CHICAGO (September 28, 2009)—A team of farmers last week took a break from their harvest planning to travel hundreds of miles to Chicago to meet with reporters from the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg, and AgLetter on behalf of The Hand that Feeds U.S.

“With its close proximity to so much of our nation’s valuable farmland, Chicago is an incredibly important media market for us,” said former House Ag Committee Chairman Larry Combest. “This trip was a great opportunity for The Hand that Feeds U.S. to start a dialogue with reporters who truly understand the importance of the industry—not only to this region, but to this country as well.”

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My initial notion of a wheat harvest wasn't too far removed from my grade school lessons of the first Thanksgiving enjoyed by the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. What greeted me on Gary Wagner's property that he farms in partnership with his two brothers was something entirely different. One would have immediately guessed their location to be a computer lab instead of the biggest combine John Deer has on the market.

The technology contained inside the cab (cockpit is closer in terms of technical visuals) of Mr. Wager's tractor has completely revolutionized the way he executes his fertilizing, planting, and harvesting. Inside the cab is an intricate series of computer screens and knobs of which Mr. Wagner knows well and even teaches a class at the local college training a new generation of farmers on this equipment.

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Andy Quinn Watch the Video

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported in August that farm profits would drop by more than 30 percent this year. It's bad news for an industry already plagued with high production costs and falling prices.

So how do our farmers, who struggle each year to just make a profit—let alone keep it—overcome such a downturn?

In Minnesota, more and more farmers are depending on each other by pooling their resources to start businesses, which ensures they're involved with processing, not just growing, crops.

By spreading risk among many farmers, growers are able to get into the higher value side of food and fuel production. And, the vertical integration that farmer-owned cooperatives bring can help a grower weather the tough times on the farm, says Andy Quinn, a corn and ethanol producer in Litchfield, Minnesota.

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