Useful E-mail Mailing Lists & List Servers

E-mail is a great tool to deliver information to a large number of people quickly. For this purpose many organizations and businesses use mailing lists that forward messages to all the people on that particular list. A second e-mail tool to distribute e-mail to multiple recipients is a list server. A list server is an e-mail tool that manage databases of user e-mail accounts and automates the sending of messages to specified groups of users. Subscriptions to a list server can provide anyone subscribed to that particular list server with a copy of the information that another member submitted to it.

Joining a list server generally requires you to submit a request to the administrator of the list server or sometimes can be done automatically using your e-mail software.  Contact the administrator for detailed instructions and/or permission on how to subscribe.  Some list servers are moderated, which means that the administrator reviews the submitted e-mail before it is forwarded to all the other members on the list servers.  When posting messages to the mailing list, be certain to be courteous, brief, and stick to subjects of interest to the group. After all, everyone who subscribes to the list will see every message you send to the list.

The University of Minnesota and NDSU maintain the following list servers that may be useful for crop producers:

Red River Ag—An unmoderated list server for extension personnel, state specialists, and producers focusing on production agriculture in Northwest Minnesota. Administrator is Dr. Jochum Wiersma, University of Minnesota Small Grains Specialist (wiers002@tc.umn.edu). To subscribe to the Red River Ag mailing list:

1) Send an e-mail message to majordomo@coafes.umn.edu

2) Leave the subject line blank; and

3) In the body of the message type subscribe redriverag. Then, when you want to post a message to the group, send an e-mail to redriverag@coafes.umn.edu

Agdakota—An unmoderated list server for extension personnel, state specialists, and producers focusing on production agriculture in North Dakota. Administrator is Dr. Phil Glogoza, NDSU Extension Entomologist (pglogoza@ndsuext.nodak.edu).  To subscribe to the Agdakota mailing list:

1) Send an e-mail message to majordomo@ndsuext.nodak.edu
2) Leave the subject line blank; and
3) In the body of the message type subscribe agdakota. Then, when you want to post a message to the group, send an e-mail to agdakota@ndsuext.nodak.edu

CornBean— Unmoderated list serve for northern corn and soybean producers, consultants and agronomists, developed by Denise McWilliams, NDSU/UM Extension crop production specialist. To join in the discussion or to review the activity, go to www.topica.com/lists/cornbean and sign up on the “Corn and Soybeans (CornBean)” list serve by clicking on the “join this list” button. Once you have signed up, you will automatically receive the information by e-mail.