Agriculture industry urged to make better use of internet
In the hoopla surrounding the megamergers of America Online Time Warner and EMI, there has been a frenzied interest in all things related to the internet.
The news coverage and market reaction seemed out of proportion to the real impact that the internet has on the daily lives of most of us.
I’m a guy who uses the internet a lot to get information on markets and access to reports by university and government researchers.
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But as for e-commerce, buying and selling on-line, I’m a luddite. I have barely got used to using a debit card, let alone shopping at amazon.com.
I buy my food at the local grocery store. I buy my CDs and clothing at the mall and go to the theatre to see a movie.
But in five years, who knows? Five years ago, I’d only read about the internet and now I use it daily.
So when a bunch of chief executive officers of leading edge Canadian technology companies say Canadians need to do a better job of exploiting the business opportunities on the internet, as they did last week, maybe we should listen.
Lots of farmers are already on-line. Most use it to get market information.
But more attention must be given to sending out information, particularly about the products and services prairie farmers have to offer.
I recently heard of a group of American ranchers that is using the internet to market branded, top quality fresh beef directly to customers anywhere that a courier company delivers.
You order steak on Thursday and it arrives at your house Friday in time for the supper barbecue.
The only problem the ranchers have encountered is getting enough cattle to meet demand.
Surely, there are similar opportunities for enterprising Canadian farmers, perhaps in specialty meats, honey, prairie fruits and herbs.
However, when the internet gurus pontificate about the net, they are usually talking from the vantage point of an urbanite with access to cable or high-speed phone connections. Rural people don’t have access to this technology.
Also, the time and financial commitment to maintain a quality website offering goods for sale is probably beyond a single family’s resources.
The solution to exploiting this marketplace of the future might be good old-fashioned prairie co-operation.
Groups of producers could band together to create a company or co-op that would run a website from a larger centre with good communications access and people skilled in web service design.
