Online Recommendation: Prairie Crop Producers

I have been in the media planning and buying business since 1985, figuring out the best platforms to reach a variety of consumer and business target groups, at the right reach and frequency, using the most cost-efficient approach. Over the last number of years I have devoted my energies exclusively to the agriculture sector. I love the ag business, and I love agri-marketing. However I have also come across a number of people in the industry that believe they know the best media solution for their clients, from a mix of business experience, relationships, and their own media habits and that of their peers.

Rather than run in a direction because of my personal bias, I have been a passionate advocate of data: research it, report all the findings, and if it helps to paint a picture, offer some possible insight based on experience. I understand that the data can be somewhat outdated, but the focus therefore should be to get more timely data - to assume on a trend is dangerous. Case in point, I remember when we went from three channels to twelve on basic cable and the agency world cried "fragmentation", and the TV media was on its way out. Here 25 years later, I can still reach 80% of the farmers I want in almost any given area by buying two TV stations.

I use this same approach as I look at how computers, the internet and finally social media has worked its way into the lives of Western Canadian Crop Producers.

First of all, we must get a demographic picture of the Canadian Farmer. StatsCan 2006 is getting pretty old, but the beauty of the study is that it is not by sample - Every farmer participates. StatsCan 06 also shows that the Canadain farmer is pretty old, too. Very few farmers (under 10%) are under age 35, and over 40% are over age 55. The average age of the farmer in the prairies is now over 50 years of age, and that average has increased by 2.5 years since 2001. Farm Succession is a real problem in Canada, and not a lot of new young farmers are entering the market. Furthermore, unlike us city folk that look forward to Freedom 55, the farmer loves his profession and will not retire until he is physically unable to perform the tasks. It is not unusual to still be actively farming until one is in his late 70s.

StatsCan 2006 reported the following penetration levels: 45.5% use a computer for business. 34.7% have internet access. 32.3% have email. Compared to the 2001 survey, the numbers have grown, but not exponentially (they were in the 23-30% range in '01).

To us urbanites living in the city, the computer and internet access has been a part of our daily lives as long as we can remember. It is difficult to believe. Yet the data is public domain, anyone can access it.

Other data, more recent, shows significantly higher levels of penetration, but the sample is qualified to have a minimum size of farming operation. And the newer data also shows that dial-up access is still in the majority.

We are now living in 2009, and many of us are looking forward to marketing plans for 2010. High-speed has become more and more available rurally. Logically (and supported in the ag press) that a producer is doing himself a disservice if he isn't at least accessible by email and checking weather and markets online. It has become an indispensible business tool. The point is twofold: one, that the internet as a business tool is still relatively new for the majority of producers. Second, the market is primarily men aged 45 and over, which are late adopters of technology, linear thinkers, and as a group don't see the benefits of being connected with social media.

Straight business applications for your ag product, such as a clean website with good SEO, and targeted paid search, are great ways to get on the shopping list with a producer. But I caution against spending marketing budgets on social media applications at this time. As urbanites we're all excited about Twitter and Linkedin. But for the crop producer, the cellphone is indispensible, GPS directly affects the bottom line, and internet is a distant third.