Farm exports get a boost...

Corn and wheat exports are enjoying a miniboom, which is good news for grain farmers, but not necessarily a bright light for the rest of the economy, according to a report this week in the New York Times.

Rising prices and the falling dollar have both contributed to the rise in exports, but as long as commodity prices are on an economic rollercoaster - which has been the case ever since the Phonecians started trading up and down the Nile - any movement up is shadowed by the threat of a movement down.

A remarkable thing about the current bright spot is ethanol. “What amazes me,” said Robert L. Thompson, an agriculture specialist at the University of Illinois, “is that we have been able to greatly increase corn exports while also using it for ethanol. Only by increasing the acreage devoted to corn have we been able to do this, and by squeezing down the use of corn for domestic livestock feed.”

Renaissance farmer, modern businessman. Jack Lazor farms with old-fashioned techniques but modern business practices - like figuring out what the market wants and then providing it - on 310 acres in Vermont. He grows old grain varieties and markets organic yogurt from his 30-cow herd. You can read about his enterprise in Saturday's edition of Lancaster Farming.

If you can't make it to the alpaca show this week in Harrisburg...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gZ0x8AVaBI