Does one size fit all for delivering corn disease-related information?
P. ESKER (1), C. Bradley (2), P. Paul (3), A. Robertson (4)
(1) University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, U.S.A.; (2) University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, U.S.A.; (3) Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, U.S.A.; (4) Iowa State University, Ames, IA, U.S.A.
Phytopathology 101:S50

With advanced technologies like Twitter, blogs, and Facebook, are there better ways we can package educational material to meet the needs of our clientele? To improve our knowledge about the use of information and technology, a multi-state survey was conducted in Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, and Wisconsin with corn growers and consultants in 2010. An equal number of surveys were sent out to randomly selected growers and consultants (n = 188 for each group and state for total of 1,504 surveys). The valid response rate was 47%. Preliminary findings indicated that consultants typically spend 30–45 minutes per meeting with their grower clients. Communications using telephone or email were <6 times and <3 times per month, respectively. Consultants are more likely to use the internet to gather information, although internet use is >50% for both groups. Consultants also are more likely to bookmark ag-related materials. For consultants, email is a valuable tool and they typically sign up to email lists from University extension and industry. Both University extension and seed dealers were considered valuable sources of information. The use of newspapers, radio, and TV only were considered slightly important. When considering the amount of time spent with clients by consultants, there is great potential for providing information to key clientele more effectively through the use of advanced technologies.