America's Hottest Market?

Two super-smart CEOs—Jack Stack of SRC Holdings and Howard Dahl of Amity Technology—told me at the Inc. 500 conference in Chicago last week that their companies are growing thanks to a booming agricultural market. Howard's business sells farm equipment including sugar beet harveting machinery; Jack's company is diversified, but a major chunk of its revenue comes from remanufacturing engines for large vehicles including trucks and farm equipment. A look at today's news suggests the agriboom shows no signs of slackening in the near term. The price of a bushel of wheat briefly topped $9 on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg, based on reports of crop shortages in Australia and elsehwere. Meanwhile, the price of barley is also rising fast as more farmers choose it as an alternative source of feed for their livestock.

Do you do business with agricultural companies or in the heartland? If so, what are you seeing out there?

Mike Hofman was previously editor of Inc.com and a deputy editor at Inc. magazine, which he joined in 1996. The site was nominated for a National Magazine Award for Digital Media in 2010, and was named the best business website by Folio Magazine. In 2006, Hofman was part of a team of writers nominated for a Webby Award for best business blog. He lives in New York City. @mikehofman