A loaded semitruck idled at the edge of a newly harvested corn field one night last fall. Wade Wilhour stood nearby, his arm draped over the shoulder of his 10-year-old son, Andrew. Both look out into the darkness. It's as if they saw a similar future.

A loaded semitruck idled at the edge of a newly harvested corn field one night last fall. Wade Wilhour stood nearby, his arm draped over the shoulder of his 10-year-old son, Andrew. Both look out into the darkness. It's as if they saw a similar future.

It's not a rare sight for the lights to be burning late as Quint Pottinger stacks another pallet of 50-pound bags of corn--filling, weighing and sewing each bag closed. From the modest-sized shop where Quint has installed a grain cleaner, bagger and certified floor scale...