Building B2B blog networks

This should worry every "traditional" publisher in B2B.
John Battelle is planning to combine a group of "high-quality, high-authority" blogs that cover technology into an offering he calls FM Publishing. Old media types who tend to discount the blogging world would be wise to read up on Battelle. This is a guy who made his mark and his money in print publishing. He's one of the co-founders of Wired magazine, arguably the most important publication of the past 25 years.
Read about his plan here and here.
I've said before that the standalone journalist -- operating without the help or the hassles of a traditional media company -- poses a threat to B2B publishers. Now here comes someone who understands both technology and publishing with a plan to link standalone journalists into a single product.
How long will it take before someone does that in another space?
For example, look at agriculture. There's nothing to stop a few core ag journalists from heading out on their own to cover their niches. Combine them with a blog or two by ag economists, maybe something from a veterinarian, a commodities trading expert and something like this, and suddenly you have a product that poses a threat to "National Hog Farmer."