How accurate are the market advisory services for crops?
Two recently added reports in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center help answer that question. They come from the Agricultural Market Advisory Service (AgMAS) and include:
- “1995 pricing performance of market advisory services for corn and soybeans” (published in March 1997)
- “1996 pricing performance of market advisory services for corn and soybeans” (published in January 1998)
AgMAS is a collaborative effort of agricultural economists at Ohio State University, Purdue University and the University of Illinois. It began during 1994 and, since then, has tracked the pricing performance of about 25 advisory services to which it subscribes.
Results may hold special value for communicators interested in topics such as risk communications and the quality, accuracy and economic value of agricultural information. Details are available from the AgMAS web site, which you can view at: www.aces.uiuc.edu/~agmas/
Other recent additions about risk communications.
Here are the titles of some other documents that we have added recently to the collection of literature about risk communications, as related to food and agriculture:
- “Cognitive determinants of risk perceptions associated with biotechnology”
- “Effect of risk perception on willingness to pay for water quality”
- “Farmer willingness to pay for herbicide safety characteristics”
- “Determinants of unsafe hamburger cooking behavior”
- “Voluntary economic and environmental risk tradeoffs in crop protection decisions”
- “Farmers’ decision processes and adoption of conservation tillage”
Feedback about the “News and Announcements” page.
We’re pleased to hear from some readers who find useful information in this news page. Recent examples of feedback:
- “Thank you for sending this to me. …. The capsulized reports of other meetings about what’s going on in our business are very, very helpful.”
- “Great idea. Now I just need to tap into this resource.”
History of NAFB now online.
The National Association of Farm Broadcasters web site recently added a page entitled, “History of NAFB.” Written by NAFB Historian Dix Harper, it describes the development of NAFB during the past 55 years, from its origin in 1943 to its most recent technological development (a 1998 CD-ROM presentation about farm broadcasting).
Actually, this report traces back to the origins of broadcast information for farmers, more than 20 years before NAFB formed. It begins with weather and grain reports aired during 1921, then briefly sketches some highlights in farm broadcasting throughout the U.S. during the 1920s and 1930s.
You can see this history page on the NAFB web site: www.nafb.com
Here are calls for papers to be presented at two approaching conferences related to agricultural communications:
- Agricultural Communications Section, Conference of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists, January
31-February 2, 1999, at Memphis, Tennessee USA. Suggested topics: practical applications of new communications
technology; publications, videos and special projects; measurement and accountability; and media relations. December 7 is
the deadline for abstracts, to be sent by e-mail. For details contact: Ned Browning, Mississippi State University, at
nedb@ext.msstate.edu - 14th Annual Red River Valley Student Communication Conference, “Communication, Culture and Change,” April 18-20,
1999, at Fargo, North Dakota USA. Keynote speaker is Everett M. Rogers, noted communication scholar who will
respond to a panel presentation about his research in health communication. Undergraduate and graduate students are
encouraged to submit essays and proposals for papers. Information: Dr. Deanna Sellnow, Department of Communication,
North Dakota State University, at: dsellnow@badlands.nodak.edu
Let us know if we can help you announce a meeting related to agricultural communications.
Contact: Jim Evans at evansj@uiuc.edu
Spelling?
It’s quite easy. “Most words are easy for me to spell once I get the letters right.” (Response from an elementary student in English class, cited in: Harold Dunn, The World According to Kids. Spectacle Lane Press, Georgetown, CT, 1992, p. 59)
Best regards and good searching.
Please let us know if we can help you find information and/or if you can suggest documents that we might add to this collection.