W hat’s on your radar screen these days? Futurist and professor Lowell Catlett, Ph.D., New Mexico State University, has zeroed in on five key trends that are reshaping agriculture. He points to global shifts in wealth and consumption, as well as technological leaps that promise to slash production costs, boost efficiency and pave the way for new standards in environmental stewardship. Overlooking these global shifts could be devastating, he says. “They will change all of the rules and return agriculture to being the largest industry in the United States.” Absorbing and leveraging the trends bring unlimited possibilities, he adds. “The future has never been more positive for agriculture. There are marvelous opportunities as we go beyond selling commodities. Instead of producing milk, for example, you might market your own artisan cheeses. “And the line between urban and rural is blurring,” Catlett says. As more people take advantage of the benefits of country living, “You can enjoy the peace and quiet of raising horses and seeing the Milky Way at night, yet still have access to all the modern conveniences and be as connected to the world as you like.” While how they respond to these paradigm-busting trends is up to each business and the people who make strategic decisions, “Organizations that do scenario mapping will be the ones best able to change, adapt and be a positive force in the future,” Catlett asserts. “I applaud companies for planning ahead; the critical thinking process makes companies such as CHS better long-term partners.” Lowell Catlett, Ph.D., is a futurist and dean of New Mexico State University’s College of Agriculture and Home Economics. He is a consultant to Fortune 500 companies and federal agencies. Watch his CHS annual meeting comments at www.chsinc.com/c. Trade Winds Shift “People in many nations are eating better, which is greatly affecting world grain movement. China and other countries are exporting less grain than before, due to their huge increase in wealth. That’s why the United States is having a record grain export year, despite strong domestic demand for etha-nol production. “Flexibility will be critical to meet shifting world grain demands, so CHS has established infrastruc-ture and assets on the West Coast, in the Gulf of Mexico and on the Great Lakes. “In the future, we will leverage our strong global marketing capabilities in many other product areas beyond grains.” — Mark Sackmaster, senior merchandiser, CHS grains 1 CONSUMING WORLD to having a choice about how to spend their growing incomes, marketing op-portunities abound. Case in point: Mass merchant Wal-Mart now sells organic vegetables, a category once viewed as a limited niche market. For the first time, increased wealth has spurred transition from a production-driven world to a consumption-driven world. Millions of people are demand-ing food choices that go far beyond sim-ply satisfying their energy needs. As consumers move from “just getting by” Your CHS Connection 7