The future looks bright for young people who want careers in agriculture.

Leaders of Missouri agribusiness and government agreed on this point while debating the role of ethanol amid rising feed costs at a forum hosted by the University of Missouri Collegiate Farm Bureau on March 11 on the university’s campus in Columbia, Mo.

Panelists were Tim Kelley, state executive director of the USDA’s Farm Services Agency; Don Copenhaver, president and CEO of MFA; Don Nikodim, executive vice president of the Missouri Pork Association; and state Sen. Bill Stouffer of Napton, Mo.

Panelists diiffered on the role ethanol should have in Missouri’s economy, but agreed that U.S. agriculture is entering a new era.

“We always worried before about the supply side but not so much about demand. This year we had a bumper crop,” Mr. Kelley said. “I think what we’re seeing is a different situation in agriculture than we’ve ever seen in my time or your grandfather’s time.”

While grain farmers reap the benefits of strong export demand, livestock farmers struggle to cope with rising costs of feed and other essential farm goods, Mr. Copenhaver and Mr. Nikodim said.

The audience asked about ethanol’s impact on grocery prices, the environment, and how young people could work as farmers with the current economic outlook.

“With an agriculture background, the future is unlimited,” Mr. Stouffer said. “And it’s not just limited to production agriculture. Genetics especially is an unlimited field, and people will seek you out.”