ACDC News – Issue 09-02

Remembering the communicator’s real business. Thanks to Brad Schneller for alerting us to a commentary by Paul Berton in the London Free Press ( Ontario, Canada). In this piece, “Not if, but how, we’ll deliver news,” Berton addressed the influence of new media on the newspaper publishing business. “People have been talking for years about the death of newspapers,” Berton noted, “and that may well be inevitable. But media companies will survive and thrive…” More news than ever is flowing, he observed, through a broadening assortment of channels. His point was that the future of newspapers may be unclear, but not the future of news.

Read the commentary posted at http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Columnists/Berton_Paul/2008/12/20/7812321-sun.html


What about the agricultural media? Resources in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center suggest that the same holds true in agricultural journalism. Searching the past century of information in this collection, you can find ample reason to agree with Paul Berton about keeping an eye not only on specific media but also on the communicator’s real business. Following are a few among many examples, across the years, of documented threats and challenges to specific channels used for agricultural information.

(1906) Is the farm paper a has been?
(1938) How radio may modify the functions of the newspaper
(1955) Turmoil in magazines
(1963) Schaller heaps doom and gloom on farm publications
(1975) Farm broadcasting in transition

Naturally, these documents are not available online in full text. However, contact us at docctr@library.uiuc.edu if you wish to see any of them. All documents you identify in the ACDC database are available at the Center or elsewhere here in the University of Illinois Library system. That feature is special to a documentation center. We adopted it in ACDC, from the start, to add value for users.


A call for scientists to be advocates, not unbiased consultants. Yes, you read that correctly. Authors of a recent article in the Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics argued against a two-stage process in which (a) scientists find out the facts, then (b) policy makers decide what to do with those facts. These two stages cannot be clearly separated, according to Stephen Haller and James Gerrie. They also confronted “the technocratic vision where decisions are best left up to the experts,” — where, for example, “scientists would deliver the final word on a policy about SARS, or mad cow, or whatever.”

In their 27-page report, Haller and Gerrie suggested that when scientific claims enter the public policy realm, they must always do so in concert with value claims. In that ordinary process of democratic decision-making, scientists enter public policy debates as “participants in particular interest groups… rather than as supposedly unbiased consultants to decision-makers.”

Citation: The role of science in public policy


How consumers react to food recalls . Most Canadians changed their buying and eating behavior following a recall associated with listeria in ready-to-eat meats, according to a recent survey summary we have added to the ACDC collection. Among the findings of this survey by University of Guelph researchers:

  • 30 percent said they stopped buying ready-to-eat meats from Canada.
  • 27 percent reported eating less often at restaurants and fast-food outlets.
  • 52 percent reported paying more attention to food labels.
  • 32 percent reported cooking more food at home

About 70 percent of respondents said their perception of the safety of meat in general, of food products, and of food as a whole had not changed.

Citation: Consumers changing habits
Posted at http://www.uoguelph.ca/news/2008/12/post_157.html


Communications – among the top strategic challenges for U. S. agriculture. A new report from the Farm Foundation examines issues agriculture and policy makers will face during the next 30 years in addressing the challenge of providing food, fiber and energy to a growing world. “Public understanding of agriculture” emerged as one of eight recurring themes vital to agriculture’s strategic role. According to the report:

“Bridging the gap in understanding between agriculture and the broader public will be critical to the development of policies needed to meet the 30-year challenge.”

Citation: The 30-year challenge
News release, executive summary and full report (53 pages) posted at: http://www.farmfoundation.org


Recognizing a new and “virtual” ACDC associate .  We are pleased to recognize and welcome Professor Steve Shenton as a volunteer staff associate in the Center.  Based in Pennsylvania, he brings special interests and strengths in agricultural and rural aspects of free expression, public/civic journalism and community journalism.

Steve’s work with the Center is not new as he has provided helpful documents and leads across the years.  Nor is he a stranger to the agricultural communications program here at the University of Illinois.  During his doctoral studies in communications in the Institute of Communications Research, he served as an outstanding graduate teaching assistant and for three years as an instructor in agricultural communications.  His academic background includes studies in agriculture as well as communications.  He served on the communications/journalism faculty and as its chair at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania for more than 26 years prior to his retirement. We value Steve’s contributions to the Center and appreciate his willingness to contribute through his special expertise and interests.


Sharp eyes and ears for the world. Please let us know if you would like to consider being a volunteer staff associate in this Center. Perhaps you can provide “eyes and ears” in search of information about agricultural journalism and agricultural communications – in your part of the world, or in your special area of communications interest. Why can’t a global “virtual network” of dedicated ACDC associates cover more of this important world of interest without a huge budget? Contact Jim Evans at evansj@illinois.edu .


Communicator activities approaching

March 12-14, 2009
“Return. Rebuild. Renew.” Spring meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) in New Orleans, Louisiana USA.
Information: http://www.agrelationscouncil.org

April 15-17, 2009
“Hot ideas and sizzling solutions.” 2009 Agri-Marketing Conference sponsored by the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Atlanta, Georgia USA.
Information: http://www.nama.org/amc

May 17-19, 2009
“Parlez-vouz marketing?” Seminar of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) in Montreal, Canada.
Information: http://www.aem.org/education/confsems/mc/index.asp

June 6-10, 2009
“When tillage begins, other arts follow.” ACE.NETC.09 sponsored by the National Extension Technology Conference (NETC) and the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE), in Des Moines, Iowa USA.
Information: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/acenetc2009

June 13-16, 2009
“Branding communications with a kick.” Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Kansas City, Missouri USA.
Information: http://www.communicators.coop


Photographing – yes – bee beards . Some of the most interesting agricultural photographs we have seen recently involve “bee beards” growing in Canada. Agri Digest Online , based in British Columbia, posted five eye-catching photos taken at a recent conference of the Western Apicultural Society of North America. These photos featured several brave souls (including a broadcaster) who demonstrated how honey bees can form live beards.

Citation: Bee beards in Victoria, B.C.
View these photos at http://www.agridigest.com/index.html#pol > Scroll to Agri Gallery


Best regards and good searching. Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas for the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Com Documentation Center, 510 LIAC, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.uiuc.edu .

Get in touch with us when you see interesting items in the ACDC collection and can’t gain full-text access through information in the citation, or through online searching. We will help you gain access.



ACDC News – Issue 09-01

“The calf rarely brands itself.” A recent article in Economic Development Journal used that rural analogy to caution readers about the popular concept of branding.

“What others say about you – not what you say about yourself – will build your brand,” author Andy Levine emphasized. He offered four other “against-the-grain recommendations to consider and share with the ‘powers that be’ within your community.”

  1. Be different – really different.
  2. A logo is NOT a strategy.
  3. Find the right balance between the external customer and the internal customer.
  4. The single, over-arching brand with a single, coordinated marketing message consistently fails.

Citation: The calf rarely brands itself
Posted at http://www.ussourcelink.com/_FileLibrary/FileImage/2/EDJ_winter08.pdf


Congratulations to pioneering agricultural communications students. A news report from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, announced graduation during December of the first class of students in a new agricultural communications diploma program. Seven graduates completed this 16-month, five-course program. It was offered by distance through the Ontario Agricultural College and the Office of Open Learning. Owen Roberts served as academic coordinator.

Citation: First University of Guelph agricultural communications students graduate
Information about the program is posted online at http://www.agcommunications.ca


Really managing information to market specialized farm products. Niche production and marketing is moving to a higher level and well-managed information is a vital ingredient for progress.

“…a lack of reliable information at all stages along the supply chain is a severe limitation to the development of differentiated products, in spite of the existence of modern information technology,” explained the authors of a recent article in Computers and Electronics in Agriculture . These researchers at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture ( Cali, Colombia) and University of Klagenfurt ( Austria) described a prototype internet-based information system for high value agricultural products. Known as the Coffee Information System (CINFO), it provides information about:

  • The production environment and practices used by coffee growers in individual management units.
  • The quality of individual lots of coffee.
  • Movement of coffee from the individual lots along the supply chain to end users.

“The initial results already indicate tangible benefits for all members of the supply chain and hence the future potential of CINFO or similar platforms,” these authors reported.

Citation: Information and its management for differentiation of agricultural products
Check with us ( docctr@library.uiuc.edu ) for information about full-text access.


Rural citizens without broadband – less access to public services. Recent research in Montana revealed civic disadvantages facing rural residents that lack access to broadband telecommunications services. Researcher Richard S. Wolff of Montana State University identified problems arising from lack of broadband services in rural Montana counties, as compared with metro counties. Disadvantages included lack of online access for:

  • Completion and submission of permit applications, business licenses
  • Requests for local government records
  • Requests for government services, such as pothole repair
  • Forms that can be downloaded for manual completion (e.g., voter registration)
  • Council agendas and minutes
  • Employment information and applications

Thanks to Steve Shenton, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, for calling attention to this resource.

Citation: Citizen access to democracy hurting in rural America
Posted at: http://www.commonblog.com/story/2008/11/24/112053/11


Remarkable view of communications consulting abroad . We are grateful to Dr. K. Robert Kern for contributing to the ACDC collection a copy of his new memoir, At Work in the Wider World: A Memoir of Work and Travel on Five Continents . It describes his experiences working abroad in 46 countries between early 1945 and late 2002. Many of those experiences took place after he retired from an active career at Iowa State University, much of it in agricultural extension communications.

His consulting work often centered on analyzing and helping strengthen communications in local, national and international programs of agricultural research and development. It offers the most vivid, detailed account we can recall having seen about life, travels and experiences of an agricultural communications consultant working abroad.

Citation: At work in the wider world


What’s that again? Encouraging farmers to protect their hearing. Noise-induced hearing loss is the second most frequent self-reported occupational illness or injury in the U.S., according to a recent article in the Journal of Applied Communication Research . Authors reported that an estimated 10 percent of U.S. farm workers are exposed to high-risk noise levels.

This research report identifies some useful guidelines for communicating with farmers, landscapers and other rural workers about protecting their hearing.

Citation: Using the EPPM to create and evaluate the effectiveness of brochures
Available for online purchase via http://www.informaworld.com > Search on title


Communicator activities approaching

January 19, 2009
Deadline for submitting abstracts for presentations at the 7th World Congress of Computers in Agriculture and Natural Resources to take place June 22-24 in Reno, Nevada USA.
Information: www.wcca2009.org

January 20-22, 2009
Knowledge “Share Fair” to showcase examples of good knowledge sharing practices in agricultural development and food security. Hosted by five international agencies and held at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy.
Information: www.sharefair.net

April 15-17, 2009
“Hot ideas and sizzling solutions.” 2009 Agri-Marketing Conference sponsored by the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Atlanta, Georgia USA.
Information: http://www.nama.org/amc


Where’s the colorful rural language these days? Columnist Lee Pitts raised that issue in a recent commentary in Farm World . He observed that with “all the political correctness running rampant in our society, I think the writing in our world has greatly deteriorated.”

  • For example, in the wild, wild West people weren’t put to sleep or laid to rest. “They bit the dust, went on their last roundup or circled the drain.”
  • When western writers described a bucking bronc sending the rider asunder they didn’t say the horse received a negative feedback loop. “…they said the cowboy chewed gravel or kissed the ground.”
  • “If the cowboy of yesteryear fell in love, he wasn’t emotionally involved; he got Cupid’s cramps or calico fever.”
  • “Some agrarian product specialists (farmers) are not in a drought but only in a water deficit situation. I bet that cheers them up.”

You get the idea. Please pass along to us any other examples of what Pitts described as “painting every word with a different color.” Send them to docctr@library.uiuc.edu

Citation: Adjectives in the old days


Best regards and good searching. Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas for the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Com Documentation Center, 510 LIAC, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.uiuc.edu .

Get in touch with us when you see interesting items in the ACDC collection and can’t gain full-text access through information in the citation, or through online searching. We will help you gain access.