87% of respondents support using Canadian grown canola / soybeans in the production of biodiesel
NEWS RELEASE
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | February 25, 2011 |
CALGARY, AB: A new survey conducted by AgCall Inc. of active Canadian canola and soybean growers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario shows overwhelming support for the production and promotion of biodiesel in Canada.
The survey of over 300 canola and soybean growers was conducted from February 10 to 17 and respondents were selected randomly to maintain statistical validity. AgCall TeleSpecialists allowed respondents to answer questions unaided but further defined questions when requested.
Survey Results
- 66% of respondents indicated that they are aware of the 2% renewable fuel standard for biodiesel in Canada
- 87% of respondents support using Canadian grown canola/soybeans in the production of biodiesel
- 90% of respondents agree that increased demand for canola/soybeans created by biodiesel production would benefit growers
- 81% of respondents support a federal renewable strategy that would promote the use of canola/soybeans in the production of biodiesel
The AgCall Survey was conducted on behalf of the Canadian Canola Growers Association and the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association.
For the North American agriculture and food industry, AgCall is the leading provider of project outsourcing, data services, and social marketing to connect with and interactively influence customers.
For more information please call:
Ed Mazurkewich, Business Development Consultant
AgCall Inc. (403) 350-8184
The recent mayoral race in Calgary saw three frontrunners break away from the pack of over a dozen candidates: Naheed Nenshi, Barb Higgins and Ric McIver. Traditional news media polls reported this as a close 3-way race and a record high voter turnout was expected.
The real ‘story behind the story’ was taking place online. Taking a quick look at the numbers, there’s an obvious and direct relationship between the three candidates’ social media rankings and the total votes they received.
Of course, this doesn’t represent a 1-to-1 ratio of social media followers to voters and certainly many of those that voted in the election didn’t visit any of the candidates’ facebook pages or follow their twitter feeds. But the nature of peer to peer influencing and this strong example show how social media plants the seeds that not only helps spread the message but can accurately predict behaviour and preferences of a given group. In this case, that group was eligible Calgary voters.
In agriculture we can’t lose sight of the power of sowing these social media seeds today. The full reach of this type peer to peer influencing can be difficult to quantify directly, but the ultimate results are irrefutable.
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With the Russian export ban and the summer spike in wheat prices dominating the headlines of ag publications it’s easy to overlook that the FAO estimates world wheat production in 2010 to be 646 million tonnes. That’s the third highest crop on record; down just 5% from 2009′s numbers. This isn’t necessarily a repeat of the situation in 2007-2008. Wheat stock predictions show a strong supply moving forward, not a “Food Crisis 2.0″ type event.
Strong stocks aren’t the only silver lining to this situation. Once again the issues of farm protectionism, climate events, distorted markets and global food stocks are hot topics both in industry and mainstream media. And beyond the news stories there has been a huge increase in public interest and discussion around these issues, both at the coffee shop and online. (Just look at the spike on this Google Trends report.)
The question is, when the market normalizes and the newspapers stop telling us to panic, how do we keep these important discussions going?
