聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 How producers build their knowledge base has certainly changed in recent years.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 When you have been a journalist as long as I have been, and have been following agriculture as part of your career, then you will have attended literally dozens of meetings designed to inform producers.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Over the years those meetings have ranged from the potential of lupins and sea buckthorn to the community potential to large scale mushroom farms, to what is coming down the pipe in terms of canola varieties and oat markets.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But the number of meetings on the agenda each year is certainly in decline.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 not a case where there is nothing new to tell farmers about. The use of robotic machinery, field mapping with aerial drones, new crops such as camelina, herbicide resistant weeds and changing markets are just some of the current areas where there is always new information 小蓝视频 released.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The difference today is that a town hall meeting is falling out of favour.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 There are several logical reasons for that, including producer time, the cost of touring expertise, weather threats to attendance in winter, and facility costs. Those are not new concerns, but today there is an alternative.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Farm producers, like most of us, have become much more comfortable using the computer, the notebook, and the cellphone. These devices open the door to knowledge at your fingertips.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And it can be information specific to a particular interest.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 To borrow from my own world, I am a huge fan of the Canadian Football League, but coverage in terms of news and league talk on even Canadian sports television is limited.
But tune into the Internet and search out CFL podcasts and you find shows such as The Waggle, 2 and Out and For Your EarBalls.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 There is a new Major League Rugby loop launching in 2018. I love rugby, and the podcast Earful of Dirt has already begun providing insight into the new league.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Name your interest, and you are likely to find podcasts which fill the niche in terms of information.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And it goes farther as well.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Today, for farm producers there are numerous online options to gather information primarily at their own convenience. They can tune in over coffee in the morning, while out swathing a crop, or driving down the highway with a load of grain. You see farm organizations moving their educational programs to the 鈥楴et as well.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Every once in a while I get a message coming across Facebook advertising a webinar hosted by the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers. This year such webinars have included Scouting for Disease in Pulse Crops, Soybean Agronomy, and Nutrient Requirements and Contribution of Pulse Crops. Such events are specific to the pulse producer, and specific to certain aspects of the broader pulse sector. Farmers don鈥檛 need to drive to Saskatoon for such events, but can sit at home and learn.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Certainly webinars, podcasts and other Internet-based programs are the future of farm producer information dissemination.聽
