Farmers should capitalize on op­­portunities to become more efficient rather than focusing on buying as much farmland as possible and growing fast, an agricultural economics expert told farmers last week.

"Growth is the number one reason why businesses fail because … we get caught in the undisciplined pursuit of more," said David Kohl, professor emeritus of agricultural and applied economics at Virginia Tech, at the Farming for the Future conference last week in Ames. The...