Nostalgia vs. Progress
- wadE
Go and quickly read this.
For those of you too lazy to read, or reading this long after the link no longer works, the basic idea is that
local AM radio station WCCO has decided to no longer broadcast their farm reports.
People like me from small farm towns have a passing interest in the farm report, even if we never worked a day
on a farm in our life. But we grew up with the farm report, whether on TV or radio. "Hmmm, Winter Wheat is up,
but Summer Wheat is down. Corn is strong, but not as strong as Soybeans. Hog prices in St. Paul are down again."
Growing up I had no idea what it all really meant, how it affected me. When I was older I still didn't quite
understand, but hearing it from time to time gave me a feeling of nostalgia...remembering growing up in a farming
community.
But should we mourn the passing of the farm report? WCCO themselves makes the best point. These days
farmers are getting this information in other ways, and know the prices before they even make it on air. There
isn't much point to keeping it on the air. That airtime is as precious as ever for radio, and if they aren't
getting the maximum buck out of it, you'll be certain that something new will take its place.
We all know people fear change, and get angry even when it makes sense. To Karal Ann Marling, professor
of pop culture and American studies at the University of Minnesota, the death of the 'CCO farm report is
another indication of Minnesota's transition from rural to urban state.
"It's the end of an era," she said. "Now the Good Neighbor is a only a good neighbor to a bunch of
metrosexuals and yuppies."
Wow... settle down. Last I checked WCCO was a for profit business. Think about what percentage of WCCO
listeners need to get that information. Instead of mourning the loss of the farm report, let's mourn the loss
of the family farm. With fewer and fewer people needing this information, coupled with alternate (and better)
ways to obtain the information, isn't this a natural by-product?
So why the outrage? I'm guessing that Karal Ann Marling isn't a farmer, and in the article I didn't read
anything about actual farmersĘ feelings on this. Even the Farm Bureau president understands why, and his only
complaint is the missing education non-farmers would be missing out on.
So that leaves us with nostalgia. Contrary to popular belief, change isn't a bad word. While some of us
will miss the occasional reminders of our roots, if the farm report is what we relied on for that, we've got
much bigger problems.
What do you think? Drop us a line at webmaster@simpleprop.com and give us some
feedback. Maybe we'll even run your letters in future Gambits. 'The Daily Gambit' is updated every weekday.
