Wrappin' It All Up

Well, it's now to wrap up the school year. Summer is now fast approaching and it couldn't be coming at a better time!

First and foremost I want to say that I have really enjoyed this year. I have especially enjoyed my agricultural communications class. I have come away with a better look on the ag world. I have a lot of cool facts about the different industries. I have also learned some of the nitty gritty facts about the agricultural communications industry. One that I want to share- DO NOT use agricultural communications and agricultural journalism as the same! I think my teacher has definitely made that one clear!

This class has made me even more excited to pursue my career in agriculture!

Flooding= No Bueno

The Mississippi River's flooding is not coming with cheers from the agriculture industry. The flooding is affecting trucking firms, shippers, and farmers/growers. Yes, we are in California so why should you care. But start caring NOW! 

Here's why you need to care. The floods have caused major closures and detours on the freeways and highways. This means fresh produce getting to us late. It will also drive the price up of that fresh produce. 

So what fresh produce will we maybe see less of? The two big crops from the area are corn and rice. Only 1% of the summer corn crops have been planted in Mississippi. Thanks to the flooding there will be late planting in all the affected states. The flooding has affected about 900, 000 acres of farmland! 

Sadly, everything will not return to normally after the water recedes. When farmland is affected by flooding, the nutrients and soil is destroyed. The flooding takes away the nutrients and the top soil that farmers need to grow successful crops. 

So when you go to buy some fresh corn in the up coming days, think about where it came from. It didn't have to come from Mississippi, but if it did I'm sure the price is going to be pretty high! 

P.S. For all you music junkies (like me), the music landmarks in Nashville and Memphis haven't been affected. 

Crisis Communication

So being I am an Agricultural Communications major, I'm going to blog about some poor communication skills of a cattle ranch.

Basically, a cattle ranch was mistreating calves and they weren't being properly euthanized. A video was taken of these acts, which made its way to the internet for the rest of the world to see and know. The owner of the ranch was oblivious to what was going on. But bad move on his part, he never released a comment about the situation.

So what should he have done in that situation? Hide under the bed like a baby? No. He needed to address the public and apologize for the workers' actions. He needed to explained that he was unaware of it. Also the owner needed to mention the future measures he's going to take so it won't happen again.

If the owner was to do all this effectively and in a timely manner, he could have avoided some negative media. He still is going to have it, but by addressing the situation correctly, he can quickly put out some of the fires.