AgribusinessDirectories.com

Publishers Perspective Conversations Affecting Agriculture are Being Held and We’re Not Well Represented It’s High Time the People of Agriculture Became Engaged in the Ongoing Online Debate About Agriculture’s Future A very wise person recommended recently that we needed to get involved in the great debates of our time. Debates that will literally shape the opinions of thousands and even millions of young men and young women of this country. These conversations are now and will continue to influence how and what people think, what they say to others and ultimately how they will vote. He recommended that we each get connected and become involved in what he perceived to be some of the most important conversations that have ever been taken place. He went on to say that to not do so, is to willingly allow others to not only direct the agenda, but to literally determine what will or what won’t be on that agenda. The conversations and the debates I am referring to are those that are taking place 24/7, 365 days a year online. The agenda that I am referring to is American Agriculture’s Agenda. The issues that are on that agenda include but are in no way limited to, land use, water quality, air quality, export regulations, import restrictions, prices, demand, retail, markets, animal rights, human rights, insecticides, chemical use, chemical restrictions, water allocations and the list goes on and on. The people we need to reach to help in this effort are well equipped. They have easily embraced the newest and fastest technology possible. They are eager to know. They absorb almost any information that is put out there and for the most part accept what they read as fact. They are ages 12 to 60. They are becoming a very affluent group. They are the most connected people the world has ever known. The conversations are taking place continuously and without interruption. Today the number of text messages sent and received on a daily basis - remember this is in one day - exceeds the total population of the entire planet. Two years ago the number of Google inquiries were 2.6 billion per month. Today that number exceeds 37 billion inquiries per month. Today homes, offices, and personal phone are connected as never before on more than 1 billion internet connections world wide. While ag print media continues to have the greatest influence on the American agricultural population of this country, print media does not have the same great number amongst the population at large. Non-ag newspapers and magazines are suffering from shrinking subscribers and readers. A full one-third of the U.S. population never reads a daily news paper. One-third of those receiving a daily news paper rarely read them. The change to online is growing at an exponential rate. It’s easier; it’s faster; it’s instant; it’s diverse; it’s both comprehensive and abbreviated at the same time. It is the way things will continue to go. These changes are real. They are accurate and they will change the way people get to and receive information. There are people, millions of people who do want to know the facts. They will search it out and will engage in the debates of our time. But will agriculture? Are the people who are American agriculture willing to do what is now necessary to not only embrace these new technologies and forms of communication, but will they capitalize on this unique situation that they find themselves in? For never has there been a greater need for American agriculture to stand up and be counted. Never has there been a larger and more involved citizenry to inform. Never has so much relied on a group of people stepping outside of their comfort zones in order to sustain a way of life that has literally existed for thousands of years. The technology exists to affordably reach the masses. But it requires everyone in agriculture to become involved in the debate. To individually and collectively to teach, inform, train, answer questions, dispel myths, to offset the barrage of negative and to provide first hand accounts of how current conditions and policies are affecting American agriculture and the people, the families, the individuals who are daily engaged in the process of feeding the world and making a fair return for the time and money invested. The alternative is to accept the outcomes which have already had such a devastating impact on so many in agriculture. The opposition is already ahead of us. They already understand the value of sound bites, digital imagery, text messaging, blogging, the blogosphere, hyper linking, strategic alliances, web sites, and the limitless nature of the World Wide Web. We will start with this short list of recommendations: 1. Everyone, every father, every mother, every student, under the direction of their parents and prudent blocking technologies, every worker, every vendor along with any and all support industries need to be connected and maintain an online presence. 2. They each need to be trained and proficient in the use of the existing and coming technologies - email, texting, blogging, website access, Google Search and other research and information gathering and distribution tools. 3. Each farm and business needs to be connected online via at least one website. 4. Each farm and farm owner needs to learn how to and then participate in the online discussions that are impacting American agriculture, our youth, education, public policy, the environment, clean air, clean water or what ever is your personal interest or passion. 5. Every farming organization like Farm Bureau, ag advisors offices and hundreds more should have and maintain a blog, as well as participate. Eventually each county, each city, even each farm should have a blog that specifically is designed to get the real message about American agriculture to the masses. The war for control of your existing and future lifestyles and way of life is being waged. There are more for us than there are those against us, but it will require us to inform and organize as never before. We invite you; we implore you to become engaged in the process that will truly make all the difference. It is Online and it’s now. Do not make a fatal error in judgment by thinking it’s not your fight or you can’t make a difference or you can’t learn. Seek and get trained. Learn. Be smarter than the problem. Use these tools for good. Use them to make a difference. Use them early and use them often.