Happy New Year.

Welcome to this first 2006 issue of news from the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. If you are new to ACDC News, we hope you find it interesting and useful.

Our basic mission continues:

Work hard to be a valuable resource for better communicating about agriculture, food, natural resources and related endeavors of societies worldwide.

Mixed messages about tomatoes-for-health claims.

How is this for a mixed message, pointed out in a recent Boston Globe article?

• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently ruled that food companies can tell consumers that eating as little as one-half cup of tomatoes and tomato-based products weekly reduces the risk of prostate cancer.
• However, companies must also tell consumers the FDA does not believe the science behind that message.

Citation: It’s good for you, but …
Posted at: www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2005/11/30/its_good_for_you_but?mode=PF

Three new songs promote 4-H in Canada.

Three original songs by a country rock band are helping promote 4-H in Ontario, Canada, as part of a 90th anniversary celebration of the youth organization. These new songs reflect the “Learning To Do By Doing” motto of 4-H:
“I Am Home”
“Four Good Reasons”
“Giving Back”

All members of the group, called The GMOs, have either been 4-H members or associated with 4-H. “We all drew on our positive experiences to help bring the songs together,” explained GMO drummer and co-founder Len Kahn.

Citation: 4-H Ontario commissions three original songs
Posted at: http://www.4-hontario.ca/press2.cfm?documentid=3694

Empowering women farmers with information.

The Agricultural Communications Documentation Center recently added documents to its collection that highlight information programs for women farmers in Uganda and The Ukraine. These documents further enhance the extensive Center collection about communications in the lives and activities of women farmers globally.

In Uganda, women are using an interactive CD-Rom to become better farmers, according to the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC). “The CD gives advice on ways to improve yields from crops and livestock, how to market what is produced, and helps the farmers think about new products they can make and sell.” The information tool is available in Uganda ‘s local languages.

Meanwhile, in The Ukraine, a project responds to women farmers “who identified lack of information as the major obstacle to becoming successful entrepreneurs in a new market economy.” The project provides the farmers with computer training and Internet access at eight “telecentres,” where they obtain a variety of agricultural information.

Citation: Ugandan women farmers go hi-tech 
Posted at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sci/tech/2078444.stm

Citation: A CD-Rom for Rural Women in Africa 
Posted at: http://www.wougnet.org/News/cdupdate.html

Citation: Sustaining women farmers in Ukraine
Posted at: http://www.undp.org/info21/pilot/pi-ukr.html

“My stab at a couple of new word/terms.” 

Thanks to Chuck Zimmerman of ZimmComm for sending these timely agri-terms:

Agriblogging – Posting agricultural information that includes links to various kinds of media content like audio, images, documents and video on a Weblog.

Farm podcasting – Making audio and/or video files that contain farm information available for Web access subscription via an RSS feed that allows the subscribers to capture the file on their computers and digital audio/video players.

ZimmComm is doing both agriblogging and farm podcasting on several sites, including AgWired at http://www.agwired.com

Encouraging words we appreciate.

Thanks to all who shared with us reactions such as these during recent months, along with suggestions about how to make the Center more useful:

• “I appreciate your quick response to my question.”
• “This is very helpful. Thank you!”
• “You have a tremendous database.”
• “Once again, thank you so much for the contacts.”
• “Thanks for producing ACDC News. A great service to agricultural communications.”
• “Your database has been a wonderful tool in my work.”
• “Have put your Web site in my Favorites file!”

Communicator activities approaching

February 1, 2006
The Agricultural Communicators in Education Research SIG issued a Call for Graduate Student Award Competitions (research proposal, outstanding thesis, and outstanding dissertation). The calls are located on the Research SIG Web site (http://www.aceweb.org/sigs/research/new.html ), which includes award submission guidelines, scoring rubrics, and direct links to all three online submission portals. Award winners will be announced at the ACE Annual International Meeting in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Please forward this information to colleagues and graduate students. 

February 4-8, 2006
Annual meeting and conference of the Agricultural Communications Section, Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS), in Orlando, Florida.
Information: http://www.saasinc.org/orlando2006/orlando_mainpage.asp

March 1, 2006
Registrations due for the 2006 conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education in Clearwater, Florida, May 14-17, 2006.
Information: http://www.aiaee.org/pdf/2006announce.pdf

March 6-8, 2006
“Practice change for sustainable communities.” Conference of the Australasia-Pacific Extension Network (APEN) in Beechworth, Victoria, Australia.
Information: http://www.apen.org.au/

March 23-25, 2006
Spring meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council in Memphis, Tennessee.
Information: Jeri Mattix Omernik of Rocky Mountain Marketing Communications at: jmo@rmmc.biz

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