Terry Stevenson’s Agricultural Weblog

Crops this year are just about as valuable as they ever have been. Corn, soybeans and wheat are at or close to record prices. But that is only half of the story. For farmers the challenge has just started in that they have to be able to deliver a good crop to the elevator in order to receive the contracted price. Part of how they are doing this is through modern communications technology.

This time of year when these crops are just starting to grow nicely, a formidable opponent also starts make their presence known. The opponent I am talking about is crop insects. All manner of these pests are starting to infest fields and left unchecked or even discovered too late can significantly effect yield and in some cases completely devastate a crop.

 At AGRIS Co-operative this is the first year we have actually placed time sensitive bulletins of pest reports from across our trading area in southwest Ontario on our website. Bean leaf beetles and army worms according to reports are the most active at the moment. Scouting reports are being sent directly to me for posting on our website. Text messaging and e-mails are then being immediately sent to farmers, quite often right to their cell phones or Blackberrys advising them of exact location and the type of these pests. The specific field location, the type of pest found, the surrounding crops and the time of day are all noted by our crop specialists who are assisting farmers in selecting the correct crop protection product and application rates to effectively fight these crop pests.

 Controlling of many of these insects quite often depends a great deal on early detection. Left unchecked even for a few days, they could literally wipe out a whole crop. Farmers still have a huge challenge in front of them fighting these pests, but electronic communications are giving them an advantage like never before.    

       There is an old adage that “there is no such thing as bad press.” I am beginning to think that saying is true as it applies to agriculture. The mainstream media like the Toronto Star, Globe & Mail, National Post and others have recently not only had agricultural stories included in their papers, but occasionally even featured on the front page. Of course all of the agricultural news we see today is not always favourable or I might add even completely accurate. It can lead to the average consumer or reader to develop the completely wrong impression of what the real truth is.

 For example most city folk probably look at the escalating food prices at the grocery store, with corn and wheat being the most popular whipping boys at the moment and assume farmers are all to blame and making huge profits at their family’s expense. Of course nothing could be further from the truth. After years of artificially low commodity prices for the grain and oilseeds industry, it is true the price per bushel has generally gone up. What usually isn’t said or included in the same article is how the skyrocketing price of crop inputs for potash and urea to help grow these crops have virtually wiped out any gains made by farmers. They still face very serious, difficult and financially challenging times keeping their farming operations economically viable.  

The media is reporting about the tremendous riots occurring in South Korea over the lifting of U.S. beef imports amid fears of mad cow disease. A possible salmonella outbreak in the U.S. has Canadian fast food retailers removing tomatoes from their menus. These are a few of the agricultural news articles from today’s newspapers. As a student of the University of Guelph’s Agricultural Communications program, our instructor Owen Roberts, challenges our class to find effective ways of communicating agricultural issues to the non-farm audience.

 When agricultural stories do make the news, it does give us an opportunity to start a badly needed dialogue with the public about the challenges agriculture is facing. We can help demonstrate just how vital and important Canada’s agriculture industry is to the economic and physical health of our country. We as agricultural communicators need to take advantage of these opportunities when they happen. As these stories hit the media, it at least gives us an chance to correct, educate, explain and perhaps assist the public in gaining a better perspective of agricultural issues facing farmers today. And to me, that is good news for everyone.