Dairy Farmers Speak Out!
Yesterday morning I had the chance to visit with Sherry Newell, Industry Relations and Communications Manager for the Midwest Dairy Association (MDA). This group is financed and directed by the dairy producers in nine states – Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Eastern Oklahoma. Sherry was able to share with me some information on the latest promotional initiatives MDA is working on – People Behind the Product and “Speak Out!”
One of the newest ways for dairy producers to get involved and be a part of a promotional program, People Behind the Product emphasizes who dairy producers are – Dedicated, Responsible, Neighbors, The Future. The MDA website, www.midwestdairy.com, appropriately defines the dairy producer in these four areas and displays pictures of real-life dairy farm families on their operations. We are the “people behind the product” and it is our job to be the promoters of our product – that’s just good business sense. We need to keep our customers informed about dairy farming and milk production.
In late 2006, a toolkit called “Speak Out!” was introduced, accompanied by a training session for producers. This program encourages dairy farmers to make presentations to community groups in an effort to help them understand dairy farming more completely and to provide a personal connection to a dairy farmer in their area. The first training session was held in December and more are being organized. To date, 70 presentations have been scheduled and 50 have been completed.
“The ‘Speak Out!’ program is an ideal way for dairy producers to get involved and talk about what they do on a daily basis,” Newell shared. “We provide the training, resources, and practice sessions to prepare them. Then a scheduler with MDA works with each producer to arrange presentations in their area.” A minimal amount of extra effort is required by the producer to get these presentations set up.
The society of consumers in our country wants to know more about how their food is produced and wants to be able to ask questions and be given truthful answers. We need to provide them with a “winning message” that addresses their fears and concerns, uses the right words and presents it all with a simple delivery style. For example, prepare short answers to these top current concerns of consumers: Animal Care, Food Safety, Environment and Nutrition. The ‘Speak Out!’ program helps producers do just that.
Now, you might be saying to yourself, “But Im not in the nine state region of the Midwest Dairy Association. How can I ‘speak out’?” It may take a little more time and additional initiative on your part, but I guarantee you that the resources are out there for you to do something like this in your community. A simple call to your local chamber of commerce could put you in contact with groups that would be interested in having you come speak to them. Not to mention the wonderful audience your son or daughter’s school classroom can provide! I”m positive you don’t need a crown to catch their attention – although it does help! Speak out and be your own dairy prince or princess!