Someone recently said to me,
“Agriculture would be so much easier to understand if there were an app for it.” Really.
It would be. There is an app for
everything. Or so it seems. Searching the App store for ‘Agriculture’
brings up “Ag Web News” and “Farm Futures,” and searching ‘Ag’ brings us to
“AgRacer” where you compete in a driving challenge with various farm related
implements. Hmm…..what if we could
explain agriculture in an App?
Apps are a relatively new
thing---launched in July 2008 with only 500 or so. Today there are over 250,000
apps available for purchase from the Apple App Store. There are apps for everything from Facebook
to Log My Run, there is even an App for
a level (I must admit I have it!) and a fake hand warmer. (If you think your hand is warmer it might
work!)
But how would you develop an
app for agriculture?
First, a couple things about
Apps. They have to be engaging. They
have to involve a challenge, how do you win this or come back for more? From an Agriculture perspective, they need
to be real. Unlike Angry Birds, I think
there would be an issue with flinging pitchforks at crows! And you wouldn’t want talking cows or pigs,
and really the corn or beans shouldn’t talk either. It is
getting tougher, isn’t it?
Lets reflect on an App from
this year in agriculture. How would you
reflect the drought? How would you show
the high winds in early August? It
sounds more like the ‘Hunger Games’ than a game! Seriously, would this make
people come back for more?
Luckily, Ag in the Classroom
just finished our ‘App’ for teachers this year. Nearly 600 teachers across the state
participated in our Summer Ag Institutes.
In a world where 60 million people pretend to be farmers in Farmville ,(http://mashable.com/2010/09/10/farmville-vs-real-farms-infographic/) these teachers saw first hand what happens on
farms around Illinois.
One teacher wrote in her
evaluation “All I kept thinking was, ‘there is more than farming in
agriculture?’ But after our first day, I
realized that this ‘farm thing’ was a bigger deal than I gave credit for.” We have countless stories and anecdotes
about how viewing agriculture from a new perspective gave them much more
insight into what a ‘real farm’ is.
Another participant described
her experience like this. “I have
learned that a farmer must be dedicated, hard-working and skilled in many
areas. Farmers have a deep passion for
their profession and will do whatever it takes to make things work. Perseverance is a trait that I hope I can
instill in each one of my students, and I have learned that farming takes
perseverance.”
All of that, and so much more,
was learned when someone showed them what agriculture really was and they took
the time to learn. Could those emotions
and experiences be channeled with an App on a 2”x3” screen? I don’t think so.
In a era of catching falling
blocks, pretending to raise strawberries and where birds explode in an effort
to recapture eggs, Agriculture in the Classroom has an App for agriculture.
Our App is our Summer
Agricultural Institute, and getting teachers to visit a farm. Pretty simple and not real flashy, but it
works!
