20 Years: Living “Under the Agridome”
Well, how did we arrive here? For those of you who click in each week for At Issue, forgive me. This week when I write Under the Agridome it’ll be the 20th anniversary of the very first one. 20 years this week, I submitted my very first “Under the Agridome” to editor John Gardiner of the then Wallaceburg News.
For those of you who can’t forgive me about writing about this, click in next week for the best in economics, finance and politics. This week we write about “the Agridome” and the journey of the last 20 years.
I have no record of that first Agridome written in the very wet fall of 1986. Back in those days, I sat on a vinyl couch with a note pad in front of me scribbling out the best agricultural economic article I could muster. There was no Internet, no computers and not a lot of confidence. However, for whatever reason editor John Gardiner, gave that kid a chance. He thought an agricultural column would be a natural for his audience around Wallaceburg.
It wasn’t easy in those days. I soon found out I wasn’t a natural writer. However, I did get a bit better. Technology helped and a little education helped me see the bigger picture. In the fall of 1986 I made one of the best decisions of my young life. I left the farm near Dresden and went back to the University of Guelph. I felt a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Economics might hold the key to a better life. Late one January evening I packed up and left. The lights of Guelph Ontario came into view a couple of hours later.
At Guelph I was successful. While there I sometimes submitted “the Agridome” by courier. It was overnight to Wallaceburg, a wonderful innovation to this farm kid from Dresden. However, it wasn’t long before I discovered the IBM XT computer. Those machines did something called “word processing.” Soon after that I used a machine called a “fax” to send a document to Montreal. Soon John was receiving “the Agridome” done on a computer, sent via the phone lines via a fax modem. What was the world coming to?
In 1994 John left the Wallaceburg News and the Agridome was about to leave too. The next editor obviously didn’t have the same opinion about agriculture than John did. For a brief time in 1994, the Agridome became intermittent. In my mind, it was pretty obvious the end might be near. However, I had no clue what was about to come.
Very soon after that Peter Epp hired me to write “Under the Agridome” in the Voice of the Farmer newspapers. Then the big stretch. I was hired on by Broadcast Partners FarmDayta of Des Moines Iowa to bring Under the Agridome to their satellite network across Canada and the United States. Data Transmission Network (DTN) of Omaha Nebraska, which took over my contract and continues to publish “the Agridome” to this day, soon bought it out. In 1997 I was asked by CFCO radio in Chatham Ontario to do an audio commentary over the radio. I’ve now been doing that for nine years.
Through the years I have changed and the success of the Agridome continued that change. As time went by I was recognized and engaged by those in the agricultural industry. In the early days there was lots of criticism, some warranted, some simply unfair. I have learned, grown and morphed as a journalist over 20 years. Telling the truth about agricultural economics and agricultural policy with flare, style and consistency in a way farmers can understand has always been my goal.
Things have evolved. Technology was once again part of it. With the Internet, research and communication became more accessible to all, even for a guy who lives on a farm.
In 2002 it was like “back to the future.” John began to publish cktimes.ca and I was on board, writing for the first time a “mainstream piece” dealing with economics, finance and politics. East West soon followed with Dr. A.K. Enamul Haque, born on the boisterous and raucous street of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Four years later www.philipshaw.ca was born. No longer would all my work be scattered about.
Nothing can replace the enduring legacy of being recognized by my own peers. Yes, even after all this time its important to not take yourself too seriously. However, last year I was asked to stand up and “fight back” and be the “face and voice” of the thousands of nameless and faceless farmers across Canada. I took a lead role in 6 farm rallies, one of which was representing English Canada in front of Parliament Hill on April 5th. It was and probably will remain the highlight of a very public agricultural life.
Is it about to be over? Will there be an end to “the Agridome?” Well, nothing lasts forever. In this business it’s all about what you’ve done for me lately. I’m only as good as my last commentary, podcast, speech or whatever. What’s important is to change, improve and remain relevant and valued to readers and listeners. Thank-you for 20 years, it’s been a heck of a ride.