How to Change the Message of Agriculture

By: Tanner Hood

It seems every single day there is a new attack against agriculture. In schools, kids learn how cows are bad for the environment, and how farmers destroy the land. Social media and television constantly teach adults how bad GMOs are, and how the food they eat is probably going to kill them. The world thinks there is a problem with agriculture, and they’re not entirely wrong. However, I don’t think the problem is farmers and ranchers killing the planet. Instead, I think agriculturalists do not know how to tell the world they are here to help. What I mean is:Agriculture has a communication problem.

This problem does not solely lie on farmers and ranchers, or even the researchers, scientists, academics, and others who inform the world about agriculture. Agriculture has a complex message. Telling society how feeding and sustaining the world through scientific practices in hundreds of different fields of work is not easy to explain to the everyday member of society. It’s not easy to explain to people who work in agriculture. Even so, there is a small group who fights to share an educated message about how important agriculture is. These are agricultural communicators.

I am an ag communicator. I have several friends who are, too, but there aren’t a lot of us. It is our goal to take on the challenge of sharing the good news about agriculture, and sometimes the bad. We seek to be a voice for the farmers, ranchers, researchers, teachers, and others who have dedicated their lives to serving others. Our goal is to show the world what agriculture does to care for our planet and the people living on it. We tell stories, share facts and statistics, and develop messages for everyone to understand because we believe agriculture needs to be understood.

However, agricultural communications is not a popular choice for a college major or a career. In the Fall of 2022, there were 1,410 students enrolled in the College of Agriculture atAuburn University. 27 of those students studied agricultural communications. As someone who has been on the job market recently, I have discovered there aren’t many career options for ag communicators either.

Many people wonder why agriculture is always under attack; why it’s always the butt of jokes. When those in the industry and academics will not support the people who are trying to fix the message and clear the air, then change cannot be expected. It’s time for colleges and universities to start investing in their communicators. Funding these programs, helping students find jobs, and marketing the major to incoming students is a start. Also, it’s time for agriculture groups and organizations to realize adding ag communicators to their staffs can change how the world sees them. Until then, ag communicators will find ways to fight on, but we’ll watch as leaders, teachers, parents, and influencers attack an industry that suffers because it can’t get its message together.