In that meeting, a discussion unfolded on how to capture more news space to print daily stock reports from the Dow and Nasdaq, and multiple mutual fund listings, that readers pored over in their daily paper.
One participant made a bold prediction. Within a few years, he promised, stock listings in newspapers would be obsolete. Those interested in stocks would use their computers – not the newspaper. In fact, he portended, computer technology was moving so fast that computer hardware wouldn’t be limited to desktops and would become mobile enough to take with you.
Not many took him seriously, probably because he was a 19-year-old college student. I was the only other person in the room under 30, and I didn’t believe him either.
But he was spot on. And after watching his forecast become reality, I’m convinced the best way to get stuck in the past is to ignore the slow current of advancement that becomes a wave to the future.
Weeks ago, Progressive Cattleman launched a new version of its website. The new site is immersed in features and tools that provide readers with greater access to the best news, articles, videos and production content.
Some of the most extensively improved elements are search options that integrate with the analytics that consume today’s data-driven Web. In case you didn’t know, the Internet has come a long way ever since Al Gore invented it.
One of the biggest reasons for our evolving website, however, is to cater to the devices that drive today’s Web traffic. Smartphones, tablets and digital edition software are growing exponentially in popularity.
More people keep their phones within 5 feet of their grasp through all hours of the day. And as that reliance grows, our dependence on other outlets grows smaller.
Some national publications are staking their future on the eventuality that the digitial experience will overtake the printed experience. It will be interesting to see just how far their bet pays off.
Producers in agriculture have to ask themselves the same questions in how they do their work. Crops and livestock will always require the guidance of human hands, along with some divine intervention.
But the methods will change – and some very quickly. Some of those possibilities are in this edition, including a fascinating look into the possibilities of cloning genetic carcass traits.
You must ask yourselves: What practices have always been the same, and what could make them evolve for the better? Perhaps most important of all: Do I have to change and adapt in order to survive? Just by asking the question honestly, the future will be a lot less daunting than you think. 
- David Cooper
- Editor
- Progressive Cattleman magazine
