There's a renewed hope in rural Ontario this year. In fact, it's much like the promise of Easter itself. Despite gloomy predictions issued by Statistics Canada a few weeks ago about the overall dwindling rural population...
Read MoreIt's 2025. Somewhere in Guelph, a physician and a registered professional agrologist are enjoying a cup of coffee, comparing notes about the demands of their respective disciplines. "When I diagnose a problem, I need to...
Read MoreIt's not easy being a change agent. As renowned British journalist Walter Bagehot wrote in Physics and Politics, way back in 1873, one of the greatest pains in human nature is that of a new idea. Some people rally around the...
Read MoreTomorrow at 8:07 p.m. is the March equinox. It marks the official arrival of spring. It's also International Earth Day. Farmers have always cared about the former. As spring approaches, they keep an eye on all-important soil...
Read MoreNew technology adoption transcends a series of steps, and people, on its way to finding a fit in society. First, a handful of venturesome innovators take a chance on it before anyone else even hears about it. Then come the early...
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Owen Roberts is a faculty member in the Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications program at the University of Illinois. As an agricultural journalist, he is the past president of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists and a lifetime achievement award recipient from the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation. His programs and research papers have been recognized nationally and internationally through awards from the Journal of Applied Communications, the National Agri-Marketing Association, the Association for Communications Excellence, and others.