AgWired

I’ve been trying to get Cindy to start writing on AgWired but she has found other ways to help out with content. However, on this IFAJ Congress trip she decided to at least write one article for me to post for her. In the picture you can see her in the little village where we had lunch yesterday. I’ll have more on that.

This is Cindy speaking now instead of Chuck for a change, just providing some of my observations of our visit here in Switzerland.

It looks like the U-S meeting will be in Texas. I can assure you that it will be worth your time.

AgWired reports on IFAJ Congress 2005 are sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred.

Next up on today’s program was one of the organizer’s of the IFAJ Congress, Marcus Rediger. Marcus had lots of interesting information. He spoke on “The Communication of the Farmers With Society.” One of the very cool things his organization (Agricultural Information Center) does is an annual National Brunch Day where a consumer can go out to a farm and have brunch. It’s a national holiday now. Now that’s promoting understanding between farmers and consumers.

His group has also coordinated an ongoing campaign (5 million Swiss Francs) to educate the general public about agriculture. He said it was titled “Thank God for the Swiss farmer.” I like that slogan. He does see the bond between the farmer and the public weakening though and efforts like this are becoming more important.

He said that 97% of the public prefer Swiss products. 67% think it’s important to know where their food is coming from. Most think it’s too expensive. He said that 8% of the federal budget goes to subsidizing farmers. He said that farmers only make up about 3 to 4 percent of the population. Sounds like the United States. 3/4 of the Swiss population live in urban areas.

This information campaign his organization is involved in has done surveys to see if it’s made any impact on the general public. 80% say they like the slogan/campaign. You can view elements of the campaign here.

There’s lots more to come AgWired fans. It’s time now to go to the closing ceremony. I’ll have lots more tomorrow.

AgWired reports on IFAJ Congress 2005 are sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred.

First up on the program on the final day of the IFAJ was Ruedi Hagmann, BauernZeitung, who spoke on “The Swiss Agricultural Media In Flux.” Right off the bat I’ve got to say that each of the morning’s speakers said things that I think are probably just like you’re going to find anywhere in the world today.

In Ruedi’s case he told us about the fact that there’s a large number of Swiss ag publications still (196 if my notes are correct). That’s a lot. I thought it was interesting though how he said that the internet won’t ever replace printed publications. I actually agree with that. However, he went on to say that only 5 to 10 percent of Swiss farmers use the internet. When I asked where that number (range) comes from he wasn’t specific so I would question that. It’s over 51 percent now in the U-S. He said it was due to the average age of a Swiss farmer being 55. However, that’s about what it is in the United States too! I’d like to see an “official” study on this in Switzerland.

He also told of declining readership for ag publications and declining revenue which he thinks will mean fewer pubs in the future.

Back on the internet thing. I also thought it was interesting that he said that there hasn’t been any money to be made from the internet when it comes to agricultural information. Perhaps the right model hasn’t been presented to advertisers yet?

Any thoughts you have?

AgWired reports on IFAJ Congress 2005 are sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred.

The final day of the IFAJ Congress got started with a morning program on “Agriculture, PR and the Role of Media.” Moderated by Adrian Krebs, this was a panel of 3 people who’ll you’ll meet next who each spoke on a different aspect of this main topic.

AgWired reports on IFAJ Congress 2005 are sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred.

One of the highlights of an IFAJ Congress is the awards ceremony for the annual photo contest and Star Prize (writing contest). You can view the powerpoint presentation of the awards from this link: IFAJ Awards

The photo contest has got to be a difficult one to judge. Kudos to the panel of judges. This year’s first place winner is Adries Gouws of South Africa. You can see the entries in the contest by viewing the powerpoint presentation.

The Star Prize contest for writing this year was won by Gunilla Ander of Sweden.

The photo contest is sponsored by DeLaval and the Star Prize contest is sponsored by John Deere.

AgWired reports on IFAJ Congress 2005 are sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred.

Here’s what it looks like at the top of the Schilthorn. There were lots of clouds (below us) and fog but every once in a while we got a peek at the mountains all around us. This picture was taken by Greg Lamp, Corn & Soybean Digest, by the way. He was closer to the window at our dinner table than me.

AgWired reports on IFAJ Congress 2005 are sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred.

The top of the Schilthorn features a revolving restaurant so you are constantly getting a fresh view while you eat. As is the custom for IFAJ, we sat down to a great meal following a reception featuring Swiss beer and wine. For the first time since we got here there was no cheese! This was probably a good thing at this point.

AgWired reports on IFAJ Congress 2005 are sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred.

We were just slightly dizzy by the time we got to the top of the Schilthorn. We’re up 2970 meters at the top! One of the claims to fame here is that the James Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secrect Service” was filmed here. If you want to get a feel for what it’s like right now on the mountain, use this link to see their live webcam.

AgWired reports on IFAJ Congress 2005 are sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred.

Once we got to the top there was a large terrace around the restaurant and shops. We could wander around and look at the view. It was pretty foggy so our view was limited but every once in a while the fog would clear enough to see the stunning peaks all around us.

AgWired reports on IFAJ Congress 2005 are sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred.