Smartphones on the Farm: CNN and Agriculture Online

Several months ago I wrote a couple of posts regarding smartphones on the farm (Part I and Part II). Little did I know that these posts would lead to an interview with CNN and Agriculture Online.  John Sutter of CNN called and left a message that he was writing a story about smartphones on the farm and had seen my smartphone blog post.  Mr. Sutter asked if I could return his call and discuss smartphone use on the farm.  I immediately returned his call and the following day Twittering from the tractor: smartphones sprout on the farm appeared on CNN at http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/07/02/twitter.farmer/index.html. Story highlights from the article:

Smartphones, online social networks gaining popularity on farms

Farmers use Internet phones to check weather, monitor pesticides

Nebraska farmer says Twitter posts help bridge the urban-rural divide

Smartphones and social media connect eaters with sources of food

The day of the CNN interview, I mentioned it on my twitter account. Jeff Caldwell, Agriculture Online Multimedia Editor, read my tweet about the CNN interview and emailed me a few questions for a story on Agriculture Online.  Mr. Caldwell’s story New communication technology’s knocking on the farm gate was published at http://www.agriculture.com/ag/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/ag/story/data/1246554214079.xml. The Agriculture Online article, published the same day as the CNN article, provides an overview of smartphone use in communication and social media.

They may seem like toys and time wasters now, but more folks in farm country are starting to glean value from new technology like smartphones and social networking. One such “gadget” that’s becoming a needed tool for some already is the smartphone. Kleinschmidt has relied on his Samsung Omnia i910 smartphone now for months in the work he does in the field (including recording this video with his phone), and he’s starting to find and use more ag-specific applications.

Thanks to John Sutter and Jeff Caldwell for bringing this story to both the farm and non-farm community.