There is a plugin (http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/dispenser-planter/) which allows all times to be planted e.g nether warts etc. This would be great as nether wart farms could eventually be automated which is what people have needed for ages. Please add it in :3 @CollinPotato @drtshock
It really isn't because you'd have to still mine it and if you set a timer to automatically mine it, you'd have to make a large base for the red stone and you won't have fortune. So it really isn't easy to make money that way.
Auto harvest is gem just for that, you could also have a water system that would harvest all the nether warts for you.
That's the sacrifice you'd have to make if you wanted quicker/ easier harvests and for it to be truly fully automatic. Otherwise it would be too good to be true.
If this gets implemented, people will set it up and go inactive for a few weeks/months to come back to hundreds of dubs of nether wart.