Are these productive communities or center pivots pouring out information and drowning people?

An article caught my eye yesterday. Funny thing is, I can’t remember if it was on Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin. I don’t remember a picture, so I know it wasn’t on Pinterest. And there wasn’t a technology geek involved, so it wasn’t Google+. Seems to be the way it goes these days as information comes at us through center pivots (a volume that’s worthy of multiple fire hoses, for my non-farm readers). We don’t always remember where information came from or who sent it – only that we have it and should do something with it.

“Why social media is dead” is the headline that caught my attention, which pointed to this article on social business. In reviewing the transition from the early days digital to our social world, the author manages to capture the future. And I believe he’s dead on (pun intended).

Just in case you’re distracted by a tweet or decide to pin this and forget to click on the link, I’ll paraphrase. “Social media networks now drive much of the Web’s traffic as billions of people share links and opinions about the world around them. As a result of all of this activity—huge amounts of data or “social data” is currently flooding the current global digital ecosystem.”

Do you feel flooded? I know I do. I talk to people everyday who are swimming in information with no life vest in sight. It’s no wonder why when you look at what happens each day on the internet:

• 294 billion emails are sent
• Enough information is consumed to fill 168 million DVDs
• 2 million blog posts are written (enough posts to fill TIME magazine for 770 million years)
• 864,000 videos are uploaded to YouTube
• More than 35 million apps are downloaded

Who can keep up? All of this comes from The Social Skinny, which distracted me from my intended work for hours yesterday. Why? Contemplating the the state of social – and what it means for conversations around food and farming.

• 66% of online adults are connected to one or more social media platform.
• There are more Facebook users than cars (800 million vs 750 million) – and it’s the most visited website.
• Twitter accounts for approx 3.61% of referral traffic and is adding about one million new accounts daily.
• Pinterest is retaining and engaging users2-3x better than Twitter was at a similar time in Twitter company history. There’s about 10.5 million people with virtual bulletin boards, 20% of which are men (yes, I’ll be writing about agvocacy on Pinterest soon).
• Social commerce sales are expected to reach $30 billion in five years.
• 57% of people talk to people more online than they do in real life.

credit - socialware.com

As the “social media is dead” post points out – this sets the stage for an era that’s already begun, but is still in it’s infancy. Most ag organizations are still trying to figure out social media, the realities of communications turned upside down and how to talk with their customers in social media (ironically, the same as you do in real life or on the phone). Case in point: 70% of businesses ignore complaints on Twitter, yet 630 million people are expected to have smartphones in 2012 where they can instantaneously provide feedback when they’re thrilled or unhappy. That spells a disconnect to me.

Whether you’re ready or not, social business has been birthed. Those organizations – including all of us in agriculture, food, nutrition, farming and ranching – who can form connections to the benefit of our stakeholders – will be the ones shaping this new era. Social businesses will have the ability to interpret and act upon the information for their communities. In other words, they’ll be strategically laying pipe, using the latest technology to manage the center pivot and directing information exactly where it’s needed for the community to grow. Sounds like a fun challenge, don’t you think?

Are you familiar with cow couture? Most aren’t, but I’ve had a firsthand look at it over the last couple of weeks. The fine fashion the cows are wearing is their own leather and hair, styled in a special way. The spa tools include clippers, curry comb and pressure washer. The runway comes on classification day.

The "before" picture of a first calf heifer in need of clipping.

If you happen to be a purebred dairy person, you know the work that goes into classification. Now I’ll explain it to the 99% of people who are wondering. I’ll begin with the end – classification. Classification is one of the ways registered breeders evaluate the success of their breeding program. In simple terms, cows are scored Excellent, Very Good, Good Plus, Good or Poor based upon how pretty they are. Yes, you read that correctly – cows are graded based upon their looks.

Classification is not a beauty pageant; there is a very detailed scorecard used to “score” a cow. Udder is 40% (that’s were your ice cream originates), dairy strength is 20% (think feminine power & being in shape) front end & capacity (how nicely they blend together & room for their organs), feet & legs is 15% and rump is 5%. The goal is to have a healthy cow that gives plenty of milk in an udder that will last. Cows with solid frames, well attached udders and properly structured legs are more comfortable, healthy and last longer.

We get the cows ready for classification by washing and clipping them. This does not involve any cruel treatment; the clippers are pretty much like those you see in the barber shop. We clip the hair off of the cows to help show off their assets and blend in any faults. It’s a bit of a learned art to do all the blending. I’m proud that our little girl seems to love clipping and is getting lots of practice before she’s in 4-H. Just for perspective on this photo – she’s working on an animal about 15x her size.

The animals are put in a chute that some animal rightists may try to make look like a torture chamber. Truth is, chutes keep the animals calm and safe – not to mention the humans. Case in point, I tried to clip an older cow outside of the chute and she “let fly” right at me. She stood perfectly still once in the chute. She had been handled a lot, but didn’t like the sound of the clippers. when cows don’t like what you’re doing, they kick and shove.

Cows also like to get manure wherever they can, which is especially lovely when they’ve been enjoying lush spring pastures. This means I had a few cows shoot green poo onto me (usually while they were shoving me around), adding to the itchy hair clippings that covered me from head to toe. So we wash them to get their hair to lay down prettily, but we stop short of adding perfume.

An udder that has been clipped and is couture.

All of this in the hopes getting another point or two so that a cow can be Very Good or Excellent with a bit of luck. The greater number of higher scored cows, the better the next generation of cattle will be.

If you happen to see a blonde in a suit on a plane picking manure out from her fingernails, you’ll know it might be cow spa day. There are many different aspects of farming; this happens to be one of my favorites. As a mom, I’m thrilled to pass on a passion for animal care. As a Holstein fanatic, it’s fun to help a cow look her best.  As a food buyer, it’s a good reminder that people who spend this amount of time with their hands on the animals, they don’t do the nasty acts sensationalized by animal rights activists.  An inside look is a real look – manure and all.

guest post by Katie Caputo Serbinski MS, RD

For the past year and a half, my professional path as a registered dietitian (RD) took an unexpected turn when I started working in an area of dietetics practice that is not seen as the “norm” among health professionals. While most of my nutrition colleagues are admirably working in clinical and food service settings, I turned to agriculture. As a city-girl native to Metro Detroit, I’ll be the first to admit my experience with agriculture was lacking. I did live in an animal-friendly environment, as my father is a veterinarian. By no means did I have the first clue about large-scale food production, let alone the role agriculture plays in our society. Read More »

Figuring out what to say in a toast can be awkward. Should it be a sweet and syrupy, a roast filled with humor or dramatic stories? The same questions arise as I ponder how to celebrate the second anniversary of the AgChat Foundation and corresponding third birthday of the weekly conversations, AgChat & FoodChat. Should I offer funny stories of antics that have happened with conference preparations, roast the people who have done great things (and not so great things) or write about the drama of how someone’s tweet saved the world? By the way, if you have no idea what this AgChat thing is, see http://agchat.org.

I’ll simply raise my glass with a “Salute” or “Cheers” for the many wonderful people who have contributed to the community. That is, after all, what it’s about – not any one person, but the collective contribution of people working together. And I’m thankful to be a part of that movement. But I give the most gratitude for the community who makes it run. After all, the Foundation was started on the concept of helping people in agriculture better use social media to share our story – and the inspiration for the weekly chat was an agriculture working together, talking and reaching out. 15,000 plus people later, I hope some of that has been accomplished.

Rather than elaborate about accomplishments, I’d like to offer words that have been meaningful to me since I found them in an Apple print ad as a freshman at Michigan State – and still hang in my office today. I offer them as a challenge to each person involved in farm and food.

If there were ever a time to dare, to make a difference,

to embark on something worth doing, it is now.

Not for any grand cause, necessarily, but for something that tugs at your heart,

Something that is your aspiration,

Something that is your dream.

You owe it to yourself to make your days here count.

Have fun.

Dig Deep.

Stretch.

Dream big.

Know, though, that things worth doing seldom come easy.

There will be good days. And there will be bad days.

There will be times that you want to turn around, pack it up and call it quits.

Those times tell you that you are pushing yourself, that you are not afraid to learn by trying.

Persist.

Because with an idea, determination,

and the right tools, you can do great things.

Let your instincts, your intellect and your heart guide you.

Trust.

Believe in the incredible power of the human mind…

of doing something that makes a difference.

of working hard.

of laughing and hoping.

of lazy afternoons.

of lasting friends.

of all the things that will cross your path this year.

The start of something new brings the hope of something great.

Anything is possible.

There is only one you.

And you will pass this way only once.

Do it right.

Are you sure your dreaming big enough about food & agriculture’s tomorrow?

Perhaps it was my recent time speaking at Michigan State and walking the halls of my alma mater that brought on this rant. Or maybe it’s constant exposure at airports to news that relies or sensationalism and fear. Then again, it could have been this excellent blog post by a former L.A. Times journalist that points to sloppy science and sloppier reporting.

What the heck has happened to our country? Mainstream media, apparently in a quest to retain their business models of yesteryear, finds the worst possible angle of any story in an attempt to attract readers/viewers/listeners. It seemingly doesn’t matter if there’s only one source, if it’s blatant opinion piece by a reporter (once seen on the op ed page) or if the “study” behind a story is valid – as long as they have “news” to get people worked up. Read More »