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Empowering Agriculture with the Internet
By David Walter
April 20, 2002
It has become a daily ritual for many farmers to turn on the radio at lunch to catch the noon market reports. However in the last 5 years, the Internet has revolutionized the way information is delivered, and even the daily agricultural news has been made available at your fingertips 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Today, even the smallest farmer can access up-to-the-minute market data, weather forecasts, and industry news through the Internet - for free. One of the most comprehensive information sites for today's 'wired' farmer is www.farms.com. By creating a personalized account, you can customize your page to show only the information that is relevant to you, just like subscribing to a newspaper and only asking for the stories that you want to read. In a matter of minutes, your personalized farms.com page will display for you up-to-the minute commodity market data, your local weather forecast complete with satellite maps, and the latest breaking industry news.
This site is truly an incredible resource for the agricultural industry. It also allows you to participate in live producer video auctions, have an on-line chat with other farmers, use their market risk calculators, or sign up for an electronically delivered course through 'Farms University'.
Can't find what you're looking for? Farms.com also offers a search engine dedicated to finding only agricultural information. Their 'Yahoo' like ag-specific directories makes your search even easier.
For the truly tech-savvy, farms.com also offers their market information for wireless devices - again, at no charge. Being able to access your important farm market information from your Palm Pilot or digital cell phone is a reality, and just the tip of the iceberg for information services available to the farming community.
It may surprise many to know that the information from this site is provided by DTN. That's right, the satellite service which streams data to the large producers who are able to afford this premium priced service is now available at no charge for anybody with an Internet connection. Obviously farms.com doesn't offer all of the services that DTN does, however the information that is available is amazing nonetheless.
Farms.com is a great site, and I highly recommend that you check it out, however the focus tends to be on information at a national level. To fill in the gap for local data, check out the site at www.ontariofarmer.com. This site is operated by the same folks that publish the print edition of the Ontario Farmer, and although it lacks the attractive graphical layout of farms.com, it is a great place to read news and market information specific to the Ontario agricultural industry.
Updated daily, you can read the latest news relevant to Ontario producers. You can also access local market information and commodity data, as well as peruse the classified section and business directory.
In addition, there is also a website dedicated specifically to the Oxford County Farmer. Check it out at: www.ocl.net/servicecanada/rural_gateway
For information on government agricultural data and programs, the provincial and federal governments have developed extensive on-line resources to keep you informed. If you need information on government programs, you'll find it on these sites. Surf over to http://www.agr.ca/ for the federal site, and www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA for resources provided by Queens Park.
Don't have a computer or Internet access? Feel free to drop by your local branch of the Oxford County Library where Community Access Program staff will be happy to assist you. The web is a valuable resource for the agricultural community - take advantage of it!
David Walter is a Community Access Program Web Team member operating from the Ingersoll Public Library; a branch of the Oxford County Library.
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