So many people have said we need to have some sort of official spokesman for agriculture. On the surface this sounds like a good idea. That's what most anti-agriculture groups do to distort the truth of food production. They cart out some celebrity who has never given agriculture a second thought and try to convince the public that they are somehow an expert.
We are fortunate enough to get to share our story with other producers quite often and we always emphasize to them that we are the true experts. That's why it's so important that we are out telling the real story as often as we can. And that's also why I don't want some celebrity trying to be a spokesman for me!
We've seen how difficult it can be to get the real story of ag out to consumers. The last thing I want is a paid celebrity trying to tell my story for me. Some people will say that celebrities can reach a broader audience than we can. That's not true. If every farmer and rancher told their story to one new person every day just think how many people we would reach with the truth. Even Mike Rowe said that farmers and ranchers are their own best spokesmen.
It may seem difficult for us to reach a new person every day but through things like social media and programs like Farm American we can do it. Social media lets us talk to people all over the world without ever leaving home. Many conversations about agriculture are taking place on social media so it's important that we are there to be part of them.
The Farm American program is an incredible opportunity for us to use the resources of Furniture Row to spread the message. Between their NASCAR team and their retail locations, we can reach 160 million people a week. The main goal of the Farm American program is to highlight the farmers and ranchers themselves so they can share their story. The folks at Furniture Row don't pretend to be experts in agriculture, they just want to provide platforms for the real experts to talk to consumers.
Family farmers and ranchers don't need a spokesman, we are the spokesman. Nobody will tell our story with the same accuracy and passion as we will. That's one of the main reasons why we continue to give our fellow producers the tools to tell their story. Its also why we are avid supporters of the Farm American program.
Showing posts with label social media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social media. Show all posts
Monday, February 14, 2011
Monday, July 19, 2010
Putting All Our Eggs in the Social Media Basket
I wanted to highlight this well written blog post from Will Gilmer of Gilmer Dairy Farm. Like Will, I have used social media as a way to share my story about agriculture. But, we must remember that these are just someof the tools we have to educate consumers about where their food comes from. I've always said that tweets and status updates will never replace the handshake and looking another person in the eye while you share your story. Follow this link to see what Will had to say.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Sioux Falls Argus Leader Interview About Yellow Tail
South Dakota rancher's wine-dumping online video faults Humane Society
Effort protests donation from Yellow Tail
Thom Gabrukiewicz • tgabrukiew@argusleader.com • February 19, 2010
In a tan, worn Carhartt jacket and black cowboy hat, South Dakota rancher Troy Hadrick is an unlikely digital folk hero, a viral warrior.
But there he is on YouTube, pouring out a bottle of Yellow Tail wine - by the looks of it, a nice sparkling white - onto the snowy, hoof-trampled ground with his winter-coated cattle looking on. The act is in protest of the company's $100,000 donation to the Humane Society of the United States.
"My concern is with the Humane Society of the United States, which isn't connected at all with the dog and cat shelters in our local communities," the fifth-generation Vale rancher said Thursday. "This is an organization that's pushing a vegan agenda in this country, and that concerns me. That donation is going to go to efforts to try and put me out of business, and I'm just not going to support a company that does that."
And viral efforts such as this one can be disastrous for companies, especially in the age of instant information, said Maggie Holben, a public relations expert from Lakewood, Colo.
"That's what we fondly call a crisis," she said of YouTube protests such as Hadrick's. "You have to circle the wagons, you have to respond and you have to tell people who you are. Is there a trick remedy? No. It's honesty." Read More
Effort protests donation from Yellow Tail
Thom Gabrukiewicz • tgabrukiew@argusleader.com • February 19, 2010
In a tan, worn Carhartt jacket and black cowboy hat, South Dakota rancher Troy Hadrick is an unlikely digital folk hero, a viral warrior.
But there he is on YouTube, pouring out a bottle of Yellow Tail wine - by the looks of it, a nice sparkling white - onto the snowy, hoof-trampled ground with his winter-coated cattle looking on. The act is in protest of the company's $100,000 donation to the Humane Society of the United States.
"My concern is with the Humane Society of the United States, which isn't connected at all with the dog and cat shelters in our local communities," the fifth-generation Vale rancher said Thursday. "This is an organization that's pushing a vegan agenda in this country, and that concerns me. That donation is going to go to efforts to try and put me out of business, and I'm just not going to support a company that does that."
And viral efforts such as this one can be disastrous for companies, especially in the age of instant information, said Maggie Holben, a public relations expert from Lakewood, Colo.
"That's what we fondly call a crisis," she said of YouTube protests such as Hadrick's. "You have to circle the wagons, you have to respond and you have to tell people who you are. Is there a trick remedy? No. It's honesty." Read More
My Interview With The Australian Broadcasting Corp. about Yellow Tail
Facebook campaign forces policy change by wine company
Friday, 26/02/2010
An online campaign by American farmers has forced Australian wine company Yellow Tail to stop supporting animal welfare groups.
The farmers called for a boycott on a Facebook page called Yellow Fail, after the company donated $100,000 to the Humane Society.
Yellow Tail has now agreed it will not donate to animal welfare campaigners in the future, after more than 3000 people joined the online site.
Cattle rancher and internet campaigner Troy Hadrick says it's the first time farmers have used social media to win an animal welfare debate.
"Sometimes there's been questions about is it worth our time to be involved in social media and are we wasting our time?" he says.
"But this is the first time we finally all got on the same page.
"We were selling the same message, and we basically, in just a few weeks' time, forced a multi-national company to change the future course of its donations."
This is the video that took Troy Hadrick less than five minutes to make but made him the face of the campaign against Yellow Tail.
Related Audio:
An online win for farmersListen to this report by Cameron Wilson on the social media pressure that forced Yellow Tail to rethink its animal welfare donations. MP3
The online opportunitiesListen to this extended interview with South Dakota rancher and internet campaigner Troy Hadrick on the effectiveness of social media. MP3
Link To Article
Friday, 26/02/2010
An online campaign by American farmers has forced Australian wine company Yellow Tail to stop supporting animal welfare groups.
The farmers called for a boycott on a Facebook page called Yellow Fail, after the company donated $100,000 to the Humane Society.
Yellow Tail has now agreed it will not donate to animal welfare campaigners in the future, after more than 3000 people joined the online site.
Cattle rancher and internet campaigner Troy Hadrick says it's the first time farmers have used social media to win an animal welfare debate.
"Sometimes there's been questions about is it worth our time to be involved in social media and are we wasting our time?" he says.
"But this is the first time we finally all got on the same page.
"We were selling the same message, and we basically, in just a few weeks' time, forced a multi-national company to change the future course of its donations."
This is the video that took Troy Hadrick less than five minutes to make but made him the face of the campaign against Yellow Tail.
Related Audio:
An online win for farmersListen to this report by Cameron Wilson on the social media pressure that forced Yellow Tail to rethink its animal welfare donations. MP3
The online opportunitiesListen to this extended interview with South Dakota rancher and internet campaigner Troy Hadrick on the effectiveness of social media. MP3
Link To Article
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Growers Add SM To their Chore List
Here's great article that talks about social media use by farmers and rancher. In the last couple of months we have seen an incredibly growing presence of farmers and ranchers participating in online advocacy. I truly believe that radical groups working to put American agriculture out of business never thought it would grow like it has. We can be an incredible force when we work together. Never has that been on public display like it was during the Yellow Tail incident. Our unified voice caused a multi-national company to publicly state they will never donate to the HSUS or any other animal rights groups like them ever again.
Follow the link and read the article on page 4.
Follow the link and read the article on page 4.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Farmers & Ranchers Being Heard Online
Social Media: The New Battleground For American Agriculture
02/14/2010
By Gary Truitt
There is a new battleground in the fight against the anti-animal forces that are bent on destroying the American livestock industry. What makes this significant is that is battleground is not controlled by the mass media, special interest groups, PR companies, HSUS, or PETA. This new battleground is controlled by consumers, individuals from a variety of backgrounds taking on the radical fringe and their efforts to control what we eat. This new battleground is the world of social media: Facebook, Twitter, and the myriad of other web-based networks that link people together in cyberspace and transmit information around the world at the speed of light. Unlike the wacko-friendly mass media, this social media has a decidedly anti-nutcase slant, and these social networkers do not suffer fools for more than a few milliseconds. HSUS, PETA, and some large US corporations are learning some painful lessons in this new social world.
Yellow Tail wine is a brand owned by Casella Wines, a family owned and operated winery with winemaking links going back six generations. Until last week, they were the Cinderella story of the wine world having gone from a small family owned winery to international distributor of Yellow Tail wine. Then they made a mistake that has certainly cost them their reputation and could end up costing them their business. The Australian-based winery climbed into bed with the Humane Society of the United States. The effort included an agreement for the winery to contribute $100,000 to HSUS. This was not totally out of character for the company which has had strong ties with the vegan community. But the backlash from US consumers was quick and vehement. Within hours of the announcement, Yellow Tail was hit with a blizzard of e-mails and the Yellow Tail fan page on Facebook quickly filled with strong statements of condemnation. Hundreds of Yellow Tail drinkers said they were pouring the wine down the drain and would never buy the product again.
The social media atmosphere lets individuals express their thoughts without reservation. The dislike and disgust for HSUS was overwhelming. Those few who expressed sympathy for HSUS were quickly shouted down by a chorus of cynical barbs and insults. A special anti-Yellow Tail page quickly appeared on Facebook called “Yellow Fail.” Numerous blogs took up the chant decrying Yellow Tail’s decision to give money to an organization where less than one-half of 1% of the funds raised actually went to helping animals. Several national animal organizations condemned the wine company, and even some farmers and ranchers posted You Tube videos on the topic. Read More
For the last several years, we have traveled across the country sharing with farmers and ranchers on how effective they can be when they work together to make themselves heard. I was astounded when I had a “so-called” friend of agriculture attack my message of working together in front of 500 cattlemen. If all aspects of agriculture, along with pet owners and outdoorsmen, hadn’t worked together to spread the message that Yellow Tail was donating to HSUS, it wouldn’t have worked out like it did. I get a lot of people that thank me for my work in advocating for agriculture and I appreciate it very much. But the biggest thank you I got was when people responded when I encouraged everyone to make their voices heard on this project.
02/14/2010
By Gary Truitt
There is a new battleground in the fight against the anti-animal forces that are bent on destroying the American livestock industry. What makes this significant is that is battleground is not controlled by the mass media, special interest groups, PR companies, HSUS, or PETA. This new battleground is controlled by consumers, individuals from a variety of backgrounds taking on the radical fringe and their efforts to control what we eat. This new battleground is the world of social media: Facebook, Twitter, and the myriad of other web-based networks that link people together in cyberspace and transmit information around the world at the speed of light. Unlike the wacko-friendly mass media, this social media has a decidedly anti-nutcase slant, and these social networkers do not suffer fools for more than a few milliseconds. HSUS, PETA, and some large US corporations are learning some painful lessons in this new social world.
Yellow Tail wine is a brand owned by Casella Wines, a family owned and operated winery with winemaking links going back six generations. Until last week, they were the Cinderella story of the wine world having gone from a small family owned winery to international distributor of Yellow Tail wine. Then they made a mistake that has certainly cost them their reputation and could end up costing them their business. The Australian-based winery climbed into bed with the Humane Society of the United States. The effort included an agreement for the winery to contribute $100,000 to HSUS. This was not totally out of character for the company which has had strong ties with the vegan community. But the backlash from US consumers was quick and vehement. Within hours of the announcement, Yellow Tail was hit with a blizzard of e-mails and the Yellow Tail fan page on Facebook quickly filled with strong statements of condemnation. Hundreds of Yellow Tail drinkers said they were pouring the wine down the drain and would never buy the product again.
The social media atmosphere lets individuals express their thoughts without reservation. The dislike and disgust for HSUS was overwhelming. Those few who expressed sympathy for HSUS were quickly shouted down by a chorus of cynical barbs and insults. A special anti-Yellow Tail page quickly appeared on Facebook called “Yellow Fail.” Numerous blogs took up the chant decrying Yellow Tail’s decision to give money to an organization where less than one-half of 1% of the funds raised actually went to helping animals. Several national animal organizations condemned the wine company, and even some farmers and ranchers posted You Tube videos on the topic. Read More
For the last several years, we have traveled across the country sharing with farmers and ranchers on how effective they can be when they work together to make themselves heard. I was astounded when I had a “so-called” friend of agriculture attack my message of working together in front of 500 cattlemen. If all aspects of agriculture, along with pet owners and outdoorsmen, hadn’t worked together to spread the message that Yellow Tail was donating to HSUS, it wouldn’t have worked out like it did. I get a lot of people that thank me for my work in advocating for agriculture and I appreciate it very much. But the biggest thank you I got was when people responded when I encouraged everyone to make their voices heard on this project.
Friday, October 2, 2009
College Aggies Online
Program Prepares Young Ag Advocates
Marlys Miller Thursday, October 01, 2009
The Animal Agriculture Alliance has launched "College Aggies Online", a new program aimed at helping today's college students become confident advocates for the agriculture industry.
"We are looking forward to providing the tools that young agriculturists need to communicate effectively with the public," says Kay Johnson Smith, Alliance executive vice president. "College students who participate in the program will do more than just build their resume-- they will help ensure the future of America's agriculture industry by sharing accurate information about modern farming and ranching."ﾠ ﾠ
College Aggies Online is a joint venture of the Alliance and American National CattleWomen. It will connect college students from across the country who are interested in promoting agriculture by sharing their stories. Participants will receive training and instructions from industry professionals and will enjoy access to a private forum to post information about current and emerging issues facing farmers and ranchers.
The online community will provide resources to students on key issues to help them better utilize tools such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to share agriculture's story with the public. "Social networking Web sites offer an effective platform for reaching large audiences of people who do not have farm backgrounds," Johnson Smith says. Read More
There are some really great new online tools being used by young agriculturalists that I want to highlight in the next few weeks. The first one is College Aggies Online, which will be launched on October 15. This site will allow college students to share more information about themselves and agriculture with our consumers. There are many people even within our own industry that say young people aren’t interested in agriculture anymore. I always disagree. As I have traveled across this country, I continually meet young adults that impress the heck out of me. Even just a decade ago, when I was attending South Dakota State University, we weren’t concerned about going out and actively promoting agriculture. But today’s students are not only willing to do it, they are continually seeking opportunities to do so. Check out this new forum for yourself and you will undoubtedly be impressed by those that will be posting on there.
Marlys Miller Thursday, October 01, 2009
The Animal Agriculture Alliance has launched "College Aggies Online", a new program aimed at helping today's college students become confident advocates for the agriculture industry.
"We are looking forward to providing the tools that young agriculturists need to communicate effectively with the public," says Kay Johnson Smith, Alliance executive vice president. "College students who participate in the program will do more than just build their resume-- they will help ensure the future of America's agriculture industry by sharing accurate information about modern farming and ranching."ﾠ ﾠ
College Aggies Online is a joint venture of the Alliance and American National CattleWomen. It will connect college students from across the country who are interested in promoting agriculture by sharing their stories. Participants will receive training and instructions from industry professionals and will enjoy access to a private forum to post information about current and emerging issues facing farmers and ranchers.
The online community will provide resources to students on key issues to help them better utilize tools such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to share agriculture's story with the public. "Social networking Web sites offer an effective platform for reaching large audiences of people who do not have farm backgrounds," Johnson Smith says. Read More
There are some really great new online tools being used by young agriculturalists that I want to highlight in the next few weeks. The first one is College Aggies Online, which will be launched on October 15. This site will allow college students to share more information about themselves and agriculture with our consumers. There are many people even within our own industry that say young people aren’t interested in agriculture anymore. I always disagree. As I have traveled across this country, I continually meet young adults that impress the heck out of me. Even just a decade ago, when I was attending South Dakota State University, we weren’t concerned about going out and actively promoting agriculture. But today’s students are not only willing to do it, they are continually seeking opportunities to do so. Check out this new forum for yourself and you will undoubtedly be impressed by those that will be posting on there.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
CA Producers Using Social Media
Blogging on the range: Farmers link to consumers via social media
Issue Date: September 23, 2009
By Ching Lee
Assistant Editor
Whether he's strolling through the corral, doing payroll at his desk or checking on a newborn calf, Stanislaus County dairy farmer Ray Prock likes to stop by what he calls his "virtual watercooler" to chat about his favorite topic: agriculture.
He does this by logging on to his Twitter account, a social networking Web site that allows users to exchange quick, frequent messages known as tweets. By firing up his computer or turning on his smartphone, Prock can get a glimpse of what people in the global community are saying—and talk back to them.
That's important, he said, because with so much misinformation out there about where food comes from and how it's produced, farmers have a responsibility to speak up and set the record straight. And with social media, they now have a tool to help them reach virtually anybody anywhere at any time.
"I started to use it as a way to put a face on the farmer and make the farmer human again," said Prock. "If you're not part of the discussion, then you are the discussion, and if you're being discussed, you might as well be there." Read More
I know many of the people in this article and have witnessed their dedication to telling the story of agriculture. In today’s world, there are more ways than ever to let your voice be heard, and specifically to let the consumer hear your voice. Many farmers and ranchers are quite nervous about talking to consumers because they are constantly seeing and hearing negative things about them and their business. Normally though, that isn’t the case. Today’s consumers are asking for the chance to meet a real farmer or rancher. It’s an incredible opportunity we have to talk with these people and tell them our story. Follow the lead of these great ag advocates.
Issue Date: September 23, 2009
By Ching Lee
Assistant Editor
Whether he's strolling through the corral, doing payroll at his desk or checking on a newborn calf, Stanislaus County dairy farmer Ray Prock likes to stop by what he calls his "virtual watercooler" to chat about his favorite topic: agriculture.
He does this by logging on to his Twitter account, a social networking Web site that allows users to exchange quick, frequent messages known as tweets. By firing up his computer or turning on his smartphone, Prock can get a glimpse of what people in the global community are saying—and talk back to them.
That's important, he said, because with so much misinformation out there about where food comes from and how it's produced, farmers have a responsibility to speak up and set the record straight. And with social media, they now have a tool to help them reach virtually anybody anywhere at any time.
"I started to use it as a way to put a face on the farmer and make the farmer human again," said Prock. "If you're not part of the discussion, then you are the discussion, and if you're being discussed, you might as well be there." Read More
I know many of the people in this article and have witnessed their dedication to telling the story of agriculture. In today’s world, there are more ways than ever to let your voice be heard, and specifically to let the consumer hear your voice. Many farmers and ranchers are quite nervous about talking to consumers because they are constantly seeing and hearing negative things about them and their business. Normally though, that isn’t the case. Today’s consumers are asking for the chance to meet a real farmer or rancher. It’s an incredible opportunity we have to talk with these people and tell them our story. Follow the lead of these great ag advocates.
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