FARGO What do cell phones, baby kangaroos and DNA mapping have to do with agriculture?

A lot, potentially, according to futurist Lowell Catlett, a featured speaker Tuesday at the 2013 Northern Soybean Expo held at the Fargo Holiday Inn.

With the cost of buying a home the lowest its ever been in the United States and the price of food relative to income going down, Catlett said the jump in disposable income is creating oodles of new markets for farm producers to exploit.

Agriculture is now in its golden age, said Catlett, regents professor and dean and chief administrative officer at New Mexico State Universitys College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.

On the subject of cell phones, Catlett said someday soon they may be used by farmers to diagnose crop disease on the spot.

And advances in DNA science, he said, are making it easier for producers to brand their products and improve quality, all essential, he said, for instilling confidence in buyers overseas.

And baby kangaroos?

Catlett said researchers who explored why baby kangaroos take so long to emerge from their mothers pouch discovered that the longer youngsters stayed close to mom, the stronger their immune systems were when they did enter the world.

The insights gained hold tremendous promise for improving the health and lifespans of many kinds of livestock, according to Catlett, who said the same idea applies to human beings.

Catlett said research shows that people who dont have deep and rich social connections die at four times the rate of people who make and keep close ties with others.

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Futurist Says U.S. Entering Golden Age of Agriculture