STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann

               
 UNL Extension Educator,
Webster County
 February 1, 2013 Edition

 Before I ever knew there were formulas and that you could actually solve for X in algebra, I had heard the famous formula presented by Einstein, even though I had no idea what it meant, and certainly still could not accurately describe what it entails today… E=MC².  I know, that is a rather strange way of introducing what I am going to talk about this week, but I think you will see the correlation. Let me introduce you to a new concept and web site that I think is an incredible idea and a perfect tool for we in agriculture who understand that the most striking issues facing modern agriculture is the disconnect between those who are producing goods and services and those who are consuming.
     I am sure that I have written in past columns that less than 2 percent of the U.S. population is involved in agriculture. Regardless of that fact, American farmers feed not only those in the United States, but others across the globe. They produce enough food and fiber for their own family and 155 more. That should not be lost on our society, but I am afraid it has. There is a troubling trend that has begun to infiltrate the world of agriculture, ignorance of the processes that are used to produce safe, reliable food while being a good steward of the environment. The fact is that the 98 percent of Americans who aren’t in agriculture are hungry for information about where their food is coming from, but there aren’t many options for them that bridge the gap between agriculture and the average lay person. That makes it easy for those detractors for agriculture and those that have agendas that don’t match ours in agriculture to spread myths and misconceptions that do not put much of agriculture in a good light. To put it bluntly, ag literacy is missing, and it is even in small town Nebraska.
    It seems that the negative stuff hits us daily from attacks from animal rights groups, environmental groups, special interest groups and even media whose only real intent is to sensationalize as they know that it sells and improves their viewer rate or subscription numbers.  They don’t care if it is true or not. Now that leads me to E=MC².  It really doesn’t have anything to do with the speed of light, but instead a vision by Mitch Counce, CEO of ServiTech, who awoke at 3 a.m. and jotted four words down almost a half dozen times. The room was still dark, and he wanted to make sure that whatever he was writing was committed to paper before he went back to sleep. The next day he awoke to see what he had written - "Making the Planet More Productive. The result of this vision is a new web site called MP 2. Now I suggest you go to your computer, if you have one, and type in: http://www.mp2.ag/   If you haven’t guessed so by now this web site is in reference to (M)aking the (P)lanet (M)ore (P)roductive, or (MP 2). It's something that everyone within agriculture strives for - a way to make the planet more productive. I have been advocating the need for better communication about what we do, and this may be the tool. This creative site was launched earlier this month, and serves several purposes. Let’s take a closer look.
     First, it’s an agricultural news hub. Up-to-date news feeds from more than two dozen agricultural news organizations are automatically pushed onto the mp2.ag home page. Take a look at the front page, which is a constantly-updated feed of agricultural news from all around the world, pulled from over two dozen news sources across the web. Instead of scouring the Internet for the most recent ag news, users just have to visit one page and get a quick overview of everything going on. 
     Secondly, it’s an education tool. The tabs across the top of the site link to pages about different areas of agriculture. This helps consumers get a better understanding of what exactly their food is and how it’s produced. The MP2 goal of reaching people inside and outside of agriculture is of importance to me. We are getting to the point that we are 2, 3 and even 4 generations removed from the farm and there is a growing ignorance of where our food comes from, and that has created the young person that says, ‘We don’t need milk cows, we have grocery stores.”  Or, “All our food comes from Hy-Vee!” That lack of understanding often causes problems when it comes to food safety issues as well as in the halls of Congress. I welcome this endeavor as it is one more tool that we can use to educate the American consumer.
     Let’s face it! Publicity does not come easy for people who are more focused on bushels per acre or pounds per day than explaining the process. Farmers and ranchers tend to stay in the background, and for a long time, felt that they did not want to share their secrets. Those days have passed, the time for agriculture to tell its story goes beyond traditional marketing and into dispelling misinformation for the future of the industry. There are countless similar stories out there in agriculture, and they’re stories that absolutely have to be told if we want to retain our livelihood. All areas of agriculture, organic and traditional, need to put their differences aside and come together united in the knowledge that we’re working toward the same goal — providing a safe and reliable source for food, fiber, and energy. MP2 helps do that for us. MP2 wants everyone to be able to ask the burning questions about agriculture, like: How does it happen? How does your food make it from the field to the fork? How about the ethics of eating meat? MP2 is there to help answer questions, and have enlisted bloggers who have expertise in a specific area of agriculture or the food process to accomplish that task.
     The goal of MP² is to help foster a conversation about modern agriculture and the impact it has on everyone's lives - from energy and the environment to food and fiber. The conversation between the 1.5% that produces our food and fiber and the 98% that consumes them hasn't really been a conversation. This new website aims to change that and affords a conversation with consumers and others who are concerned about agriculture, and my hat is off to them.  Thank you MP2! 

The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at:http://www.webster.unl.edu/home