Opinion: Technofarmers Rule
October 10, 2012 
Perhaps the biggest misconception about farming is that it is somehow backward. Those in it know that nothing could be further from the truth, yet I hear it all the time. Recently I was reading about why more young people don’t get involved in agriculture, and that was one of the most common responses. From middle-schoolers on up, many kids think ag is uncool.
What’s strange about it is that when it comes to technology, if anything, farmers are the early adopters. Back in the 1990s, the only guys I knew with cellular phones — other than spies and other international men of mystery appearing in movies — were growers. Heck, the Motorola bag phone was darn near ubiquitous in the white pickup trucks rolling across the fields here in California. In fact, I know a lot of you still talk of the bag phones fondly, though I’m not really clear as to why.
Then, as cell phones began to shrink to the point where they could be holstered on a belt, a new look developed: the technocowboy. Though instead of a six-shooter on each hip, your average ranch manager would whip out a Nextel radio in one hand, a cell phone in the other. The former was to talk with his boss, the latter for his real boss, his wife.
Modern Field Scouting
Today farmers continue to ride the information wave. I heard on the radio recently about a farmer in the Midwest who used to check on other farmers’ fields by calling up online billboards. Today, he takes advantage of the faster technology — and he needs it, what with the horrendous drought that hit the area this summer — by checking his Twitter feed. The corn and soybean farmer added that besides getting up-to-date drought information, there are Twitter tags like #drought12 serving as a kind of online support group for those watching their crops wither.
Because many in agriculture have been leaders when it comes to technology, I was probably not as surprised as most to learn that in the developing world — where agriculture is a more common occupation — cell phone usage is more prevalent than it is in developed nations. According to Forbes magazine, 96% of people in Indonesia use mobile phones, and 89% of those in Kenya text. Most of the information being shared has focused on sending pricing information to farmers about going market rates, as well as disease and weather data that is so valuable in deciding on spraying and harvesting crops.
It’s a shame more young people in the U.S. — bright young people who could be an asset to ag — don’t know about this high-tech aspect. But they won’t know if someone like you doesn’t tell them, so think about visiting a high school and revealing the rest of the story. If so, they might view agriculture as, dare I say it, cool.
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