With increasing urbanisation, worldwide, it has become increasingly apparent that farmers often have more fundamentals in common with farmers in other countries, than they have in common with inner-city residents of their own countries. And that farmers, worldwide, have many basic problems in common.
At long last, instant and virtually cost-free worldwide networks are forming, linking people working in agricultural industries all over the world. This has potential benefits way past the old saying of ‘misery shared is misery halved’ – more along the lines of ‘two heads are better than one’. If farmers share stories and problems with others who have dealt with similar issues in other countries, it’s highly likely that they’ll feel more determined to battle on, and receive many useful suggestions on how to successfully explain agricultural issues and culture to city residents, and how to gain victories on the battlefront (encroaching mines and suburban sprawl, for example).
The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists links agricultural writers worldwide, and a facebook group has recently been formed. Other facebook sites have formed too, such as ‘Agchat’, run by Michele Payn-Knoper of Indianapolis, which lists the common interest as being ‘Food and Drink’; ‘Farm Podcasters and Agribloggers’; and ‘Connecting Food Consumers and Producers’.
While there will be a number of issues on which agricultural industry participants conflict (trade barriers, production subsidies, genetically modified crops, animal identification schemes, quarantine restrictions, etc), most could not fail to also notice how much agriculturalists all over the world have in common.
It is truly amazing that farmers in a remote part of one country can now connect instantly with others involved in agricultural industries anywhere in the world, and discuss common issues and solutions to difficult problems. Business use of Facebook and Twitter is still in early days, but I imagine these communication networks will expand rapidly and evolve into highly efficient systems over the next decade.