Sharing Agriculture's Story

Growing up on a farm in a largely farm-centered community, I took for granted that people generally understood agriculture. I have learned over the years that that's not the case, even among people who are surrounded daily by some of the most productive agriculture in the nation.

After letting it nag at me for years I've finally come to the realization that the only way to counter all the misconceptions about agriculture was to put forth some personal effort toward sharing the story of agriculture.

I'm taking a step in that direction today by starting a new blog on agriculture. I hope you will take a moment to check it out.

http://agricultureadvocate.blogspot.com

Dear NFL: You Are Dead To Me

Because I did not purchase $100+ tickets to see your game in person, you feel that it is wise to punish me by not letting me watch your ADVERTISING-SUPPORTED broadcast, punish your sponsors by cutting them off from a huge chunk of their potential viewers, and punish your broadcast partners by forcing them to broadcast a rerun of This Week in Needlepoint during a time slot when they would typically have a 30+ share in the market.

You follow the RIAA’s playbook like it’s a Bible, so I expect that you’ll begin suing your fans soon enough. However, you failed to jump to the final chapters where Big Music’s revenue is plummeting and it is becoming less and less relevant (See: Nine Inch Nails). When you keep chasing your consumers away, eventually they realize that there are other things to do on Sunday afternoons. Maybe it works in Detroit or New York where there really ISN’T anything else to do on Sunday afternoons, but in the civilized world that’s not the case.

Watch your mentors, the RIAA. Beating their consumers with sticks did not help to make those consumers fall back in line. It chased them away. Maybe if you get someone under the age of 72 in your front office, they will see that trying to FORCE your consumers to buy your product only works if you’re the government.

Newspapers: Take note. You are next.