Influences in Agribusiness - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Influences in Agribusiness

Unit 1: Agribusiness in Today’s Agriculture Industry Lesson: AT2Slide2

Objectives

Lesson Objective:After completing the lesson on influences in agribusiness, students will demonstrate their ability to apply the concept in real-world situations by obtaining a minimum score of 80% on an Agricultural Issues Portfolio.

Enabling Objectives:

Outline government’s role in and impact of the agriculture industry, its involvement in agribusiness, and its effect on agricultural prices.

Explore government agencies involved with agriculture and their effects on agriculturalists and issues in agriculture.Identify current issues in agriculture and locate ways to educate yourself and others on these issues.Define advocate, identify specific ways to advocate for agriculture, develop agriculture related Facebook status updates, craft a letter to the editor, and role play a conversation with an individual opposing a specific agricultural issue.

2Slide3

Key Terms

Advocate

3Slide4

Have you done your part?

4Slide5

Why does the government need to be involved in agriculture?

5Slide6

Government’s Involvement in Agriculture

Ensure safety of the food supply

Ensure adequate food supply through programs that expand agriculture production

Irrigation projects

ResearchExtension servicesIncrease export earningsUse exports as part of foreign policyProtect the environment and ensure the capacity of agriculture to produce in the future Soil conservation programsWater conservation

Preservation of prime farmland

Support farm income

6Slide7

Government Storage Programs

7Slide8

How does this involvement impact the agriculture industry?

8Slide9

Government’s Impact on Agriculture Industry

Food safety policies have positive and negative effects

banning certain herbicides and insecticides has decreased production due to loss of crop to weeds and insects

sanitation and waste regulations have improved food safety but has increased production costs and agriculture commodity costs

many small producers have been forced out of agriculture productionPolicies to expand food supply have increased productivityConservation programs have a positive impact on the environmentExports have increased, generating more profits for the agriculture industryStorage programs to control price help producers during times of high productionencouraged producers to depend on government intervention to correct the market rather than make changes themselves to meet the demands of competition

9Slide10

What effect does this involvement have on agricultural prices?

10Slide11

Government Effect on Agricultural Prices

Direct price controls

control food supply and prices in times of military conflict

used in peacetime when there was high inflation and decline in wages

Export restrictions increase food supply and lower domestic pricesReducing import restrictions increase food supply and lower prices by allowing more products to be importedDomestic grain reserves inflation-fighting toolif grain prices are too high, government will release some of the reserves to increase the supply and lower price

if prices are too low, government can increase the price by increasing reserves

11Slide12

Effect of Price Controls

12Slide13

Examples of Government Agency

Soil and Water Conservation DistrictNatural Resource District

USDA Rural Development

County and State Extension

Missouri Agriculture and Small Business Development AuthorityIndustry Check Off Programs13Slide14

Agricultural Issues

14Slide15

Agricultural Issues

15Slide16

Resources for Agricultural Issues

Industry topics—

Production related:

environment, welfare, food safety, beef nutrition, “pasture to plate” messaging

Food related: Recipes, cooking techniques, food handling guidelinesSpecific Industry Updates: Beef, pork, dairy, etcIndustry Websites on Social Media Humane Watch: National “watch dog” over HSUShttp://humanewatch.org/

Government —

Senate and House Agriculture Committee Websites  

USDA Newsfeed 

EPA Newsfeed  

THOMAS:

Library of Congress bill look-up

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php

State Government Websites

16Slide17

Resources for Agricultural Issues

Blogs—

Troy & Stacy Hadrick:

Advocates for Agriculture

http://advocatesforag.blogspot.com/Ray Prock: Ray Lin Dairywww.Raylindairy.wordpress.comDebbie Lyons-Blythe: Life on a cattle ranchhttp://kansascattleranch.blogspot.com/Jeff Fowle: California cattle rancher

http://commonsenseagriculture.com/

Daily Industry News Updates—

http://www.feedstuffsfoodlink.com/

http://www.meatingplace.com/

http://www.cattlenetwork.com

http://www.porknetwork.com/

http://beefmagazine.com/

17Slide18

Resources for Agricultural Issues

Answers to Common Questions—

Farm Facts

http://www.explorebeef.org/

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Missouri/Publications/Farm_Facts/http://www.moagriculture.com/mo-ag-facts/ Health Factshttp://beefnutrition.org/http://www.porkandhealth.org/

Cooking Tips, Recipes, Handling

http://www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com/

http://www.porkbeinspired.com/index.aspx

http://www.midwestdairy.com/

http://missouribeefcouncil.com/

Knowing the Other Side—

Natural Resource Defense Council:

http://www.nrdc.org/

Environmental Working Group:

http://www.ewg.org/

HSUS:

http://www.humanesociety.org/

18Slide19

Advocate

A person who serves as a supporter or defendant of a person or specific cause

19Slide20

Advocating for Agriculture

Facebook Twitter

YouTube videos

Blogs

Radio, TV, Newspapers Letter to the Editor Speak to organizations Host an event Ag in the classroom Hand out materials on campus Signs on campus In class Commenting on online stories Legislative visits Letters to legislators20Slide21

Advocating on Facebook

Status updatesLinks Groups

Events

Pictures

21Slide22

Status Updates

Do not whineTry to be funny

Do not boast. Instead, laugh at yourself

Do not go with the trend

Be original and uniqueReciting what other famous people said will bore the other not-so-famous people; i.e., your friends.Avoid, as much as possible, the use of big English words unless you are trying to be funnyKeep it shortDo not be too frequentTimingAnd at last, REPLY22Slide23

Other Ways to Use Facebook

Share linksVideos, news articles, studies, blogs, photos of ag-related items

Get information

Watch groups and fan pages for what is going on in the industry

InspirationConnect with others who are passionate about ag and lean on each other when you need motivation or a reminder to keep spreading the wordShare your own photosInclude personal captions with photos, identify what is being done, the process for how something works, etc. 23Slide24

Submitting a Letter to the Editor

Word countMost newspapers want less than 150 words.

Customize your letter for each paper

Newspapers are more likely to run authentic letters.

Contact the paper to ask how they prefer to receive your letterMost prefer e-mail if available. Call to ask!Include your full name, farm or ranch name (if applicable), mailing address, and phone numberThe newspaper might call to verify you wrote the letter. Your contact info will not be printed.24Slide25

Face-To-Face Tips to Follow

Listen first…then talk (80/20 rule)

Ask probing questions

Why do you feel that way? Where did you hear that?

Find out as much as you can about them Where did they grow up? How far removed from the farm? Do they have kids, pets, etc.? ConnectFind common ground/shared values What do they care about?What questions do they have about their food?

Recognize and respect differences

Don’t get personal or argumentative

Remember that others may be listening!

Share

Acknowledge their viewpoint and ask if they would be open to hearing yours

Share your personal story

25Slide26

Conclusion

Government has become involved in agriculture for a variety of reasons, and its policies have a great impact on the agriculture industry. Price controls instituted by the government in response to a need to stabilize the U.S. economy or to control food prices are a very important type of government intervention.

Government agencies are available to agriculturalists to provide valuable services to them and their business.

As we as agriculturalists continually face issues in agriculture, it is important for us to be proactive in advocating for our industry. Everyone needs to do their part and not expect others to do it for them.

26Slide27

Exit Card

What did you learn today about influences in agribusiness?What questions do you still have about influences in agribusiness?

27Slide28

Agricultural issues portfolio

28Slide29

29Slide30

30