I had been invited to speak to some accountants and lawyers who work largely in agricultural practices, and while it was clear we wouldn’t agree on everything, I thought we’d share support for one theme that I’ve been banging away at for as long as I’ve held this position.
I showed them a list. I’ll show it to you too. It’s a list I put together with Country Guide writers and some farmers who are very plugged in.
The list could easily be longer, but includes:
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- David Kohl at Virginia Tech
- Scott Irwin, Darrell Good and Gary Schnitkey at the University of Illinois, including their FarmDoc newsletters
- Mike Duffy and William Edwards of Iowa State with their Ask an Economist
- Danny Klinefelter at Texas A&M
- Chris Hurt at Purdue
- Frayne Olson at North Dakota State
Likely, you have heard some of these names, but I encourage you to Google them all and roam their websites.
These are American ag economists in the U.S. land-grant-based university system who research and write about solutions to the real challenges facing their farmers, and strategies for seizing new opportunities. Much of their thinking applies north of the border too, and even when it might not, it is good for spurring some interesting thinking of our own.
Now, show me your Canadian list. If it has any names at all, it won’t have many.
I raise this because of the respect I have for the brainpower and training of the people who make up our Ag Ec Departments, and because I have such faith in the value of the work that they would do if they could find the funding to free themselves from their reliance on trade and policy analysis.
Clearly, when they have the opportunity, their thinking here is eye opening, empowering and invigorating.
I also say it because, as you know, I also believe the real power driving agriculture is the individual farmer, making decisions one decision at a time.
My discussion at the meeting I mentioned didn’t get far, though, and predictably, one audience member thought he had to educate me on the differences between our universities as if that would explain why we can fund weed science and soil science, but not farm management. As I say, it wasn’t my best week.
But take my challenge. Go to those websites, especially if you’re a mid-career or young farmer.
I promise to move on to other topics. In today’s agriculture, there’s no end of things to write about. But I admit I hold on to the hope that we could spend a sliver more for research and extension on farm business management the way we fund farm production. Have I been on the right path? After you check out their websites, send me a note at [email protected].
