Today is my anniversary. It’s been 23 years since I first started my career as a trade magazine editor. The reason I mention this is because 23 seems to be a special number in my life. I was 23 years old when I began writing for Beverage Industry magazine. My wife and I were married for 23 years when we were finally blessed with the birth of our son, Cole. He was born on the 23rd of April 2008. Fittingly, Cole will turn 23 months old on the 23rd of this month.
Looking back, it’s interesting to see how different a place the world is today from 23 years ago. Back then, most of us were obsessed with the Cold War, wondering just how many years we had before World War III started. Closer to my own job, I used to have to send articles composed on electronic typewriters to clients using overnight envelopes to proof. If I was lucky, seven to 10 days would pass before I would get a response. Today, with the touch of a send button, I can e-mail electronic copy at 7 a.m. and get a response by 2 p.m. the same day.
In the world of ag retail, the past 23 years have also been life-changing. Back in 1987, barely anybody in the agriculture community had heard of precision agriculture practices. Biotech crops were a mere pipedream in some genetics lab in the Midwest. Computers in the office were just becoming fashionable, despite their complicated programming language and eye-damaging florescent green screens. One in 10,000 Americans owned a “mobile” phone (which was likely huge, weighing in at about a pound).
Today, precision agriculture is expanding in technology leaps and bounds. Instantaneous communication and automatic steering are commonplace. Biotech crops represent approximately 80% of the corn, soybeans, and cotton grown across the U.S. And practically everybody uses computers and mobile phones in there daily lives.
In 21 years, my son will be turning 23 and getting ready to start his career path as I most likely retire from mine. Sitting here in 2010, it’s impossible for me to imagine just how different the world of 2031 will be from today’s. Will agriculture have finally solved world hunger? Will semi-intelligent robots be doing custom application work? How many traits will be stacked into your average seed?
If the past two decades have taught us anything, it may be hard to imagine. Nonetheless, it should be a wondrous thing to see . . .
