Ray Elizabeth

Celebrating 90 years of market news reporting.

An anniversary of market news reporting earned recognition through three presentations at the 2005 Agricultural Outlook Forum sponsored by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. USDA market reports have provided inestimable value to producers and others in the food complex. Presentations about the service included:

“The Fruit and Vegetable Market News portal.”
http://www.usda.gov/oce/forum/speeches/Okoniewski-ppt.pdf
Text Version

“Livestock mandatory reporting: Datamart.”
http://www.usda.gov/oce/forum/speeches/vanDyke-ppt.pdf
Text Version

“Using market news information in the private sector.”
http://www.usda.gov/oce/forum/speeches/Murphy-ppt.pdf.
Text Version

Women scientists overlooked as media sources.

A recent commentary in Quill magazine cited evidence of women missing in media reports that involve science and technology. For example, one study in 2003 found that U.S. news programs relegated women to stereotypical fields of expertise: health, society and human interest.

“Review the number of times women are cited as experts in science and technical fields in your own outlet, and I’ll bet you’ll find similar results,” author Sally Lehrman suggested. This invitation opens the question of sources used in the coverage of agricultural sciences.

Reference: Female scientists too often overlooked as sources.

---

 New research reports from the ACE conference.

Following are 12 papers presented to the Research Special Interest Group during the recent conference of ACE (Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences) in San Antonio, Texas:

•  Amanda M. Ruth, Travis D. Park and Lisa K. Lundy, “Glitz, glamour, and the farm: portrayal of agriculture in the “Simple Life.” Contact Ruth at amruth@ifas.ufl.edu
•  Emily B. Rhoades and Ashley Hurst, “Interactivity and two-way communication options on livestock publication websites: a content analysis.” Contact Rhoades at ebbisdorf@ifas.ufl.edu
•  Danna B. Kelemen, D. Dwayne Cartmell II, and Shelly Peper Sitton, “Service learning: a case study of an agricultural communications course.” Contact Kelemen at danna.kellemen@okstate.edu
•  Terrie Clark, Kristina M. Boone, Lori A. Bergen and Jacqueline D. Spears, “A frame analysis of a lawsuit: enforcing clean water regulations in Kansas.” Contact Clark at terriec@ksu.edu
•  Amanda M. Ruth, Melissa Muegge, and Tracy Irani, “Seeds planted for recovery: framing of agriculture during the 2004 Florida hurricanes.” Contact Ruth at amruth@ifas.ufl.edu
•  Jamie M. King and D. Dwayne Cartmell II, “Newspaper coverage of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy outbreak in the United States: a content analysis.” Contact King at jamie.king@okstate.edu
•  Lisa K. Lundy, “What’s in a frame? The effect of message frames on attitudes toward internationalizing agricultural extension.” Contact Lundy at llundy@lsu.edu
•  Tracy Irani, Amanda Ruth, Ricky W. Telg and Lisa K. Lundy, “The ability to relate: assessing the influence of a relationship marketing strategy and message stimuli on consumer perceptions of extension.” Contact Irani at irani@ufl.edu
•  Steven G. Hill, Terrie Clark, Ted Cable, Kris Boone and Pat Melgares, “Overcoming barriers to adoption of water-quality BMPs in Kansas: an initial assessment.” Contact Hill at shill@ksu.edu
•  Gary J. Wingenbach and Tracy A. Rutherford, “Trust, bias, and fairness of information sources for biotechnology issues.” Contact Wingenbach at g-wingenbach@tamu.edu
•  Deborah W. Dunsford, “Feedback follow up: the influence of teacher comment on student writing assignments.” Contact Dunsford at dunsford@tamu.edu
•  Chad S. Davis, Cindy Akers, Marvin Cepica, David Doerfert, Steve Fraze, David Lawver and Meredith Schacht, “Cognition responses by West Texas Hispanics/Latinos to agricultural news: a comparison of four English and Spanish presentation media.” Contact Davis at chad.s.davis@ttu.edu

---

Extension educator: shifting from “sage on the stage?” 

The role of the extension educator should be examined, according to results of an education program to improve milk quality on dairy farms. “Perhaps many would do well to facilitate teams to affect change rather than design programs in which the extension agent is ‘the sage on the stage’,” said researchers Joseph Donaldson and Edgar Yoder.

For example, feedback from participating farmers showed that involvement of veterinarians in educational teams improved communications between farmers and their veterinarians.

Reference: Updating farm demonstration model

---

Five new “Useful Links” added.

You may be interested in these five websites added recently to our “Useful Links” page. All involve communications related to food and agriculture, in varying ways:

•  Development Communications Archive. Reports, papers, printed materials, surveys, articles, audiotapes, videocassettes and films make up the archive of the Clearinghouse on Development Communication of the Academy for Educational Development, 1960-1994. Posted at: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/00261/cah-00261.html
•  Association of Food Journalists. A network system for food journalists who plan and write food copy for news media worldwide. Posted at: http://www.afjonline.com
•  Smokey Bear Collection. This special collection in the National Agricultural Library includes information about a widely acclaimed campaign for preventing forest fires. Posted at: http://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/findaids/smokey/
•  ACE Papers. Historical records (1913 to date) of the American Association of Agricultural College Editors (AAACE), later renamed Agricultural Communicators in Education (ACE), and currently Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Life and Human Sciences. Posted at: http://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/findaids/ace/index.html
•  Records of the Tobacco Market News Service. Includes historical information about the Tobacco Market News Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Posted at: http://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/findaids/tobacco/index.html

---

Communicator activity approaching.

July 31-August 3, 2005
“Agricultural Media Summit.” Professional development conference of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA), Livestock Publications Council (LPC) and AgriCouncil of the Association of Business Media Companies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA.
Information: http://www.agmediasummit.com

---

Advice on business conversations.

We close this issue of ACDC News with advice that George Horace Lorimer’s self-made merchant, Chicago pork packer John Graham, extended a century ago to his son Pierrepont, a fresh Harvard graduate:

“I remember reading once that some fellows use language to conceal thought, but it’s been my experience that a good many more use it instead of thought. A businessman’s conversation should be regulated by fewer and simpler rules than any other function of the human animal. They are:
Have something to say.
Say it.
Stop talking.

Beginning before you know what you want to say and keeping on after you have said it lands a merchant in a lawsuit or the poorhouse, and the first is a shortcut to the second.”

Reference: Letters from a self-made merchant to his son

---

When you see interesting items you can’t find online or locally 

Get in touch with us at docctr@library.uiuc.edu. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.

---

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions, and ideas for ACDC. Feel free to invite our assistance 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 electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu.

June, 2005

Rethinking extension communications.

An article of that title in the April issue of Journal of Extension took a fresh look at the role of extension communicators in an era of program accountability. LaRae Donnellan and Florita Montgomery traced more than a half-century of effort for transformation – “from scribes to communicators” – with plenty of challenges and occasional setbacks along the way.

Authors described a broadening professional vision rooted in the National Project in Agricultural Communications (NPAC) of the 1950s. They tracked an emerging “consulting communicator” role, described challenges to it and offered nine recommendations for pursuing it anew within the Extension framework of issues-based programming. Organizational goals of extension can best be met, they suggested, by having well-trained communicators serving in both leadership and support roles on issues programming teams.

Reference: Rethinking extension communications
Posted at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2005april/a2.shtml

Potatoes getting mashed? 

An Associated Press release that we have added described pressures on the U.S. potato industry and announced plans to address them through advertising. Among the pressures cited:

• The mad cow scare “stranded thousands of pounds of frozen potatoes at ports, as countries banned imports of U.S. beef products. Frozen potatoes are often fried in beef fat.”
• “Popular low-carb diets such as Atkins and South Beach encourage consumers to avoid potatoes.”
• McDonald’s, one of the largest consumers of potatoes, stopped selling Supersize fries, “bowing to pressure to serve a healthier menu.”

The article described plans by the Washington State Potato Commission to launch an advertising campaign and develop partnerships with weight-loss groups to educate consumers about the healthy benefits of potatoes.

Reference: U.S. potato growers fight perception product is unhealthy
Posted at: http://static.highbeam.com/a/apworldstream/may102004/uspotatogrowersfightperceptionproductisunhealthy/index.html

---

 The fire ant wars. 

A recent book of this title described campaigns by the U. S. Department of Agriculture to eradicate the red imported fire ant, “a much celebrated and much-loathed insect that plagues the South to this day.” Author Joshua Blu Buhs described the spread of fire ants from the 1930s and traced two USDA attempts, beginning in 1957, to eradicate it using chemical pesticides.

A picture of two wars emerged from the book. One was a war of humans against the ants. The other war involved acrimonious policy struggles among interest groups that “battled in the press, the halls of Congress, and state legislatures.” Communicators can find revealing insights about social conflict, public relations, and risk communications.

Reference: The fire ant wars

---

How farmers view agritourism.

Results in southern Tuscany, Italy, led researcher R. Sonnino to conclude: “agritourism is not addressing the necessities of farmers who interpret development in qualitative terms and aim mostly at conserving their lifestyle, with it associated values of freedom and independence.” Instead, it “responds to the needs of farmers pursuing economic growth,” those likely to be larger and more affluent.

Reference: For a “piece of bread.”
This article is referenced from Sociologia Ruralis, 44(3) and can be found in PDF format by visiting : http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9523.2004.00276.x?cookieSet=1

---

New survey of farm radio listenership.

Results of 2005 AMR Qualitative Research are available. This Ag Media Research project, funded by members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters, involved telephone interviews with Class 1+ farmers in 12 Midwestern states. Some highlights revealed:

• About 90 percent of farmer respondents (under 40 and over) said the stations they listen to provide the agriculture news, markets and weather information they want.
• Farm radio reaches multiple households on 49% of the farms and ranches.
• On average (mean), 2.2 persons are involved in making decisions on each farm or ranch.
• Farmers listen to multiple radio stations, but 73% listen to only one or two stations during the day.
• Two-thirds said they get information from a farm broadcaster, and 68% of those could name the broadcaster.

Reference: 2005 AMR Qualitative Research
Posted at: http://www.nafb.com/nafbfiles/2005amrqualitative2.ppt

---

Maybe I’ll live in a treetop/like a hermit I would never burn it or chop it down.

This part of a rap song about the forest canopy appeared in a Conservation Biology article we added recently. Author Nalini M. Nadkami reported on experiences in communicating the importance of forest conservation to nontraditional audiences. Among them:

• • Religious and spiritual groups
  • Hospitals and health practitioners
  • Artists and musicians
  • Legislators and decision makers
  • Urban youth
  • Prisoners

Reference: Not preaching to the choir
Posted in PDF format @ : http://academic.evergreen.edu/n/nadkarnn/cv/pdfs_new/nadkarni_choir_04.pdf

---

Communicator activities approaching

June 9-11, 2005
“Horse by Northwest.” 2005 Seminar of American Horse Publications (AHP) in Seattle, Washington USA.
Information: http://www.americanhorsepubs.org/programs/seminars/index.html

July 31-August 3, 2005
“Agricultural Media Summit.” Professional development conference of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA), Livestock Publication Council (LPC) and AgriCouncil of the Association of Business Media Companies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA.
Information: http://www.agmediasummit.com

---

How’s that again? 

The food industry has not escaped an invasion of contradictory or incongruous wording. We note these expressions in food and beverage advertising and labeling:

Boneless ribs
Big Sip
Natural additives
Gourmet fast food
Oven fried
All natural artificial flavor
Fresh from concentrate
Buffalo wings
Twelve-ounce pound cake

Can you add to this list? If so, please pass them along to us.

---

When you see interesting items you can’t find online or locally 

Get in touch with us at docctr@library.uiuc.edu. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.

---

Best regards and good searching. 

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions, and ideas for ACDC. Feel free to invite our assistance 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 electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu.

May, 2005

Agricultural public relations shootout.

An unexpected conflict between the University of Rochester Medical Center and the Florida Department of Citrus flared up early this year. Here’s how according to a news article we added recently:

• The University issued a release that described two matters. One involved a man reported to be the victim of a deadly interaction between grapefruit juice and a cholesterol-lowering medicine. The other involved evidence of interactions between grapefruit juice and birth control pills.
• A public relations agency employed by the Florida Department of Citrus challenged the accuracy of the release, issued its own release saying the University news release was inaccurate and asked the University to issue another release with corrections.

Reporter William R. Levesque described the detailed sequence in this interesting case report.

Reference: Grapefruit article sets off PR shootout
The article can be found in the St. Petersburg Times free archive posted @: http://www.sptimes.com/2005/02/21/Business/Companies.shtml

Media reporting of genetics – surprisingly accurate?

In some circumstances, yes, according to an article in Trends in Biotechnology. Author Timothy Caulfield observed:

“…emerging data suggest that, in some circumstances, the media reporting of science is surprisingly accurate and portrays a message created by the scientific community. As such, there are reasons to believe that the hyping of research results might be part of a more systemic problem associated with the increasingly commercial nature of the research environment.”

Reference: Biotechnology and the popular press

Reference: Do the print media “hype” genetic research?
Posted @: http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/170/9/1399

---

 Helping students “speak better” about food.

We have added to the ACDC collection a journal article about food science courses that help students become better oral communicators. Iowa State University students learned about food preparation through exercises that integrated disciplinary content with a variety of speaking and listening experiences.

Authors concluded: “In the food science discipline, oral communication becomes central as students work on teams, teach their peers, serve customers, lead, negotiate, work with cultural diversity, interview, listen, conduct meetings, and resolve conflicts. These behaviors must be practiced as ‘professionals-in-training’ gain the expertise required for employment as experts.”

Reference: Improving oral communication skills of students
Posted at: http://www.ift.org/pdfs/jfse/jfsev3n2p0015-0020ms20030359.pdf

---

The struggle over seeds.

A recent article we added from Politics and Society examined “‘farmers’ rights’ as a strategy of resistance against the perceived inequities of intellectual property rights regimes for plant varieties.”

Analyst Craig Borowiak observed, “As commercial models of intellectual property have made their way into agriculture, farmers’ traditional seed-saving practices have been increasingly delegitimized. In response, farmers have adopted the language of farmers’ rights to demand greater material recognition of their contributions and better measures to protect their autonomy. This campaign has mixed implications.”

Reference: Farmers’ rights
Posted @: http://pas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/32/4/511

---

Can honeybees speak? A buzzing debate.

Eileen Crist summarized it in a recent issue of Social Studies of Science. She examined, on one side, how behavioral scientists have conceptualized the honeybee dance as a linguistic system. On the other side, she explained how the dance upset deep-seated assumptions about the “great chain of being,” with man and other higher mammals at the apex and invertebrates in the basement.

This report offers insights for agricultural communicators who sometimes are asked if they “talk with the animals.” No end to the debate seems in sight. Author Crist said her analysis suggests that “if one really does not believe that a small honeybee has language capability, then apparently no evidence may ever suffice to prove its existence.”

Reference: Can an insect speak? 
Posted @: http://sss.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/34/1/7

---

Communicator activities approaching

May 31-June 4, 2005
“Ideas and missions/Ideas y misiones.” Joint conferences of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Live and Human Sciences (ACE), National Extension Technology Conference (NETC), International Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT), and Extension Video Producers (EVP) in San Antonio, Texas USA.
Information: http://acenetc2005.tamu.edu

June 4-7, 2005
“Mile high energy: reaching your communications peak.” 2005 Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Denver, Colorado USA.
Information: http://www.communicators.coop

June 9-11, 2005
“Horse by Northwest.” 2005 Seminar of American Horse Publications (AHP) in Seattle, Washington USA.
Information: http://www.americanhorsepubs.org/programs/seminars/index.html

July 31-August 3, 2005
“Agricultural Media Summit.” Professional development conference of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA), Livestock Publications Council (LPC) and AgriCouncil of the Association of Business Media Companies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA.
Information: http://www.agmediasummit.com

---

Great rules for writing.

We close this issue of ACDC News with a classic contra dictum attributed to William Safire. It is not directed specifically to agricultural writers, but on occasion might be.

“Do not put statements in the negative form. And don’t start sentences with a conjunction. It is incumbent on one to avoid archaisms. If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by re-reading and editing. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do. Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all. De-accession euphemisms. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. Never, ever use repetitive redundancies. Also, avoid awkward or affected alliteration. Last, but not least, avoid clichés like the plague.”

---

When you see interesting items you can’t find online or locally 

Get in touch with us at docctr@library.uiuc.edu. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.

---

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions, and ideas for ACDC. Feel free to invite our assistance 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 electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu.

May, 2005

Time to start pushing sugar.

“Sure, the U.S. population is getting fatter and fatter,” said a recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution . “Must be time to start pushing more sugar.”

The U.S. sugar industry is preparing a new advertising campaign to “tout the use of real sugar.” That is, sugar made from cane and beets, not high-fructose corn syrup. Sugar isn’t the enemy, said a representative of the Sugar Association. This campaign will attempt to position sugar as a natural, healthy product with 15 calories per teaspoon.

Reference: Sugar makers to fight back with new ads
Posted at: http://www.crystalsugar.com/media/news.archives/makers.asp

Roots of the U.S. sweet tooth.

Two hundred years ago sugar and confections were luxury items that signaled the economic power and privilege of males. So reported Wendy Woloson in Refined tastes: sugar, confectionery, and consumers in nineteenth-century America. Her 2002 book tracks changes during the nineteenth century as sweets entered all economic levels of the American consuming public.

Reference: Refined tastes: sugar, confectionery, and consumers in nineteenth century America

---

 Beef producers and industry on the firing line. 

The Harvard School of Public Health reported results of a U.S. adult survey, Mad Cow Survey, during early 2004. Here is how respondents answered the question, “Which one of the following do you think should be mainly responsible for preventing the spread of Mad Cow Disease in the U.S. ?”

Producers of the food that cattle eat – 33%
The federal government – 31%
The American beef industry – 29%
Don’t know – 7%

Most (51%) of those who said the federal government should be responsible identified the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the agency they think should be mainly responsible.

Reference: Mad cow survey
Posted @ http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/press/releases/blendon/mad_cow_topline.doc

---

Who’s covering local news? 

“Now there’s nobody out in the 3,000-plus counties in the United States covering local news the way they were,” observed a journalist cited in a Quill magazine article that we added recently to the ACDC collection.

The article focused mainly on the declining local coverage by radio stations, a decline that “most greatly affects its historic stronghold: small-town and rural America .” The article also called attention to similar pressures against local newspaper coverage. In earlier issues of ACDC News, we have identified reports about ways in which farm broadcasting, with its traditional emphasis on strong local coverage, is caught up in this tangle.

Reference: A shift of substance: changes in local media ownership have largely led to a decline in radio news

---

Sorting through organic views of nature.

It’s not so simple, argued Becky Mansfield in an analysis of the debate over organic certification of fish.

“It is not possible to simply talk about relations between nature and society,” she concluded in her Sociologia Ruralis article. She illustrated how individual classification schemes are always at work, and have particular effects. “Even with the particular classification scheme expressed within the fish debate, the organic movement simultaneously articulated a wide variety of often contradictory views of nature-society.”

Reference: Organic views of nature: the debate over organic certification for aquatic animals

---

Remarkable adoption history of hybrid corn.

At the beginning of the 1930s, hybrids were still unproven and largely unavailable to farmers, according to R.C. Pratt in a recent Maydicaarticle. However, by the end of the decade “over one-half of the Ohio corn acreage would be planted using double-cross hybrids.”

According to this Ohio (USA) case study, researchers at the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station initiated pure-line selection and hybrid development in about 1919.

Reference: An historical examination of the development.

---

Growing clutter in organic terminology. 

We have added to the ACDC collection a Wall Street Journal article about “making sense of the latest organic food terminology.”

“Just when shoppers got familiar with the term ‘organic,’ a slew of alternative terms have started popping up,” said reporter Katy Mclaughlin. She cited examples of terms appearing on labels and menu descriptions at markets and restaurants: “Biodynamic.” “Local.” “Food Alliance Certified.” “Beyond organic.” The article referred interested readers to a Consumers Union website ( www.eco-labels.org ) that provides definitions and assessments of some of the new terminology.

Reference: Is your tofu biodynamic?
Archived April 19, 2005, at http://archives.foodsafetynetwork.ca/agnet-archives.htm

---

In memory of Everett Rogers.

Three obituaries that we have added to the ACDC collection recognize the contributions of Everett M. Rogers as a high-impact communications scholar with long-time rural interests.Farm-raised, he “began his education in a one-room schoolhouse and went on to earn his doctorate in 1957 from Iowa State University. Rogers ‘ 30 books – translated into 15 languages – and more than 500 articles shaped and influenced the field of communication, sociology, marketing, and political science. He is perhaps best known for his book, Diffusion of Innovations, the second most cited book in the social sciences…”The ACDC collection contains more than 100 documents that carry his name as author, dated as early as 1957. It also reflects many other aspects of his contributions, through his powerful influence on agriculture-related communications scholarship, internationally.References: UNM’s Everett Rogers was communications pioneer
Posted @ http://www.abqjournal.com/obits/profiles/248408profiles10-25-04.htm

Distinguished communication professor influenced countless lives
Posted @ http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/000359.html

---

Communicator activities approaching

May 15-21, 2005
“Globalization of information: agriculture at the crossroads.” Eleventh World
Congress of the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists and biennial conference of the U.S. Agricultural Information Network in Lexington, Kentucky USA.
Information: http://www.ca.uky.edu/aic/conf_home_2.htm

May 31- June 4, 2005
“Ideas and missions/Ideas y misiones.” Joint conferences of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE), National Extension Technology Conference (NETC), International Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT), and ExtensionVideo Producers (EVP) in San Antonio, Texas USA.
Information: http://acenetc2005.tamu.edu 

June 4-7, 2005
“Mile high energy: reaching your communications peak.” 2005 Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Denver, Colorado USA.
Information: http://www.communicators.coop

June 9-11, 2005
“Horse by Northwest.” 2005 Seminar of American Horse Publications (AHP) in Seattle, Washington USA.
Information: http://www.americanhorsepubs.org/programs/seminars/index.html

---

When you see interesting items you can’t find online or locally 

Get in touch with us at docctr@library.uiuc.edu . Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.

---

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions, and ideas for ACDC. Feel free to invite our assistance 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 electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu.

April, 2005

“Got milk?” campaign honored – as art.

“One of America’s longest-running, and most beloved, advertising campaigns” is being honored by Copia, the American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts. An exhibition began January 21 and continues through May 30 at the Center in Napa Valley, California.

This campaign from the California Milk Processor Board began in 1993. A release we added recently says it has been “licensed nationally, spawned hundreds of rip-offs and become part of the American vernacular.”

“Can you imagine other ads exhibited as art?” asks Jeff Manning, the campaign co-creator.

Reference:“Got milk?” becomes work of art
Posted at: http://www.copia.org/pages/pkgotmilk.asp

The information revolution is moving slowly in Africa,

According to the African Information Society Initiative, an action framework endorsed by African heads of state.

“Despite rapid progress in the last year, no more than 15 African countries have full access to the internet and some remain without any electronic connectivity at all.”

A report from the Panos Institute indicates that 50 percent of telephone lines are found in capital cities where only about 10 percent of Africa’s populations reside. … In over 15 countries in Africa…over 70 percent of the lines are located in the largest cities.”

Reference: ICT and telecom: rural Africa yearning for Internet.
Posted at: http://www.ipsnews.net/new_nota.asp?idnews=24742

---

 Setting the framework for debate.

We think ACDC can serve best when it helps reveal the range of views and data about topics of interest. This collection includes research-based literature about agricultural communications, but is not confined to it. It also contains commentaries, arguments, and evidence from a wide range of perspectives and interest groups. We gather these perspectives not because we hold them but because we hear them – and because we know that public decisions emerge from diverse mixes of voices.

An example: the USDA and agricultural biotechnology. Here are three recently added documents that reflect quite different “takes” on the role of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in relation to agricultural biotechnology:

Reference: “Sowing secrecy: the biotech industry, USDA, and America’s secret Pharm Belt”
Posted at: http://www.consumerfreedom.com/oped_detail.cfm/oped/146

Reference:“Food fetish: let them eat Peruvian purple potatoes.”
Posted at: http://www.consumerfreedom.com/oped_detail.cfm/oped/146

Reference: “Report: Agriculture Department ‘highjacked’ by corporate interests”
Posted at: http://www.geinfo.org/nz/092004/08.htm

---

Benefits of getting agricultural information to women.

“Targeting women in agricultural technology dissemination can have a greater impact on poverty than targeting men.” That suggestion for communicators comes from the International Food Policy Research Institute. A recent IFPRI assessment of the impact of vegetable and fishpond technologies on poverty in rural Bangladesh led to this finding:

“Untargeted technology dissemination was more likely to benefit men and better-off households. Efforts designed to reach women within poor households – such as through NGO provision of training and credit for vegetable improvement – achieved greater impacts on poverty.”

Reference: Women: still the key to food and nutrition security
Posted at: http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/ib/ib33.pdf

---

Recovering costs of country-of-origin labeling.

“An increase in aggregate consumer demand of 2% to 3% is likely sufficient to offset lost producer welfare due to COOL costs.” Researchers Jayson Lusk and John Anderson reached that conclusion through an equilibrium displacement model of the farm, wholesale and retail markets for beef, pork, and poultry.

Reference: Effects of country-of-origin labeling on meat producers and consumers

---

Communicator activities approaching

April 20-22, 2005
“Blazin’ horizons.” 2005 Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show of National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Phoenix, Arizona USA.
Information: http://www.nama.org/amc

April 29-May 2, 2005
Annual meeting of the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association in Memphis, Tennessee USA.
Information: http://www.toca.org

May 15-21, 2005
“Globalization of information: agriculture at the crossroads.” Eleventh World Congress of the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists and biennial conference of the U.S. Agricultural Information Network in Lexington, Kentucky USA.
Information: http://www.ca.uk.edu/aic/conf_home_2.htm

May 31-June 4, 2005
“Ideas and missions/Ideas y misiones.” Joint conferences of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE), National Extension Technology Conference (NETC), International Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT), and Extension Video Producers (EVP) in San Antonio, Texas USA.
Information: http://acenetc2005.tamu.edu

June 4-7, 2005
“Mile high energy: reaching your communications peak.” 2005 Institute of
the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Denver, Colorado USA.
Information: http://www.communicators.coop

June 9-11, 2005
“Horse by Northwest.” 2005 Seminar of American Horse Publications (AHP) in Seattle, Washington USA.
Information: http://www.americanhorsepubs.org/programs/seminars/index.html

---

Too many agricultural papers?

We close this issue of ACDC News with a thought from Henry Jackson Waters, president of the Kansas State Agricultural College in 1917:

“We may wonder at times if we have too many agricultural papers, but we may as well ask ourselves if we haven’t too many churches or too many schools, for the farm paper is a necessary part of the large program which these institutions are helping to carry out.”

Eighty-eight years later, his words still underline the enduring importance of agricultural periodicals and other communications tools that help people on the land improve their lives, their efforts and their life-sustaining service to others.

Reference: Preparation for editorial work on farm papers

---

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions, and ideas for ACDC. Feel free to invite our assistance 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 electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu .

April, 2005

Digital can of worms.

That is the title of an article we added recently about Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, “known as a disruptive technology in the telecommunications industry.” This less-expensive alternative to traditional telephone service is cited as presenting a host of problems for local cities and counties, including rural areas.

“Cities and counties stand to lose billions of dollars in rights-of-way and franchise fees if VoIP remains unregulated and displaces traditional telephone service. Additionally, the technology does not connect seamlessly to emergency call centers; law enforcement agencies cannot tap into it; and users do not have to pay into the Universal Service Fund USF, which subsidizes telephone service in rural areas.”

Reference: Digital can of worms
Posted @ www.americancityandcounty.com/mag/government_digital_worms/

Rural community celebrates arrival of telephone service.

Mink, Louisiana – one of the nation’s last rural areas without regular phone service – finally got connected during late January.

According to an Associated Press report, “BellSouth Corp. spent $700,000…to extend about 30 miles of cable through thick forests to Mink, about 100 miles south of Shreveport .” The community of 15 households is in the Kisatchie National Forest near the Texas line.

Reference: Tiny Louisiana community finally gets telephone service.
Posted @ http://news.lycos.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=983091

---

 Students launch new international exchange.

Agricultural communication students from Canada and the U.S. joined forces in piloting a new international exchange from February 19 to March 5. This program, reported in a recent news release, involved Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) members from the University of Guelph and the University of Florida.

“No matter which side of the border you’re on, we must communicate with each other,” said International ACT President Kim Waalderbos, referring to shared challenges facing agriculture.

Reference:Exchange program connects future leaders For more information, including daily diaries from the exchange, visit:
Posted @http://www.uoguelph.ca/~canact

---

When activists confront food companies.

A recent article in the Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics shed light on that scenario. Using a game theoretical model of sequential bargaining, researchers examined the strategic interaction between food companies and activists. They observed:

“In a rather confined set of circumstances, findings indicate it is always in the best interest of the food company to comply with activists’ demands. More frequently, however, there will be cases where compliance is not optimal…”

Reference: Activists and corporate behavior in food processing and retailing .

---

A great year for collecting documents.

We think any year is a great year for collecting information to improve agriculture-related communicating. However, 2004 seemed particularly noteworthy here. Our review of progress during 2004 revealed what may be record-breaking progress in the ACDC collection. Among the steps forward:

• The collection grew from 24,500 to 27,000 documents, roughly twice the long-term average.
• These numbers, in combination with deep subject indexing, are helping generate powerful searching opportunities for users. For example, by the end of 2004 users could identify more than 1,000 documents each about important subjects such as extension communications, food safety communications, farm journals, rural radio, agricultural advertising, usage of new information technologies in agriculture, and development-related communications.
• Our staff monitored 18 national and international conferences to identify more than 100 timely research reports.
• The Burton Swanson Collection, which we finished reviewing and processing, added more than 700 valuable documents to the ACDC database.

---

Plenty of communicator activities approaching

April 10-12, 2005
Annual meeting of the North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ) in Washington, D.C. USA.
Information: http://naaj.tamu.edu/meetings.htm >

April 19, 2005
“Spring Fling.” Professional development program of the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) in Phoenix, Arizona USA.
Information: http://www.agrelationscouncil.org/pdfs/arc-spring-fling-05.pdf

April 20-22, 2005
“Blazin’ horizons.” 2005 Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show of National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Phoenix, Arizona USA.
Information: http://www.nama.org/amc

April 29- May 2, 2005
Annual meeting of the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) in Memphis, Tennessee USA.
Information: http://www.toca.org

May 15-21, 2005
“Globalization of information: agriculture at the crossroads.” Eleventh World Congress of the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists and biennial conference of the U.S. Agricultural Information Network in Lexington, Kentucky USA.
Information: http://www.ca.uky.edu/aic/05contract.pdf

May 31- June 4, 2005
“Ideas and missions/Ideas y misiones.” Joint conferences of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE), National Extension Technology Conference (NETC), International Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) and Extension Video Producers (EVP) in San Antonio, Texas USA.
Information: http://acenetc2005.tamu.edu >

June 4-7, 2005
“Mile high energy: reaching your communications peak.” 2005 Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Denver, Colorado USA.
Information: http://www.communicators.coop

June 9-11, 2005
“Horse by Northwest.” 2005 Seminar of American Horse Publications (AHP) in Seattle , Washington USA .
Information: http://www.americanhorsepubs.org/programs/seminars/index.html

---

Ungrammatical, cheap, absurd. 

We close this issue of ACDC News with a cautionary note. It is for rural and other communicators tempted to complacency by the marvels of flinging words and images, worldwide, from centralized (often downstaffed) information centers. And it comes from a 1923 book about country journalism.

The little home paper comes to me,
As badly printed as it can be;
It’s ungrammatical, cheap, absurd,
But how I love each intimate word.

Reference:The country newspaper

---

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions, and ideas for ACDC. Feel free to invite our assistance 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 electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu .

March, 2005

The blog world – coming to agriculture. 

Evidence is apparent in recent documents about agriculture-related potentials for an emerging communications tool, the Web log. Blogs may have roots as publicly accessible personal online journals. However, we are adding reports of other uses. Examples:

• Blair L. Fannin and Edith A. Chenault, “Blogging agricultural news: a new technology to distribute news real-time.” Describes an experimental use in covering the 2004 Beef Cattle Short Course at Texas A&M University.

Posted @ http://agnews.tamu.edu/saas/2005/fannin2.pdf

• Chuck Zimmerman, “Blogging: coming to your computer now!” Zimmerman, of ZimmComm, Holts Summit, Missouri, describes in an Agri Marketing article how agri-firms and groups are using blogs to announce and cover meetings and conferences, create and distribute news releases, offer perspectives, invite feedback and serve other functions. The ZimmComm site, “Talking News Releases,” includes audio, photos and video as well as text.

Posted @ http://zimmcomm.blogspot.com

Viewing other ag-related blogs.

The web site, Globe of Weblogs www.globeofblogs.com, identifies hundreds of blogs that relate, for example, to activism in animal rights, conservation, food safety, genetic engineering, sustainable agriculture and sustainable development. These blogs, based in many countries, tend to be highly personal in approach and content.

The blog of the Center for Rural Affairs illustrates uses by an agricultural organization. Posted http://www.cfra.blogspot.com

---

 New research reports from SAAS communications scholars.

The report from Blair Fannin and Edith Chenault (above) is one of nine papers presented February 5-9 at the annual meeting of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) in Little Rock, Arkansas. Others presented to the Agricultural Communications Section:

• “Evaluating the effectiveness of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Hueco Tanks State Historic Site orientation/conservation video: a media system dependency theory perspective.” Cindy Akers, David Segrest Jr., Mark Kistler, James Smith, Chad Davis and Matt Baker, Texas Tech University.
• “Assessing agricultural communications students’ learning styles.” Dwayne Cartmell II, Melissa Majors, Marcus Ashlock and Shelly Sitton, Oklahoma State University.
• “Cognitive responses by West Texas Hispanic/Latinos to agricultural news: a comparison of four English and Spanish presentation media.” Chad Davis, Cindy Akers, Marvin Cepica, David Doerfert, Steve Fraze and David Lawver, Texas Tech University.
• “Syndicating agriculture news with RSS.” Blair Fannin, Texas A&M University.
• “It takes two: public understanding of agricultural science and agricultural scientists.” Lisa Lundy, Louisiana State University, and Amanda Ruth, Ricky Telg and Tracy Irani, University of Florida.
• “Perceptions of job satisfaction and gender roles among select Florida agricultural communication practitioners.” Rebecca McGovney and Tracy Irani, University of Florida.
• “Distance education in the agricultural communications realm: a synthesis of research.” Emily Rhoades, University of Florida.
• “Communication preferences of politically active agricultural leaders.” Ricky Telg, University of Florida.

The papers are posted @ http://agnews.tamu.edu/saas/saasproceedings.html

We also are entering them into the ACDC search system and collection.

---

“It’s time for a colossal mind shift in the local agricultural community,”

According to an executive cited in a Guelph Mercury ( Canada) article we added recently.

“We have to change this thought process in that all we are doing was feeding people,” argued Gord Surgeoner, president of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies. “Now, we’ve gone ahead and met that challenge. Now, we can look at reducing pollution, building car parts and improving health care. We have this whole new world where the basic building blocks come from plant oils and plant starches.”

Reference: Cutting a new path in farming

Posted February 1, 2005 at Food Safety Network http://archives.foodsafetynetwork.ca/agnet-archives.htm

---

Nonverbal ways of communicating with nature.

In a recent book chapter, Michelle Scollo Sawyer proposed that “across cultures there is a set of related, largely nonverbal forms of communication that people use to connect with the natural world.” Examination of several cases led her to identify five dimensions that could be added to the usual framework for analyzing communication:

• Level of activity (stillness-movement)
• Pace (slow-fast)
• Sound level (silence-noise)
• Verbal activity (nonverbal-verbal)
• Quantity of verbal activity (small-great)

Reference: Nonverbal ways of communicating with nature

---

Do viewers and readers respond differently to environment news?

Findings reported in Society and Natural Resources suggest that newspaper content about the environment may generate audience reactions different from those generated by television content.

“…those most exposed to the world as presented on television have potentially higher concern … and less tendency toward action … than those who have had less exposure. On the other hand, newspaper exposure was associated with lower concern but more action.”

Reference: Skepticism about media effects concerning the environment

---

Preserving the embrittled. 

A newly added journal article highlights a national effort to identify and preserve agricultural literature that would otherwise be lost to decay. Twenty-three states are taking part, each identifying relevant state and local literature published between 1820 and 1945. Seminal works are then microfilmed and stored to preservation standards that provide a minimum life of 500 years. The U.S. Agricultural Information Network and National Agricultural Library, USDA, developed this program supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

We would note that agricultural journalists and communicators helped create and publish much of this important literature during the 125 years.

Reference: The national preservation program for agricultural literature

---

Communicator activities approaching

April 4-5, 2005
“Beyond the mechanics: agriculture at the crossroads.” Southern RegionWorkshop of Cooperative Communicators Association in Atlanta, Georgia USA.
Information: http://www.communicators.coop

April 20-22, 2005
“Blazin’ horizons.” 2005 Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show of National Agri-Marketing Association in Phoenix, Arizona USA.
Information: http://www.nama.org/amc

May 15-21, 2005
“Globalization of information: agriculture at the crossroads.” Eleventh World Congress of the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists and biennial conference of the U.S. Agricultural Information Network in Lexington, Kentucky USA.
Information: http://www.ca.uk.edu/aic/conf_home_2.htm

---

A secret to success in life. 

We close this issue of ACDC News with a thought from Mark Twain, as quoted in Panic in the Pantry:“Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.”

---

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas for ACDC. 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 electronic form (at docctr@library.uiuc.edu )

March, 2005

A look at leaders of land-grant communications and IT units.

Kimberly L. Parker used a Competing Values Framework to analyze the leadership styles of those who manage (a) agricultural communications, (b) information technology, and (c) combined units at U.S. land-grant institutions. Among findings reported in the Journal of Extension:

• Many managers were relative newcomers to their positions.
• Two-thirds were male and one-third female, with shares of males and females equal in the agricultural communications units.
• Managers in all three types of units expressed similar views of their leadership roles.
• They most closely resembled the profile of effective managers called “conceptual producers” who work well with ideas and are particularly good at coming up with new ideas and selling them.

Title: Leadership styles of agricultural communications and information technology managers [Use title as live link to citation]
Posted at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2004february/a1.shtml

Are producers more interested in better prices than lower risks?

A recent study of how U.S. agricultural producers use market advisory services addressed that question. Joost Pennings and associates reported in the Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics:

“Risk attitude does not affect the impact of MAS (market advisory service) recommendations on producers’ decisions, suggesting producers are more interested in the price-enhancing characteristics of MAS advice than in its risk-reducing features.”

Title: The impact of market advisory service recommendations

Mrs. Cookwell – a virtual mom created from focus testing.

A mythical food safety educator, Mrs. Cookwell, “has been a big hit among consumers, especially among young adults” in Canada. Created by the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education, she is seen live on the web site www.canfightbac.org to answer questions about food handling and storage, cooking methods and other topics. She emerged through broad focus testing among 19- to 24-year-olds. They said they go to Mom for information they trust about such matters.

Reference: Internet based food safety educator
Posted @ : www.farmscape.ca/fsa_showarchive.asp?id=2337

Also creative: using donkeys to help deliver rural information electronically.

Zimbabwe’s mobile donkey-drawn electro-communication libraries got under way during 1999 and are proving popular. The Rural Libraries and Resources Development Programme helps bring new information technologies to rural and isolated communities otherwise deprived of them.

“The cart can travel over all sorts of terrain,” explains one of two reports we have added to the ACDC collection. Using solar power generated by a unit installed on the roof, it provides access to radio, television, telephone, fax, e-mail and Internet services. It might, in the future, also feature an aerial or satellite dish for a wider and clearer electro-communication system. The communities involved initiated these donkey-drawn mobile library services and “requests from other communities for similar services are overwhelming.”

References:
Title: Donkeys help provide multi-media library services
Posted @: http://www.ifla.org/v/press/pr0225-02.htm
Title: A donkey-drawn Internet centre
Posted @
http://www.africaonline.co.zw/mirror/stage/archive/990716/national19753.html

How much are consumers willing to pay for GM-related food labeling? 

Research by Wallace Huffman and associates examined this question, using a statistically based economics experiment involving U.S. adult consumers. Participants in the experimental auctions discounted foods identified by label as genetically modified by approximately 14 percent relative to their standard-labeled counterparts.

Title: Consumer willingness to pay for genetically modified food labels

Prospects for scientific communication in biotechnology.

They are not encouraging, according to Leah A. Lievrouw in a chapter of a new book. “The growth of knowledge for its own sake, or to improve the human condition, are no longer sufficient motivations for research. Today the dominant motive is the establishment of property rights in information. It has several important effects on scientific communication…”
Effects cited:

• Retreat from publication (withheld, delayed, “trivial”)
• Publication bias (of scientists with industry ties)
• Erosion of peer review
• Constraints on informal interaction and sharing of results among scientists

Reference: Biotechnology, intellectual property and the prospects of scientific communication

Some interesting and varied information requests have come our way during recent months. 

Among them:

• Role of the Extension Service in disaster-related communicating
• Farmer-writers of the 1930s and 1940s
• Identification of farm community networks
• Credibility aspects of agricultural news on television
• Whether agricultural journalists are “blindsided by their affinity with farming”
• Efforts to “market” land-grant universities
• Newspaper coverage of agricultural issues
• Farmers’ use of the Internet
• Directions in agricultural communications research
• Background of the “consulting communicator” role in extension communications
• Impact of the documentary photo project of the U.S. Farm Security Administration

Let us know whenever we can help you identify and gain access to information about communications matters on your agenda.

---

Communicator activities approaching

February 28-March 1, 2005
Midwest Region Conference of the Cooperative Communicators Association
in St. Louis, Missouri USA.
Information: Gail Miller at gmiller@growmark.com

April 4-5, 2005
“Beyond the mechanics: creativity in communications.” Southern Region
Workshop of Cooperative Communicators Association in Atlanta, Georgia USA.
Information: www.communicators.coop

May 15-21, 2005
“Globalization of information: agriculture at the crossroads.” Eleventh World Congress of the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists
and biennial conference of the U.S. Agricultural Information Network in
Lexington, Kentucky USA.
Information: http://www.ca.uky.edu/aic/conf_home_2.htm

---

Not thriving on fresh milk? 

We close this issue of ACDC News on a dairy note, offering part of a classified advertisement for the grammarians among us. It was cited in a 1908 issue of Advertisers’ Almanack:”When the baby is done drinking, it must be unscrewed and laid in a cool place under a tap. If the baby does not thrive on fresh milk, it should be boiled.”

---

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas for ACDC. 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 electronic form (at docctr@library.uiuc.edu )

Feburary, 2005

Claude Gifford contributions being processed.

We are delighted to report on recent materials from Claude Gifford, retired Director of Information and an executive in Governmental and Public Affairs with the U.S. Department of Agriculture for more than 20 years. Claude received the USDA Distinguished Service Award and other honors for his contributions. Before joining the USDA he was associate editor of Farm Journal magazine for 23 years, including responsibilities for the editorial page.

The personal collection that Claude has contributed closely matches core interests of the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. Some materials relate to his career, to farm publishing and to information services of the USDA. Others of research interest include, for example, the speeches of former U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture Earl Butz and Clifford M. Hardin. We appreciate this generous contribution and will keep you posted as materials are processed into the ACDC collection and University Archives during the months ahead.

Images of rural areas as theme parks.

“Too many city people regard rural areas as theme parks, put there to amuse us,” noted a recent commentary in Macleans (Canada). Anthony Wilson-Smith argued: “We want everything to stay the way it’s always been, but we want city-style comforts as well. Those are largely contradicting goals, so it’s no surprise that rural people often find outside intruders so invasive and annoying.”

“If we want rural Canada to flourish – and no one is opposed to that goal – a start would be a commitment on the part of various governments to give people in those regions the high-tech tools to do more jobs. ‘Life in the slow lane’ should refer to a matter of choice – and not a trip down the information highway.”

Reference: Life in the slow lane
Author: Wilson-Smith, Anthony
Posted @
http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/canada/article.jsp?content=20041129_93803_93803

On communicating to build or restore trust. 

Public and private interest groups strive for high levels of credibility and public trust. However, recent research among rural residents living near major nuclear power and hazardous waste storage facilities led authors to conclude in Environment and Behavior that achieving trust is not a “realistic goal” for environmental risk communicators.

Instead, they proposed that strategies for risk communicating should focus not on building trust but on establishing procedures and standards that the public understands and accepts.

Reference: Is trust a realistic goal for environmental risk communication?
Posted in PDF format @ http://eab.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/32/3/410.pdf
Authors: Trettin, Lillian and Musham, Catherine

Better ways to boost credibility.

Similarly to results above, a study of public perceptions of agricultural biotechnologies in Europe led researchers to conclude that “just better public relations strategies” won’t do the job. Instead, they advised institutions to:

• Admit past errors, uncertainty and lack of knowledge
• Use input from all relevant sources (not just scientific experts)
• Be transparent about how decisions are made, including explaining how different interests, risks and benefits have been balanced against each other.
• Impose heavy sanctions in cases where mismanagement or fraud is identified.
• Demonstrate that views of the public are understood, valued, respected and taken into account by decision-makers – even if they cannot all be satisfied.

Reference: Public perceptions of agricultural biotechnologies in Europe
Authors: Marris, Claire; Wynne, Brian; Simmons, Peter; and Weldon, Sue
Posted @ http://www.lancs.ac.uk/depts/ieppp/pabe/

Tightening disclosure policies about scientist authors. 

We have added to ACDC a recent “conflict of interest” example involving the journal, Environmental Health Perspectives. Merrill Goozner examined 37 scientific studies published in EHP from December 2003 through February 2004. Only two included conflict of interest disclosure statements. Goozner investigated the first and last authors involved in the other 35 studies. Findings revealed “at least three articles (8.6%) where either the first or last authors should have disclosed conflicts in accordance with the disclosure policy.”

In response, the journal has strengthened instructions to authors and established a three-year ban on publication of information from authors who willfully fail to disclose a competing financial interest. You can track some of the dialogue about this matter at:

“Study on failures to disclose conflicts of interest in Environmental Health Perspectives”
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2004/112-14/correspence.html

“Embracing scrutiny” (commentary by the editor-in-chief)
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2004/112-14/editorial.html

“Journal’s new disclosure policy praised”
http://www.cspinet.org/new/200410061.html

The extension worker’s code: a classic refresher.

Professional issues such as those above remind us of T.J. Talbert’s extension bulletin, The Extension Worker’s Code. It may be 83 years old, but it breathes an enduring freshness. Talbert was superintendent of institutes and extension schools at Kansas State Agricultural College in 1922. His concise code offers 46 ever-timely points of advice for extension workers. They range from “Study and serve the people,” “Stick to the truth” and “Forget yourself” to “Watch your bank account” and “Don’t mail that sarcastic letter.”

Let us know if you would like to see this 18-page classic and do not have local access to it.

Reference: The extension worker’s code
Posted in PDF format @ http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/historicpublications/Pubs/exbul33.pdf
Author: Talbert, T.J.

How about placing government price controls on packaged foods?

The Harris Poll® #64, September 9, 2004 invited views from a national sample of U.S. adults. Responses:

Favor 26%
Oppose 70%
Not sure 4%

Posted @ http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=493

Ag radio, never in a stronger position.

Lynn Ketelsen of Linder Farm Network, based in Minnesota, expressed that view in a recent issue of Behind the Mic. Among the reasons he cited:

• “Farmers spend more time on and in vehicles than just about any consumer of information. And farm radio is with them.”
• “No matter what the size of farmer, they want information from their farm broadcaster.”
• “Farm broadcasting has adapted to a changing farmer.”
• “Never in history has there been such interest in food, diet and health.”
• “Farm broadcasting stations and networks are stronger and more committed than ever before.”

Reference: “Ag Radio, Never In a Stronger Position”
Posted @ http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3147/is_200409/ai_n7853115

Author: Ketelsen, Lynn

Voice-recognition gremlins at work. 

• “One author was identified as being affiliated with the “Department of journalism and mask medications.”
• “One abstract about crisis communications at land-grant universities explained: “On the angry campuses. Official crisis plans are most often found at the university level…”
• “The abstract of a research paper said scholars “have advanced conceptual metaphoric ligature review.”
• “The title of one article about microcomputers referred to “OA adapters and extensions” rather than the actual “early adopters and extension.”

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas for ACDC. 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 electronic form (at docctr@library.uiuc.edu )

January, 2005

Happy New Year

And welcome to this first 2005 issue of news from the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. If you are new to ACDC News we hope you find it interesting and useful.

The ACDC collection topped the 27,000-document mark on January 3.

It keeps growing in size – and in value to professionals, teachers, researchers, students and others interested in communications, as related to agriculture, food, natural resources and rural matters, globally. The amount of such information “out there” continues to surprise, inspire and challenge us.

“Deep” subject indexing adds power to your scouting.

• Want to monitor attitudes? More than 2,400 documents provide survey results about attitudes of consumers, farmers, journalists, scientists and others regarding agricultural biotechnology, food irradiation, environment, animal rights, nutrition labeling, livestock diseases and other issues. To identify them: On the Database Search page of this ACDC web site, use a Subject search on the term “attitude”

• Interested in effective rural-urban interactions? You can identify more than 500 documents about this subject in the ACDC collection. Use a Subject search on the term “rural-urban communication
• Want updates on the information sources of farmers, extension workers, agricultural reporters and others? To identify more than 1,100 documents about that topic use a Subject search on “information sources”
• Interested in “farm journals” (more than 1,100 documents), rural “radio” (more than 1,700 documents), agriculture-related “advertising” (more than 1,800 documents), “media effectiveness” (more than 1,300 documents) or agriculture-related uses of the “Internet” (more than 500 documents)? Use Subject searches on terms within the quotation marks above.

Some recent documents in the ACDC collection are available online, in full text. However, most materials are not. If you lack local access to documents that interest you, contact us by e-mail at docctr@library.uiuc.edu and we will help. All are available here.

Following are a few samples of documents added recently to the ACDC collection:

Will agricultural e-commerce lead to greater openness and competition?

An analysis of the ornamental horticulture industry has led to a conclusion that “it is still far too early to predict.” This case study reported in a 2004 book, The ICT Revolution, examined the $7.7 billion global trade in cut flowers, foliage and plants. Authors reported that interest so far in a new business model using the present distribution chain streamlined by the Internet is “scant.” Few buyers have signed up for online auctions, they found. Arranging lines of credit, foreign exchange, and insurance at various auctions – necessary for selling online – has proven time-consuming and costly.

“If the physical chain, with its interdependency, remains dominant and e-commerce only intensified pre-existing developments in the industry, the barriers that producers in developing countries have to surmount to directly access consumers remain staggering.”

Reference: ICT revolution
Author: Cohen, Daniel

Coming scandal in organic foods.

“Look out for coming scandal in surging organic foods,” read the headline of an Advertising Age column – 34 years ago. In December 1971, columnist E.B. Weiss predicted a chain of events leading to regulations whereby “organic farms will be certified and inspected regularly. There will be regs in packaging and marketing.”

Reference: Look out for coming scandal in surging organic foods
Author: Weiss, E.B.

U.S. organic farmers are dissatisfied with the extension service. 

That message appeared in a 2003 journal article about responses to a national survey among U.S. organic farmers. Demand for organic information is growing rapidly, but organic producers (63% of whom are full-time farmers) are finding limited help from extension.

They “probably know more than the local extension advisor about the agroecology determining the success or failure of the organic system.” Authors urged extension to support on-farm experimentation, help producers monitor organic regulations, aid farmer-to-farmer interaction and test farm-based theories in scientifically rigorous settings.

PDF posted at:http://agecon.lib.umn.edu/cgi-bin/pdf_view.pl?paperid=6547&ftype=.pdf

ACDC Reference: Improving extension effectiveness for organic clients 
Authors: Lohr, Luanne

Information issues in the “deskilling” of farmers.

Anthropologists are noting concerns seldom heard in discussions about the effects of agricultural biotechnology. These concerns strike close to the interests of communicators.

“American history shows how closely agri-biotechnology can be linked to farmer deskilling,” noted Glenn Davis Stone in a Current Anthropology article. “…research is needed on how agricultural biotechnologies may already have caused deskilling and how information flow may be further impeded with genetically modified seeds.”

PDF posted at: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/research/BothSidesNow.pdf

ACDC Reference: Both sides now: fallacies in the genetic-modification wars
Author: Stone, Glenn Davis

Who’s going to pay? 

Will I have a voice? Will my data be kept confidential? These questions reflect major concerns of U.S. livestock producers about the lively topic of animal identification. Results emerged from a recent survey about the National Animal Identification System being implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state animal health agencies. Specifically, producers registered these as biggest concerns:
Funding 20 percent
Producer participation 17
Data confidentiality 15
Data collection and housing 11

Reference: Confidentiality and data housing
Posted @ http://www.animalagriculture.org/headline/2004NR/NR_NAISSurvey_Nov8.htm

Encouraging words we appreciate.

Communicator activities approaching

February 1, 2005
Deadline for electronic submissions of research papers to be presented at the
Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources,
and Life and Human Sciences (ACE), San Antonio, Texas, May 31-June 4, 2005.
Information by e-mail: david.doerfert@ttu.edu

February 5-9, 2005
Agricultural Communication Section, annual meeting of the Southern Association
of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS), Little Rock, Arkansas.
Information: www.saasinc.org

 Please let us know if you would rather not receive ACDC News.

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas for ACDC. 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 electronic form (at docctr@library.uiuc.edu )

January, 2005