A Virtual Field Day-the New Normal for the 21st Century?.

The traditional avenue to disseminate information and to showcase research at University research centers has been through the traditional field day where farmers, landowners, and extension come to ride wagons and listen. Researchers and extension faculty often stand in front of a field of corn, soybean, wheat, or forage and explain treatments and results. Often the backdrop has little to do with the information being presented. As an enticement to attend a locally prepared meal is served after the field day. However, for the past few decades’ attendance by those actively participating in production agriculture has gradually fallen off. A logical reason is that there are fewer farmers to draw from but the way that they receive information has changed drastically. Most are computer savvy and obtain much of their information from the internet through home computers or smartphones. University communication outlets write stories for newspapers and magazines and the occasional video but these venues rarely capture the research as it is happening. In 2015 a University of Missouri Journalism/Agriculture student was hired to create a “Virtual Field Day”. This is a natural fit since the University of Missouri is the home of one of the nation’s leading Journalism schools and the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR). Her assignment is to video and produce a dozen or more short (less than 5 minute) stories that capture research as it is happening, showing treatments and methods and then following up with results. These videos are then uploaded to the internet with links to CAFNR web sites, Facebook, and other media sources. It is expected that farmers and others can utilize these videos to help answer very pressing questions including methods to control herbicide resistant weeds to those of general interest such as steps in a wheat breeding program.