AgWired

One thing you notice wandering around Switzerland is that they don’t seem to have an “obesity problem.” I don’t even think they have a food pyramid or national governmental campaign to try to convince you that you should eat a balanced diet!

I think it’s because there’s no where near as much fast food available and because people here bike and hike! At least on the IFAJ Congress there was a whole lot of that going on. For example, one group on the Friday excursions did part of theirs on bikes.

Then there was the not-to-be-forgotton walk to lunch on Saturday. It was basically straight up a hill to the farm where we ate. Some did get to ride in a car but the rest walked. It really wasn’t far but it required a few stops on the way.

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

One day of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress was devoted to choosing a day long (7am to 11pm!) excursion to Swiss farm operations. You could choose between various areas that included mountains and valleys. More than one included Swiss dairy and cheese production.

Cindy and I stayed at the hotel to “work” since we had talking news release projects and of course articles that you’ve already seen on AgWired. But thanks to the staff and other participants we have photos.

One of the most amazing stops on one of the excursions was to the Fighting Cows. I wish I could have been there to see that. Almost as good though is the video that Mari Bjørke, director of marketing, PR and communication for GENO in Norway, took using her mobile phone. The cows are wearing bells of course so when you hear the audio you can imagine what it must sound like to be right there. Thanks to Greg Lamp, Corn & Soybean Digest, for the story.

You can see the short 9 second video here in two formats: Fighting Cows (.3gp – 91K) and Fighting Cows (.avi – 6MB)

Holy Cow, Fights
Who’d have guessed in the peaceful, serene mountaintop in the canton of Valais, Switzerland, you’d find fighting cows. Really, cows that attack each other just to be the herd queen. That’s exactly what IFAJ members saw last week during a farm tour to the grape and fruit area of Switzerland – also home to the fierce fighting breed of cattle called Eringers.

In a normal herd setting the cows quickly determine their pecking order and select their own queen. From then on, no more fights. “In fact, with humans they’re very much like pets,” Pralong explains. “It’s like having a dog. It can be somewhat mean, but not with his owner.” So what do the animal activists think? Pralong says they don’t care since the breed is naturally aggressive. “They worry more about us letting them walk on frozen ground where they could slip and hurt themselves,” he adds.

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

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.