I know I just did a post on this but I’ve had enough people emailing me links to this AP story that I thought I’d post it again. I think that since it’s starting to show up in numerous websites more people are finding it. Like on CNN.
My main takeaway from this story is still the fact that farmers are going online to find the information they need and can’t get anywhere else. Several things are at play here. To start with, farmers want information now as in right now while they have the need. They don’t want to wait and hope it shows up sometime in the future. Next up is the fact that the internet allows them freedom of choice, their choice. They choose what they want and when they want it. Finally, and this is the hard part for traditional communicators to accept it seems to me, they are getting their information from other farmers and people like yours truly who have adopted and promoted the use of self publishing platforms like blogs and podcasts.
Now, this story focuses on online farmer user forums and doesn’t say anything about blogs and podcasts. I don’t know why but I hope you’ll understand that the more choices there are for farmers to get the information they want, when they want it, the more fractionalized the audience will become. I like to call it the online conversation and I want to be a part of it. I have no grandiose idea that I’ll capture all of it and that’s just fine by me. However, I think I do have a loyal audience and they are people who find useful and interesting things here that they will pass along (word of mouth) to their peers. That’s what this is all about.
With over 24 years of professional agricultural business experience, Ron Taylor brings an exceptional mix of marketing, sales and technical abilities to the Osborn & Barr Canada team, as Vice President, Director of Business Development Canada. Ron’s expertise in crop protection, seed and biotechnology stems from many years in a marketing management role for such global companies as BASF and Monsanto. This, coupled with his experience as Director, Agricultural Strategic Planning for a premier Canadian Agri-business based marketing communication agency, provides Osborn & Barr Canada clients with the best of both sides of the business.
Osborn & Barr Canada has named Doreen McFarlan to Account Director. In this role, she will serve as director of client services, overseeing the account management of Osborn & Barr’s Canadian clients serviced from the Guelph and Winnipeg offices. Formerly Account Supervisor, McFarlan has a proven track record of exceptional client service for accounts such as Monsanto – Canada and US, and Intervet during her three years with the agency. Before joining the agency, McFarlan held various account management positions for some of Canada’s most prominent Agri-business agencies, and brings over 10 years of experience in agency client service to her new role.
After having just written about the whole website statistics thing a couple days ago, I came across a notice about the 
One of my sponsors for AgWired coverage of this week’s National Farm Machinery Show is Syngenta. They’re very bullish on beans right now and growers attending the show will have lots to learn about their 
For starters they’re going to see “Ask me about 21-60” everywhere throughout the show. I had no idea what that meant until I spoke with Jon Scharingson. He says it’s a premium of up to 21 cents per bushel per acre, up to their first 60 bushels of soybeans, for each qualifying order of NK Brand Roundup Ready soybeans with Garst, Golden Harvest or NK Brand. According to Jon growers can match it with qualifying Syngenta crop protection and it adds up to cash back of up to $12.60 per acre of beans. Sounds like a lot of cash to me.
When I managed the 
AgTalk welcomes farmers who are looking for a little help from their friends. I was unaware of 
If you’ve wondered what Kenna Rathai is up to then wonder no more. To start with she jumped into the business world last fall when she launched Kenna B. Rathai Communications. She does independent public relations and freelance writing assignments. And now she’s got a new gig helping out the 
The man who discovered glyphosate, or as most of us know it,