Click here for a printer-friendly PDF of this issue
UK farmers feeling short on information for agri-tech investments
A lack of knowledge about agri-tech is holding farmers in the United Kingdom back when it comes to implementing agri-tech in their business. So reported Caroline Stocks in a September 2022 article in the Farming Future Food independent news website. Results of a National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Society survey of about 400 farmers revealed that almost half (46.2%) felt they didn’t know enough about agri-tech.
“Understandably, there’s a real fear amongst farmers that they could make the wrong tech-choice for their farm and end up with an expensive system that becomes outdated quickly.”
You can read the report here.
New research in the Journal of Applied Communications
- “Podcasts in production: An examination of current and best practices for agricultural and natural resource podcast producers”
- “A culture of fire: Identifying community risk perceptions surrounding prescribed burning in the Flint Hills, Kansas”
- “Factors influencing public perception of science”
- “Identifying stakeholders’ needs for agricultural communications in higher education curriculum in Australia”
You can read these JAC articles by open access here.
The Trump effect on rural newspapers
A 2022 book chapter that we added recently to ACDC described “The Trump effect on rural communities and newspapers.” Author Al Cross serves as Director and Professor of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky. He noted that the presidency of Donald Trump increased divisions between rural and urban America.
“What you probably have not heard is that Trump also increased divisions among people living in rural communities, and that in combination with social media, it accelerated the decline of non-metropolitan newspapers, the most important source of local news and information for 60 million rural Americans.” In his chapter of The Future of the Presidency, Journalism and Democracy (Routledge) he detailed findings of his national analysis.
You can read the chapter by open access here.
Boost awareness of ways to shorten food supply chains
A 2023 article in Environmental Research and Public Health highlighted ways to boost awareness of local agri-food products. The research team found a high potential demand for such foods in Poland and European countries such as France and Italy – but a “persisting low awareness regarding the existence of alternative distribution networks” for them.
Authors encouraged active involvement of local governments in creating short food supply chains.
You can read the journal article here.
Impact of Extension Services on small farmers in India
The Journal of Extension Education recently contained an article examining effectiveness of the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) in the Assam region of India. ATMA is a market-driven extension model introduced under the National Agricultural Technology Project. Researchers Christopher Tirkey and Manesh Choubey surveyed a probability sampling of 160 small and marginal farmers in the Golaghat District. They concluded that timely dissemination of extension services, which meet the actual needs of the farmers, can affect the farmers’ production to a larger extent.
You can read the article by open access here.
Communicator events approaching
Here are event plans you may find helpful, with contact information you can use for details. We welcome suggestions or revisions for this calendar.
April 25-27, 2023
Annual meeting of the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) in Portland, Maine. Information: https://www.toca.org/toca-annual-meeting
April 26-28, 2023
“Next2Now: Tap into the Future Today.” Conference of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in St. Louis, Missouri.
Information: https://www.nama.org/2023-agri-marketing-conference.html
April 26-29, 2023
Conference of the International Agricultural and Extension Education Association (IAEE) in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Information: https://aiaee.org/2023conference
June 4-6, 2023
“Putting the Spotlight on Communications.” 2023 Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Portland, Maine.
Information: cca@communicators.coop
June 11-13, 2023
Conference of the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) in Ashville, North Carolina. Information: https://aceweb.org/2023conference
June 13-15, 2023
Annual meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) in Des Moines, Iowa. Information: https://agrelationscouncil.org
A communications insight from Brazil
We close our April issue of ACDC News with this Brazilian proverb:
“A timely ‘no’ beats a hasty ‘yes’
Best regards and wishes
ACDC is a deep and open resource for you, so please feel free to invite our help as you search for information, local to global. You are welcomed to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valued international collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, 510 ACES Library, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801) – or in electronic format sent to acdc@library.illinois.edu