The National Association of Farm Broadcasting has just released some initial results (pdf file) from the first segment of their new producer media use study. I think you should take note of how important text messages are to producers. That really stands out to me. Same for web-based information. The word “grown” is key. It’s growing!
The fact that farmers value radio so high on a daily basis is something that I’ve always understood. Farmers are about as mobile as anyone else and the radio is a convenient source of news and information. I just wish more radio stations carried farm programming.
While Web-based information use among the nations largest agricultural producers and ranchers has grown, thanks to increased access to high-speed Internet connections, radio remains the primary and most-used source of daily agribusiness information.
This is according to the National Association of Farm Broadcasting, based on the first wave data from its ongoing comprehensive 2008 National Producer Media-Use Wave Study. The survey, which includes in-depth interviews with three distinct samples of 800 national Class 1A producers and ranchers in each sample, comes 10 years after a 1998-99 wave study sponsored by NAFB. Class 1A producers have $100,000+ in sales/gross farm income.
Trailing radio in importance as a source of daily agribusiness information based on the
first sampling wave conducted in February are Web sites, television, and cell phone text
messages, in order.