AgriBusiness Research Project

           A research opportunity presented itself when my management professor reached out to a couple of students, including me, about an agriculture survey that needed help analyzing the data. The agriculture survey was sent out to southern Minnesota farming businesses about the past year. I didn’t know anything about agriculture, and I didn’t necessarily feel interested in the topic. I wanted to get more involved in research and I decided to see how I could make the most out of this opportunity.

            I set up a meeting with my professor to talk it through. First, I had to complete the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative Program which provides the training needed to ensure that all investigators and research study personnel who collect, access and analyze data can do it legally. I would have to analyze a set of questions that they gave me, research what this data means, make a PowerPoint presentation, and then present it to a crowd of about 50. I was excited! It was nothing I had done before and what scared me most was public speaking. I am not very comfortable presenting to a crowd of people that I don’t know, but that was what was required so I had to face my fear.

            I completed the certificate for the CITI training which was a lot of modules and videos about the rights and wrongs of research. I learned what is ethical and the foundations of research, which involved human subjects, animals, and sensitive data. [AS1]  I also learned about the responsible conduct of research which included integrity in data collection, analysis, reporting, and production. I acquired the best skills for managing and securing research data to ensure accuracy, confidentiality, and integrity. Overall, this process helped me prepare for my project because it equipped me with the knowledge to carry out my analysis with morality and professionalism. I felt confident in summarizing the data because I knew the proper criteria. I started working on the project and I had about two months to put these slides together. I was given the survey responses [AS2] and I created clustered column graphs and bar graphs with the quantitive data. I worked with Excel throughout the whole experience. I had weekly meetings with my professor to cover any questions I had and to make sure that I was on track. I was nervous throughout doing this because I was unsure if I was making the right inferences about the agriculture industry, but with the reassurance from my professor, I felt a lot better.

            It was fun to go through short answer questions, for example, there were over 200 responses to one question, and I had to figure out what the overall themes were and summarize the data. I used Word Counter to put in the responses and it made the most common words larger. This helped me identify what themes were most prominent and helped me narrow it down. It also created a challenge because just because the words were larger, I didn’t know what they inferred. I copied the short answers to a document and searched the most common words that I had found in Word Counter. I read each answer with the “searched” word. I then identified the theme I could create. It was also important that I included and addressed almost every response. Even if they aren’t as frequent, all data is important. The businesses that responded to the survey were large businesses or smaller, so they had different opinions. I was successful after repeating this process for all short answer questions. I liked doing this [AS3] because I was learning more about how rising costs were affecting these contrasting businesses, and some answers were opposite. I increased my knowledge of Excel because I understood which graphs portray the data selection the best.

            I had finished my PowerPoint and I met with my professor. This is where I faced a setback. We made a lot of changes. I felt embarrassed that I didn’t do it the right way. But this was a learning experience. I had too many words on the slides and the graph included data that didn’t need to be in there. I learned that the simpler the graph is makes it easier is for the audience to understand the data. Even though it made sense to me, the audience would be confused. We practiced the presentation and what I would say, and the nerves were starting to kick in. My professor would be up on stage with me, which made me feel a lot better.

            The day came when I had to present, and I just felt relaxed. I wasn’t frantic and I had confidence in myself. I arrived at the venue, and it seemed like a large crowd, which started to scare me a little. The people who were coming to the presentation were business farmers who filled out the survey, town mayors, people on the Minnesota Department of Agriculture board, professors, and researchers. It was an audience of about 40. The goal of this study was aimed at discovering how agriculture has improved or receded over the past year. It compared the data with 2023. Businesses that were attending were curious how inflation, laws, and taxes were affecting their businesses. I was sitting at the circle table up front, and my professor spoke first. She talked about the data and what the survey was all about for 30 minutes and then it was my time. She introduced me and there was a small applause as I walked to the stage. I talked for about 10 minutes about business performance in 2023, predicted future performance in 2024, and the impact of economic drivers on businesses and regional conditions, and lastly examples of the impact of rising costs that businesses are facing[AS4] . I used my slideshow to show the graphs I prepared. Understanding this information empowers the audience to make more informed decisions, allocate resources effectively, and respond strategically to changing market conditions. This would be very useful to the businesses in the audience to improve their business performance, economic stability, and sustainable growth. The presentation went very smoothly, and the audience was receptive to my data[AS5] [AS6] . It wasn’t open for the audience to ask questions until the very end of the presentation which was about 3 hours long. Although I felt I talked a little fast, I had people come up to me after the entire presentation congratulating me and saying I did very well.

          I enjoyed this experience [AS7] because it challenged me to learn something new and face my fear of public speaking. As a finance major, this project adds to my knowledge of how to organize data most efficiently. I will be able to apply this learned experience in future encounters with financial data. I took away the knowledge from my CITI training which I can use in my next project. I know how to manage data with security, understand ethical principles, and I know how to address the responsible conduct of research. What I learned about myself was work habits and discipline. To complete this effectively I needed to work on it every week. I also learned about my interests. I never knew much about agriculture, but I learned that it was so much more than just farming. It is about supply chain management, distribution and logistics, and labor laws. I am planning on attending law school and learning about agribusinesses sparked an interest that maybe I would want to go into agriculture law. With this experience, I know so much more about research and how to convey data to a crowd. I can use this experience in future settings because I found ways to innovate and be creative, manage, analyze and interpret data.  It increased my communication skills and networking opportunities for future professional settings. For my next research opportunity, I will be able to know how to explain data in the most efficient way. Through my CITI training, I know how to observe and mitigate the risk of being unethical.