Agricultural Review

Getting on the World Map

Professor William C Bailey
Chair, School of Agriculture
Western Illinois University
Macomb, Illinois

Several times in this column, the fact that west central Illinois agriculture is a participant in the global economy has been noted. This view was dramatically re-enforced recently at the Western Illinois University (WIU) Ram Test Sale. Before revealing what happened, let's review the Ram Test Sale.

During March and April of each year, male sheep (rams) are entered, by their owners, in the WIU Ram Test. The rams stay here for 2 or 3 months, depending on the owner's desires. This year, 40 rams from Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and South Carolina participated in the test, which was supervised by Assistant Professor Mark Hoge. During the test, the rams are carefully monitored for a variety of things - food intake, weight gain and change in their muscle characteristics, among many other factors. At the end of the test, the rams are sold at a public auction at the WIU Livestock Center. Good rams, those with good test results, normally go for about $500-600. Really good rams are sold for $700-800. A ram this year sold for $3000 - a price more than twice the previous highest price and considerably more than any bulls sold at the most recent annual WIU Bull Test Sale. But the incredible $3000 price tag was only one part of this global story.

Normally, buyers will visit the test to view the rams. After all, would you buy a car without driving it? Particularly if that car cost 3 - 4 times as much as other cars. Auctions can be very tricky and buyers normally also want to get a 'feel' for the bidding. For the $3000 ram, the buyer did not attend the auction. All of the information the buyer had available was taken from the Ram Test website (http://www.wiu.edu/users/miramt/). He was in phone contact during the auction so that he could bid, but he was not physically present. While many of us have purchased things from the web - books, DVDs or clothing - how many of us have spent, or would even consider spending, $3000 for an animal which you know only through the web? So, the fact the ram was purchased using information from the Ram Test website, rather than personally viewing the animal, is the second significant aspect of the sale. The third and final factor is even more interesting.

Anyone, anywhere, in the world is able to view the Ram Test website. Bidders may make determinations about buying a ram, including how much to bid, without coming to Macomb. Because of the Ram Test website, on which information detailing the characteristics of all the rams for sale, WIU's rather isolated location need not be a factor that limits the number of potential buyers. In fact, the website makes all sales, including the Ram Test sale, international events. Anyone, anywhere, in the world may bid at the auction. And, it turns out, the $3000 sale was an international sale. The buyer was from Canada. And the ram will be head north to its new Canadian home in the very near future.

Putting it all together - a record price for a ram, dependence on information from the internet to make a purchase decision and a buyer from outside the United States - underscores both the increasing impact of the internet on agriculture and the ability of west central Illinois agriculture to reach buyers well beyond regional and national borders.