Agriculture One Year Later
Karen Jones, Growmark
Anyone who uses Facebook is likely familiar with their
“Memories” feature. I usually enjoy reading about what I was doing on any given
day in the past, seeing old pictures of family and friends, recalling travel
and work events, and sometimes just laughing at situations shared that had been
long forgotten.
As this month began, I started paying more attention to posts
from last year. Pictures of a meal in a busy restaurant, comments about
attending a work conference, my daughter celebrating her 100th day
of school. Little did we know that by the end of March 2020, life as we knew it
would change dramatically.
Seemingly overnight we all had to make adaptations to the
way we lived and worked. Office buildings transitioned quickly to a remote
workforce. New precautions and restrictions were added to attempt to flatten
the curve. Students received the longest spring break ever as schools tested
virtual classrooms.
But amid it all, agriculture never stopped. Frankly, it
couldn’t.
Livestock needed to be fed and cared for. Crops needed to be
planted, fertilized, and harvested. Equipment needed repair and commodities
needed to be moved across the country and around the world. Essential was the
right word to describe the agricultural industry, and we rose to the occasion.
However, it wasn’t completely business as usual. Technology
was quickly employed, and sometimes created, to assist in getting the job done
efficiently and safely. Some of these tools, such as video conferencing, were
already available but perhaps not widely used, while others were developed to
fill needs uncovered during 2020.
For example, the recently released myFS Solutions Center was
in progress pre-COVID, but it has proven more valuable in a world where
face-to-face interaction isn’t always possible. From a single digital location,
FS customers can view their account information, pay invoices, explore
field-level data, sign contracts, and receive information from their FS sales
personnel at any time and from any location. While nothing can replace personal
relationships, this tool helps enhance efficiency and communication between
farmers and their local FS cooperatives.
While 2020 was a year that won’t soon be forgotten, I hope
that it’s also a year we can look back on and see positive, lasting changes to
the way we live and work. After all, even the most essential of industries
still has room to grow.
