In case you haven't heard, the producers of shows like American Idol and The Price is Right have decided that we need another reality show. Instead of in a mansion somewhere in the Hollywood hills or a tropical island, this show will be set in rural America with a farmer looking for love. The premise of the show The Farmer Wants a Wife is to make a match between young farmers with no time to date and women who dream of living a traditional, small-town lifestyle.

Already young farmers between the ages of 25-35 who live and work on a farm or ranch have responded to casting calls across the heartland. You can bet one of the farmers chosen will be Kurt Bartling, one of the three famed Nebraska hog farmers who resemble Fabio and have appeared on covers of romance books. While they run a 20,000 head hog operation, how much credibility do you have among fellow farmers at the Coop when your farm's web site features you and your brothers standing shirtless in a wheat field with your long blond tresses blowing in the wind?? But I digress.

Granted that long hours aren't conducive for wife-hunting - I mean socializing. This show aims to solve that problem by bringing several female candidates to the farmer's doorstep. And please, if a young, gold-digger resembling Paris Hilton shows up squealing that she can't lift a 5-gallon pail or the scent of manure makes her nauseous, I will throw a brick at the TV. Sure, farmers like eye candy as much as the next guy, but they do appreciate someone with brains, self-motivation and a work ethic. These pretty young things better like hard work, long hours and taking a back seat to an ailing cow or a broken tractor. Let's face it folks, many of these people featured in reality shows - especially those looking for a romantic connection - are just there for the publicity.

What worries me most (and some of the male applicants) is the real possibility of the show producers portraying them as hicks or rednecks. Sure farmers don't freak out over a little manure on the linoleum, but they are a civilized lot that deal with cutting edge technology and millions of dollars in investments every day. Caricatures of hayseed-like farmers embodied in TV characters like Fred Ziffel (Arnold the pig's owner in Green Acres) or Junior Samples of Hee Haw are pervasive in today's media. How about doing something really unique like promoting the agricultural lifestyle and that of the American farmer in an intelligent, thoughtful manner. That way the farmer can find a wife and folks back home will get an education to boot.