Let me pull back the curtain a little bit on One Grower Publishing in hopes that what I tell you will encourage you to embrace that new technology you have been thinking about or at least embolden you to seek out answers to the technology questions you may have.
One Grower Publishing is, first and foremost, a company that publishes magazines on production agriculture for producers of peanuts, cotton, rice, soybeans and corn. While that seemed to keep everyone at One Grower plenty busy, about two years ago we came to the conclusion that it was not enough. By not offering digital products, we were missing a key means of communicating with producers and additional ways for our advertisers to reach producers as well.
Sitting around a wooden conference table at the gin office of our owner and taking a hard look at our situation, we all came to the uneasy realization that we had to move forward or simply get left behind. Understand, “forward” scared us all to death because, quite honestly, we didn’t even know what we were talking about. No one knew how to create an e-newsletter, do a webinar or geotarget anything. We didn’t even know what we didn’t know, and yet here we had made a decision to jump in with both feet. We had to do something.
Fast forward two years and we now marvel at how far we have come. To complement each magazine, we also put out e-newsletters each month and can even send special editions to producers in different areas (geo-targeting). Cotton Farming has a Facebook page and The Peanut Grower will have one by the end of the summer. We are also on Twitter and have plans for other digital projects.
The first realization is that someone somewhere had the answers we needed; it was just a matter of finding them. As we answered one question at a time, we were also conquering one fear at a time. Like most things, once we got started, we found that it wasn’t that difficult after all.
Whether it is using a tractor with all new technology, mapping fields to use variable rate technology or implementing remote soil moisture monitoring, there are Extension personnel, crop consultants and farm supply businesses ready to help answer those questions. You just have to be ready to jump in with both feet and learn. If I can do it, you can too.
