National network needed for farm information access

Press, 25 February 1983, Page 24

National network needed for farm information access

Future access by farmers to computerised information and marketing systems would be made easier if a nationally-integrated. cooperative communication system were to be developed. ' This is the view of Dr P. Nuthall. Reader in the Department of Farm Management and Rural Valuation at Lincoln College. Dr Nuthall, who heads the Kellogg Farm Management Unit which is developing computerised management aids and systems for New Zealand farmers, gives his view’ in a discussion paper released by the Agricultural Economics Research Unit at the college. His discussion paper is titled ‘'Design considerations for computer-based marketing and information systems."

One of the most important attributes of electronic systems was the ability to have nationally, or even internationally, co-ordinated systems which gave all potential users the opportunity to participate, Dr Nuthall said in his paper.

Greater use and benefits were likely to occur with integrated systems as these could provide ease of access and cost economies, as well as the benefits of specialisation.

Initially, individual groups and organisations might demand their own systems to get a competitive advantage, but this advantage would be lost once other competitors did the same.

‘‘Specifically, information system data bases are likely to be more extensive and professionally prepared if specialisation can occur," he said.

“Equally as important, an integrated system can lead to uniform procedures for obtaining information, making farmer access to the data base much easier.” Dr Nuthall said that for marketing systems, co-ordi-nation could lead to improved prices through limiting the number of competing systems selling the same product. As well as farmers using information and marketing systems, they would move towards operating their own management systems using individual micro-computers. However, before long, it

would be useful for programs to be downloaded to the micro-computers from a central library making two-way data flow possible. "This might involve the farmer using the power of a large computer for assistance in decision problems too large for a micro-com-puter," he said. "Clearly, there would be considerable benefits for users to be able to connect into an integrated system that offered these services as well as the information and marketing systems.

"One of these benefits would be the ability to pool summary, data, such as financial information from a detailed enterprise accounting system, for comparative purposes." Dr Nuthall said the relative isolation of farms and the consequent distances involved meant the cost of communication became a much more important factor than in the urban situation. A solution was to make use of sophisticated urban communication systems as far as possible, and superimpose on these additional facilities specifically designed for agriculture.

Dr Nuthall said the communication problem added to the difficulty of organising and managing a single entity along with the responsibility of running a nationallyintegrated information, marketing and management aid system. The most likely structure to obtain the benefits of integration would be a coordinated national communication system specifically designed for agriculture. The most feasible organisational structure to implement the agricultural communication system would be a co-operative made up of all groups interested in using the network.

Dr Nuthall said once established the co-operative should be self-supporting by charging each member on the basis of use.

Farmers would pay their individual user fees directly to the supplier of the information'or marketing system used.

The dispersed nature of agricultural users meant the communication network would be made up of small

computer nodes throughout the country, linked by highspeed lines.

Dr Nuthall said this specifically agriculturallybased system should probably make use of any specialised, urban-oriented. data-communication lines set up by utility groups, either priva’te dr national, for communal use

“Given this co-operative communication system, any member should have the right to use it through investing in a mainframe computer connected to the network,” he said.

“For marketing or management aid systems, the node computer would act as switching controller to direct the farmer’s call through to the mainframe on which the particular market or management aid was based.” - Dr Nuthall said the advantage of the proposed system, besides direct cost advantages. was flexibility. Rationalising the number of competing information and marketing systems could be achieved, without being unduly restrictive or bureaucratic, by using co-ordinating committees.

First the base system had to be organised, and having central government foster and subsidise the initial operation could be necessary and appropriate. “Universities may well be — as they have been in the United States — catalysts in the development phases, particularly through setting up trial operations," he said.

Dr Nuthall said that while the technology for sophistic.ated computing and communication systems already existed, still further advances were likely to be made in the next few years.

Concepts such as bubble memory (large amounts of data stored in a small component), packet switching communication systems (integration and transmission of data to many destinations) and fibre optics (data-carry-ing light waves) suggested an even more significant revolution in computer-controlled information.

“It is not hard to imagine farmers of the future facing totally different marketing, information and management systems compared to existing methods," he said.