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FARMERS FIND INTERNET LATEST WAY TO TALK OVER THE FENCE
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Surveys show that farmers haven't grabbed hold of the Internet to the extent that the general population has, but many in agriculture expect that to change as the benefits of linking rural farms and businesses electronically becomes more apparent.
David Petritz, associate director of Purdue University's Cooperative Extension Programs, says that the Internet is rapidly becoming an important tool for farmers, thanks in a large part to the cooperative spirit of farming. "Farm producers have always learned from each other," he says. "E-mail and chat boards are just another means of talking across the fence. The farmers will post queries on-line: 'Where did you get those slats? How do they work? How do you connect this yield monitor in an IHC combine?' "Now the coffee shop table has extended to as far as the telephone lines stretch."
In addition to which type of seed they prefer, Petritz says farmers are also now sharing favorite URLs. "Farmers are quickly learning from each other as to what works and what does not with computers and software. They are also finding the best web sites and plugging in," he says.
According to a 1997 U.S. Department of Agriculture study, 10 percent of Indiana farmers use the Internet. The survey also found that 37 percent of Indiana farmers have computers, but only 16 percent of the Hoosier farmers use their computers for their farm business.
These numbers trail the national averages. Although only 31 percent of the farmers nationally have computers in their homes, twenty percent use them on for their farm businesses, and 13 percent use the Internet.
Nationally, Internet access among farmers ranged from a low of 4 percent in Louisiana and Mississippi to a high of 31 percent in New Jersey.
Petritz says that the rapidly changing world of the Internet makes such surveys difficult to interpret. "I sense a larger proportion of farmers are using the Internet than we suspect," he says. I am not saying the survey results are incorrect, but things are changing so quickly that it can be difficult to get a snapshot of it. I suspect that the low price of computers in the past several months has lead to a sharp increase in purchases."
According to the U.S.D.A. survey, farm income seemed to have only a slight effect on Internet access among farmers in the North Central region. Twelve percent of farms with incomes of less that $10,000 had Internet access, compared to 10 percent of farms with incomes of $10,000 to $100,000, and 17 percent of farms with incomes of more than $100,000.
Also in the North Central region, 13 percent of crop farms had Internet access, while 11 percent of livestock farms had Internet access.
Because the numbers of people who are using the Internet is changing rapidly, Hubert "Buster" Dunsmore, associate professor of computer science at Purdue, says that it can be difficult to get a handle on precise numbers. "We know that worldwide we passed the 100 million users mark in December of last year," he says. "And we estimate that two- thirds of the users are here in the United States. So right now our best guess is that between 15 percent and 25 percent of the general population in the United States is using the Internet."
Petritz says that the near future farmers will find more reasons for using the Internet. "Agribusiness is increasingly using web sites for ads and information," he says. "Ask any farm wife about her least favorite job and it is likely to be sent on a parts run. What if John Deere or Caterpillar put their parts catalog on the web? All the farmer would need to do would be to check their site, find the model of the machine, locate the part that is needed, and then order the part by the Internet. Federal Express brings the part the next day, or the wife drives to town to pick the part that's waiting for her at the parts counter."
Besides changing agribusiness, the Internet is also changing how institutions such as the Cooperative Extension Service do their jobs. "The challenge for the Extension Service is to be part of the race to provide information," Petritz says. "We're working hard to see that research-based, scientifically-reviewed material is available on the Internet along with all of the hype and spin."
Sources:
David Petritz, (765) 494-8494; e-mail, [email protected]
Hubert "Buster" Dunsmore, (765) 494- 1996; e-mail, [email protected],
Internet, http://www.cs.purdue.edu/people/bxd
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