02/15/06 Kohl calls it `a work in progress`

It was a packed house to hear noted economist Dr David Kohl. KOHL "The Northwest, it is a microcosm of emerging agriculture." The Virginia Tech professor says agriculture in Idaho and the Northwest is a work in progress. KOHL "Its probably one of the 35 regions in the United States, that's being Idaho, that are really, really strong agriculturally and so one of the things you're finding is, yeh, the dairy industry may be growing, other industries may be contracting and that is basically because the consumer and the global markets are driving this process." Kohl was the featured speaker at yesterday's Idaho Ag Summit in Boise. When asked about the state of American agriculture Kohl compared it to barbell weights. KOHL "I have a group of producers that are doing very, very well at one end of the barbell. Then I have a group of producers who are falling behind on the other end of the barbell. And then I have the ones in the middle if it wasn't for real estate appreciation they probably wouldn't be doing very, very well." Kohl says those who seem to be making money in agriculture are those who are merging new thoughts, ideas and innovations from young people with old wealth, whether that's family or non-family. He says those people do their research, make objective decisions and most importantly, they execute and follow a strategic plan. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott