But for every newly merged monolithic company, there are thousands of new opportunities created. It is a trend I call the "re-entrepreneuring" of agriculture, and it is reshaping the way businesses are built.

For a start, many of the new generation see a whole world opening up as larger enterprises consolidate business and change the economics of selling into some markets. The cost structure of large multinational enterprises demands a focus on markets that can support them. Single products must have sales well into the eight-digit region to be sufficiently profitable, or even just sufficiently large, to warrant attention.

As a result, some large companies are likely to make products available to smaller groups. Several businesses are successfully picking up crop protection products for specialty markets like orchards or nurseries. Large crop protection companies are happy to license chemistry to smaller companies and garner extra sales or royalties on markets they couldn't service properly.

Similarly, some export markets are opening up again. Consolidation has helped large companies focus on large markets, such as China or the EU, but the efforts to service less enormous markets such as Thailand or Uzbekistan may not be as sustainable. Large agricultural companies will often walk away from smaller markets to focus on bigger sales. Thus what is only a drop in the income bucket for a large company may be the bucket for a smaller company.

Especially in the agriculture sector, where there are regular economic cycles that depress commodity prices, the trough of the cycle thins margins out and can be tough on publicly traded companies where fixed costs can run high. This is already evident, as we have seen many companies that have aimed at vertical integration divest themselves of certain market segments. There is tremendous pressure to find efficiencies and core competencies in businesses - both big and small.

In search of those solutions, I have noticed that a new generation of companies are popping up. Enterprises like Channel Bio Corp. and Maizex are showing how to get serious about building a specialized company. It is really all about knowing who you are and what it means to focus your talents on a particular niche.

Don and Aileen Funk of Channel Bio Corp. have grown a seed corn business very successfully. In an industry where companies like Pioneer Hi-Bred command tremendous scientific infrastructure and huge market share it is sometimes hard to imagine a role for the "little guy." However, the Funks have specialized. They bring strengths in marketing to their region of the corn belt. They contract out their production and research, so they can keep focused on sales. The strength of their business is quite simply avoiding being too many things to too many people.

By the same token, Dave Baute of Maizex has identified corn seed production as his niche. He has built a business that not only serves other entrepreneurial companies in the agriculture sector, but also several large multinationals. Baute has an ingenious way of working with machinery and equipment and has created some unique in-field solutions to sorting corn. He and his wife, Brenda, also do some marketing and their innovation is paying off. Specifically, the company has enjoyed a 15-20% increase in annual growth for the last 4 or 5 years.

It is when you see success stories like this that you believe the re-entrepreneuring of agriculture is well underway. Little companies run by people with great courage, who see a niche and focus on it. This trend debunks many of the myths about "industrial" agriculture taking over. As several large meat companies indicate that they are exiting pork production, we are reminded that farming is an entrepreneurial experience. For the most part, farms in this country have been run by families who have a passion for their land, their production, their livelihoods. Large enterprises certainly have a role, but that passion for production, and all the details is entails, is hard to replace.

I'm also seeing some industry veterans re-establish enterprises following changes in the industry. A good example is ABT, a forage company that bought up dozens of smaller companies operating in the same market. ABT rose and fell with the stock market a few years ago, and since its demise, many of the former owners of these forage businesses have reconceived enterprises in the sector. Their experience and understanding of running the proverbial tight ship is helping to restore the forage business to profitability.

This, of course, leads to observations about efficiency, because in business there are really two ways to achieve it. One is to build an enterprise that has a critical mass that allows it to operate globally in many sectors, or share administrative costs across one portion of the market, or build synergies through linking research and development to marketing. Another way to create efficiency is to operate a small organization that is lean, ensuring administration does not become a large cost of operations. As the head of one small company once told me, he used to worry if toilet paper costs got too high. That's not always the best use of time but it speaks to the capacity of entrepreneurs to watch all aspects of their business.

When entrepreneurs are at their best, though, they are watching changes in the market. In addition to opportunities large companies leave in product segments or export markets, entrepreneurs are also great at identifying new niches and serving them well. Large businesses like Cargill Specialty Oils bring connections into the board rooms of the world's largest food processors and can develop the unique oils they need for everything from potato chips to raisins. Their ability to serve these markets well is great. At the same time, smaller enterprises can also be very successful at identifying a need and serving it. Whether it is soybeans specially bred and grown for soy milk or organic herbs for restaurants, a whole new generation of business people are meeting these needs. And the truly great thing is that there is a seemingly exponential growth in the number of new niche markets to be served. There are not only niches to fill, but more of them too.

So, I believe one of the most unsung trends of the past few years in agriculture has been the re-entrepreneuring of the sector. There is certainly room for enterprises of all sizes - big and small, integrated and specialized. Businessmen and women across the industry are building wonderful new opportunities for themselves, their employees, and the other businesses they service. Too much focus has been put on the mergers and so-called corporate agriculture. The next time you hear about another large merger in the agri-food industry, consider that it will create efficiencies for bulk markets and in its wake leave hundreds or even thousands of opportunities for a whole new wave of entrepreneurs.

R.B. Halaby is the Chairman of of AgriCapital Corporation, a New York-based investment bank for agribusiness. See www.agricapital.com.