new agriculture of the 1990s. The key factor in whether farm diversification is a success is marketing.
Markets have to be found and established.
This was a valuable lesson for many in rural America who thought ag marketing entailed only futures hedging and delivery to the local elevator. Mark and Nicki Willows of Binford, North Dakota, discovered that when they started Dakota Fish and Fillet in 1989. Cattle and wheat farmers, they built an indoor fish farm. Mark traveled to markets in Chicago and Canada before convincing other farmers to join him and organize the North American Fish Farmers Cooperative. The co-op combines production to make larger quantities for delivery to lucrative markets further away.