Texting Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary: How Texting Is Being Used in Modern Agriculture

Dec 03, 2012

Texting Is So Popular In Agriculture Even the Cows Do It!

Twenty years ago today marks the first time a text message was ever sent and it has ultimately changed the way we communicate with one another in our day to day lives, in business and even in agriculture.

After some research, I discovered that the first person to send the world`s first text message was Neil Papworth, from Montreal. Papworth was working as an engineer at the time for a British software company called Vodafone. The message was sent using his computer to his boss saying “Merry Christmas.”

Since that time text messaging has evolved with every phone having built- in capabilities to text; and is a widely used medium for communicating. In agriculture, it seems as if text messaging has even gone a step further – cows sending text messages to farmers. Yes, you read that right - the evolution of the text message has even meant the creation of technology that will send a text message to farmers about the condition of their cows.

It works something like this – a heat detector is implanted in the cow`s genital area and a motion sensor which is attached to a collar around the cow`s neck monitors movements made by the cow. The text messages are important for dairy farmers who use the SMS technology to determine if the cow is in heat so the farmer knows when to breed their cows. Now it`s important to note that cow texting or ``sexting`` isn`t widely used on all dairy farms but it is being used on some farms in Switzerland. Never the less, it`s still pretty cool stuff.

Besides the cow texting, modern farmers predominantly use texting to communicate with their colleagues or get notifications about the weather or even in some cases commodity market prices. It`s common for agriculture companies to send out various text messaging notifications to the on-the-go modern farmer. For example, Farms.com offers a unique risk management tool that provides a full suite of services for farmers to keep track of commodity market pricing and some of which are notifications that farmers receive via text messaging.

Thanks to the will of Mr. Papworth, people from all around the world enjoy communicating through text messaging, which in some ways has enhanced the way we communicate with one another and receive information. Farmers and agricultural professionals are just one example of a segment of the population using it to do their jobs better and continuing to produce the food that we are all so fortunate to enjoy!

Video: How Can We Grow More Food With Less Impact?

For over two decades, Dr. Mitloehner has been at the forefront of research on how animal agriculture affects our air and our climate. With deep expertise in emissions and volatile organic compounds, his work initially focused on air quality in regions like California’s Central Valley—home to both the nation’s richest agricultural output and some of its poorest air quality.

In recent years, methane has taken center stage in climate discourse—not just scientifically, but politically. Once a topic reserved for technical discussions about manure management and feed efficiency, it has become a flashpoint in debates over sustainability, regulation, and even the legitimacy of livestock farming itself.

Dr. Frank Mitloehner, Professor and Air Quality Specialist with the CLEAR Center sits down with Associate Director for Communications at the CLEAR Center, Joe Proudman.