While recently being interviewed by WLPR, a public radio station in Lowell, Ind., I was asked a question that set me back a bit. I was on their afternoon talk show to discuss the delay in planting and how that was impacting farmers.

At the end of the interview, the host asked me, “Why should those of us not involved in agriculture listen to your farm programs and what should we listen for?”

I think this was the first time I have ever been asked this question, and it got me thinking. It is my belief that those outside of agriculture should listen to farm radio programs and read farm newspapers. But providing some ideas on what to look and listen for is needed. Given some of the incredibly stupid things that have been said by people about agriculture in the past few weeks, this guide is sorely needed.

The first thing you need to do is adopt the proper attitude. You need to get beyond the notion that this farm stuff is not relevant to your life. As Earl Butz once said, “If you eat, you are involved in agriculture.” Agriculture impacts the food you eat, the clothes you wear, and the fuel you put in your car. How much more relevant than that can you get? Next, you have to get over the concept that this stuff is boring.

Once you understand what is happening, you will find the issues being covered by the ag press are interesting and exciting. Technology, political treachery, international tensions, sex, drugs, and natural disasters are just a few of the things you will find in the pages of Farm World or on the air at Hoosier Ag Today.

As a consumer, one of the first things you will learn about in a farm report is how your food is produced. While you may not be interested in some of the details, you will learn that farmers care a good deal about the safety of the food they produce, the quality of that food, and its nutritional value.

You will hear farmers discuss how to keep their animals disease free and how they are striving to adopt new animal care techniques into their operations. You will also hear a lot about the price of food. A farm report can give you a look ahead to what you will be paying for food at the grocery store in the near future.

In a farm report or newspaper, you will learn a lot about the three Es: energy, environment, and economy. Agriculture has a significant impact in all three of these areas. Farmers are at the heart of the renewable energy revolution; and the energy and fuel that will light our homes and power our cars in the near future will come from agricultural sources.

The environment is something that impacts us all; and the kind of environmental reporting you will hear in the farm media is much different than the doom and gloom you will hear from the regular press.

Climate change, soil and water conservation, and air quality are looked at from a much different perspective in the farm media. Likewise, the economy is something that gets a different spin when looked at from an agricultural point of view.

Perspective is one of the primary differences you will note when listening to or reading farm press. Most of the major issues of the day are dealt with, but from a different perspective than you will find in most mass media.

How today’s issues impact our food, fiber, and fuel production system is the backbone of agricultural journalism today.
So, if you like to eat food, wear clothes, and drive a car, then you have a vested interest in what could affect the industry that makes those things possible. So there you have it, a few simple reasons to tune in or log on to a farm media source and some ideas of what you might find when you do. The trick now is to encourage non-farm folks to give it a try.

This is where farm folks come in: encourage your non-farm friends to check out a farm report or give them a copy of this newspaper when you are finished with it. Then discuss with them what they learned and how they felt. It is an exercise that will open their eyes and just might open yours as well.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.