Influences in Agribusiness

Unit 1: Agribusiness in Today’s Agriculture Industry

Lesson: AT2

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Objectives

Lesson Objective:

• After completing the lesson on influences in agribusiness, students will demonstrate their ability to apply the concept in real-world situations by obtaining a minimum score of 80% on an Agricultural Issues Portfolio.

Enabling Objectives:

1. Outline government’s role in and impact of the agriculture industry, its involvement in agribusiness, and its effect on agricultural prices.

2. Explore government agencies involved with agriculture and their effects on agriculturalists and issues in agriculture.

3. Identify current issues in agriculture and locate ways to educate yourself and others on these issues.

4. Define advocate, identify specific ways to advocate for agriculture, develop agriculture related Facebook status updates, craft a letter to the editor, and role play a conversation with an individual opposing a specific agricultural issue.

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Key Terms

• Advocate

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HAVE YOU DONE YOUR PART?

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WHY DOES THE GOVERNMENT NEED TO BE INVOLVED IN AGRICULTURE?

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Government’s Involvement in Agriculture

• Ensure safety of the food supply• Ensure adequate food supply through programs that expand

agriculture production – Irrigation projects– Research– Extension services

• Increase export earnings• Use exports as part of foreign policy• Protect the environment and ensure the capacity of agriculture to

produce in the future – Soil conservation programs– Water conservation– Preservation of prime farmland

• Support farm income

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Government Storage Programs

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HOW DOES THIS INVOLVEMENT IMPACT THE AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY?

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Government’s Impact on Agriculture Industry

• Food safety policies have positive and negative effects – banning certain herbicides and insecticides has decreased production due

to loss of crop to weeds and insects– sanitation and waste regulations have improved food safety but has

increased production costs and agriculture commodity costs– many small producers have been forced out of agriculture production

• Policies to expand food supply have increased productivity• Conservation programs have a positive impact on the environment• Exports have increased, generating more profits for the agriculture

industry• Storage programs to control price help producers during times of high

production– encouraged producers to depend on government intervention to correct

the market rather than make changes themselves to meet the demands of competition

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WHAT EFFECT DOES THIS INVOLVEMENT HAVE ON AGRICULTURAL PRICES?

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Government Effect on Agricultural Prices

• Direct price controls – control food supply and prices in times of military conflict– used in peacetime when there was high inflation and decline in wages

• Export restrictions – increase food supply and lower domestic prices

• Reducing import restrictions – increase food supply and lower prices by allowing more products to be

imported• Domestic grain reserves

– inflation-fighting tool– if grain prices are too high, government will release some of the

reserves to increase the supply and lower price– if prices are too low, government can increase the price by increasing

reserves

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Effect of Price Controls

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Examples of Government Agency

• Soil and Water Conservation District

• Natural Resource District

• USDA Rural Development

• County and State Extension

• Missouri Agriculture and Small Business Development Authority

• Industry Check Off Programs

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Agricultural Issues

Natural Resources/Environment/Conservation

• Clean air • Clean water• EPA• On farm applications

Consumer Issues

• Food safety• Hormones• Organics

Energy & Inputs

• Renewable and traditional • Use of energy• Ag as a source of energy• Use of fertilizer and chemicals

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Agricultural Issues

Farm Policy/Row Crop Production

• Crop insurance• Conservation practices and programs• Farm bill

Animal Agriculture

• Animal rights• Animal welfare• Use of pharmaceuticals

Rural Development

• Beginning farmer programs• Health care tax policy• Farm to market• Small business incubation• Farm to school• Specialty crops/organic

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Resources for Agricultural Issues

• Industry topics—– Production related: environment, welfare, food safety, beef nutrition, “pasture to

plate” messaging– Food related: Recipes, cooking techniques, food handling guidelines– Specific Industry Updates: Beef, pork, dairy, etc– Industry Websites on Social Media – Humane Watch: National “watch dog” over HSUS

• http://humanewatch.org/

• Government —– Senate and House Agriculture Committee Websites  – USDA Newsfeed – EPA Newsfeed  – THOMAS: Library of Congress bill look-up

• http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php

– State Government Websites

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Resources for Agricultural Issues

• Blogs—– Troy & Stacy Hadrick: Advocates for Agriculture

• http://advocatesforag.blogspot.com/

– Ray Prock: Ray Lin Dairy• www.Raylindairy.wordpress.com

– Debbie Lyons-Blythe: Life on a cattle ranch• http://kansascattleranch.blogspot.com/

– Jeff Fowle: California cattle rancher• http://commonsenseagriculture.com/ 

• Daily Industry News Updates—– http://www.feedstuffsfoodlink.com/– http://www.meatingplace.com/– http://www.cattlenetwork.com– http://www.porknetwork.com/– http://beefmagazine.com/

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Resources for Agricultural Issues

Answers to Common Questions—• Farm Facts

– http://www.explorebeef.org/– http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Missouri/Publications/Farm_Facts/– http://www.moagriculture.com/mo-ag-facts/

•  Health Facts– http://beefnutrition.org/– http://www.porkandhealth.org/

•  Cooking Tips, Recipes, Handling – http://www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com/– http://www.porkbeinspired.com/index.aspx– http://www.midwestdairy.com/– http://missouribeefcouncil.com/

Knowing the Other Side—

• Natural Resource Defense Council: http://www.nrdc.org/

• Environmental Working Group: http://www.ewg.org/

• HSUS: http://www.humanesociety.org/

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Advocate

• A person who serves as a supporter or defendant of a person or specific cause

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Advocating for Agriculture

• Facebook

• Twitter

• YouTube videos

• Blogs

• Radio, TV, Newspapers

• Letter to the Editor

• Speak to organizations

• Host an event

• Ag in the classroom

• Hand out materials on campus

• Signs on campus

• In class

• Commenting on online stories

• Legislative visits

• Letters to legislators

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Advocating on Facebook

• Status updates

• Links

• Groups

• Events

• Pictures

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Status Updates

• Do not whine

• Try to be funny

• Do not boast. Instead, laugh at yourself

• Do not go with the trend

• Be original and unique

• Reciting what other famous people said will bore the other not-so-famous people; i.e., your friends.

• Avoid, as much as possible, the use of big English words unless you are trying to be funny

• Keep it short

• Do not be too frequent

• Timing

• And at last, REPLY

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Other Ways to Use Facebook

• Share links

– Videos, news articles, studies, blogs, photos of ag-related items

• Get information

– Watch groups and fan pages for what is going on in the industry

• Inspiration

– Connect with others who are passionate about ag and lean on each other when you need motivation or a reminder to keep spreading the word

• Share your own photos

– Include personal captions with photos, identify what is being done, the process for how something works, etc.

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Submitting a Letter to the Editor

• Word count

– Most newspapers want less than 150 words.

• Customize your letter for each paper

– Newspapers are more likely to run authentic letters.

• Contact the paper to ask how they prefer to receive your letter

– Most prefer e-mail if available. Call to ask!

• Include your full name, farm or ranch name (if applicable), mailing address, and phone number

– The newspaper might call to verify you wrote the letter. Your contact info will not be printed.

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Face-To-Face Tips to Follow

• Listen first…then talk (80/20 rule) – Ask probing questions

• Why do you feel that way? Where did you hear that?

– Find out as much as you can about them – Where did they grow up?

• How far removed from the farm? Do they have kids,

pets, etc.?

• Connect– Find common ground/shared values – What do they care about?– What questions do they have about their

food? – Recognize and respect differences – Don’t get personal or argumentative– Remember that others may be listening!

• Share– Acknowledge their viewpoint and ask if they would be open to hearing yours– Share your personal story

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Conclusion

• Government has become involved in agriculture for a variety of reasons, and its policies have a great impact on the agriculture industry. Price controls instituted by the government in response to a need to stabilize the U.S. economy or to control food prices are a very important type of government intervention.

• Government agencies are available to agriculturalists to provide valuable services to them and their business.

• As we as agriculturalists continually face issues in agriculture, it is important for us to be proactive in advocating for our industry. Everyone needs to do their part and not expect others to do it for them.

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Exit Card

• What did you learn today about influences in agribusiness?

• What questions do you still have about influences in agribusiness?

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AGRICULTURAL ISSUES PORTFOLIO

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Cover Page •Include: title of issue, author of portfolio, and date

Issue Summary•A maximum of two pages of the portfolio will include a summary of the issue; answer the questions that are most relevant to your topic:•Why is the issue important now? What is the nature of the issue? Who is involved in the issue? How can the issue be defined? What is the historical background of the issue? What caused the issue? What are the risks? What are the benefits? Is there strong disagreement on the issue?

Government’s Role/Impact on this Issue

•A maximum of two pages of the portfolio will be used to define the government’s role in, or impact on, this issue. This could include government regulations put in place, special allowances, restrictions on price, etc. Recall the section of this lesson on the government to assist in this portion of the portfolio. If the government has not yet stepped in, hypothesize what its involvement would do for or against this issue.

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Cooperating Agencies Involved •A maximum of two pages of the portfolio will be used to identify cooperating agencies involved with this issue. Be sure to define their level of involvement and the effects, positive or negative, of their involvement. If a cooperating agency is not involved, identify two or three organizations that could get involved and what you believe their impact would be for this issue.

Agriculture Advocacy •A maximum of two pages of the portfolio will be used to examine what we as agriculturalists can do to advocate for this issue. Give specific examples of what could be done at the local, area, state, and national levels and by whom it should be done.

Bibliography •A bibliography of all resources and references cited which may include personal interviews and any other supporting material will conclude the portfolio.