Farmers Do It in the Hay

In the section in Freakonomics about online dating, we referred to some of the more specialized dating sites: ChristianSingles.com, LatinMatcher.com, USMilitarySingles.com, PlusSizeSingles.com, etc. Now there’s a new dating site that serves a shrinking but apparently underserved market: American farmers. FarmersOnly.com is “THE place for farmers, ranchers, and down-to-earth people who relate to the agricultural lifestyle to meet their match.” The site claims that membership has gone from 2,000 to nearly 50,000 in the past year. As most farmers are male, and as income is a big factor in men’s online dating success, I am guessing that the recent spike in corn prices due to ethanol demand is helping make some matches. The site’s motto: “City Folks Just Don’t Get It!”

The site’s founder, Jerry Miller, realized that a website could be the perfect answer to a true supply-and-demand problem: “I talked to farmers and ranchers all over the country and discovered they all had the same problems. They already knew everybody in their immediate areas. They didn’t have enough time to socialize. When they did find time, they didn’t want to hang out at a bar. They wanted to find someone who understood their lifestyle.”