9 minute read
Finding Common
Being the voice
Paige Hepp was raised on her family’s multi-generational farm in Treynor. From there, she was sharing stories from her family’s farm, admiring the outreach efforts of Sara Ross, a farmer, wife and mother in Minden. CommonGround became an opportunity for Hepp to take an active role in ag advocacy.
“I got involved because I wanted to be that voice of agriculture, especially for women. It’s a very male-dominated industry, so it’s nice to have that women’s perspective because it’s a lot different,” Hepp says.
She married James, a firstgeneration farmer sharecropping with another farmer near Rockwell City. James and Hepp are working with the farmer to someday make that farm their own.
She says CommonGround is expanding opportunities to tell their farm story beyond their local community.
“I’m not just speaking to the farming community, but to consumers as well. I want them to understand where their food comes from and how we’re taking care of the ground we’re raising our crops on,” Hepp says.
Pivoting through a pandemic
Though COVID-19 has hindered efforts to host events in person, CommonGround has pivoted by reaching out through social media platforms. CommonGround Iowa’s Ladies Linked Week on Facebook brought together more than 1,000 women to share everything from farm tours, favorite holiday recipes and howtos in home décor. It’s one example of CommonGround’s work in connecting women and consumers through shared interests.
“As an individual, I’m not just the farm,” Plagge says. “It’s a huge part of my life and at certain times of the year it probably really is what I am, but there are other parts of me. CommonGround helps weave it all together.”
Building community
Hepp says she’s found a community of supportive women by being involved in CommonGround.
“I recently got married and moved 2.5 hours north away from family and friends, so I’ve been missing a community per se. The CommonGround group has been a community of gals I can lean on, even if it’s virtually because of COVID-19.”
TIPS
Want to share your farm story but don’t know how? Here are a few tips: 1. Start by posting a video or photo of your morning chores. “There’s a lot of people who think they know what’s going on on your farm, but you’re the only one who really knows,” Plagge says. “Sharing on your own social platforms, even if it’s your Facebook page to your own family and friends, is a starting point.”
2. Just start. “We need to share everyone’s farm story, no matter how small they think it might be,” Hepp says. “It could be really liberating, even for others to hear your story.”
3. Diversify your content.
“Farming isn’t the only thing we do, so make sure you’re sharing all of your passions,” Plagge says.
“Anytime you can share pictures of kids or dogs or yourself, those go over really well.”
Contact Bethany Baratta at bbaratta@iasoybeans.com.
Val Plagge has amplified her advocacy voice by participating in CommonGround and engaging in conversations about agriculture.
Ethan Crow feeds hay to his cattle after a fresh blanket of snow fell at his Marshalltown farm.
Harnessing Consumer Curiosity
Iowa Food & Family Project creates long-term, pandemicresistant consumer connections
The pandemic has brought food into the headlines unlike ever before.
Local television news segments spotlight panic purchasing at the meat case, radio stations interview resilient restaurant owners and social media influencers jump on bread baking and canning trends.
The increased headlines and shared human experiences of COVID-19 have sparked consumer questions about the role of Iowa agriculture in feeding families, communities and nations.
“When things hit in March, I had people reaching out to see how they could buy beef, eggs and even wheat directly from my family,” says Ethan Crow, a farmer from Marshalltown. “What started as a simple transactional question grew into an opportunity to share my story as a farmer.”
Like Crow’s experience, harnessing
BY KELLY VISSER
consumer curiosity about food and building it into a larger conversation is a key strategy of the Iowa Food & Family Project (Iowa FFP). The agricultural awareness initiative was created by the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) and is dedicated to building consumer trust in modern agriculture.
Iowa FFP’s trust-building work centers on uniting farmers and food-minded consumers for open, honest and relevant conversations about today’s food system.
Over the past decade, Iowa FFP has seen consumer questions range from cooking tips and nutritional insights to an interest in environmental sustainability, biotechnology and farm business models. But in 2020, the consequences of COVID-19 dominated consumer queries.
According to the 2020 Consumer Pulse Survey, an annual poll conducted by Iowa FFP, 51% of Iowa grocery shoppers were surprised by the impact COVID-19 had on the food supply chain.
In the past nine months, Iowa FFP has fielded an influx of consumer questions ranging from “Why are dairies dumping milk?” to “How can I support Iowa farmers through this crisis?” on its social media channels and website.
“I think some of the headlines caused people to think more about where their food comes from,” says Crow.
Listening for questions
Any worthwhile conversation starts with a good question.
That’s why Iowa FFP works diligently to understand what food and farming topics are on the hearts and minds of Iowa consumers. All year long, Iowa FFP prompts consumers to share their opinions and questions in flash polls, focus groups and its Consumer Pulse Survey.
“I feel like my voice is heard,” says Anita McVey, a food blogger from Boone while reflecting on participating in an Iowa FFP focus group. “But it goes beyond the perspective I bring to a focus group. It amazes me how differently a group of people can view food … you don’t often realize it until you’re all around a table talking.”
Layering the qualitative data from focus groups with the quantitative findings from the annual Consumer Pulse Survey helps shape the issues, topics and themes Iowa FFP addresses.
Worthwhile conversation
With consumer questions in hand, Iowa FFP turns to farmers and industry experts for answers. It often taps on volunteers from the ISA Communications Squad or CommonGround Iowa networks to help lead the conversation.
Last spring, Iowa FFP coordinated with Crow to record a virtual soybean field tour, asking him to address the basics of planting, seed treatment and conservation practices.
“It’s pretty cool that people could get a close-up look at farming through a simple video. I think this kind of outreach can help clear up misconceptions or answer questions people might have as they drive by tractors in a field,” says Crow who is a member of ISA’s Communications Squad.
The real power of Iowa FFP is its ability to bring these types of thoughtful, relevant farmer insights to its consumer audience. The initiative has an opt-in audience of more than 135,000 food-minded consumers across its Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Fresh Pickings eNewsletter and quarterly Fresh Pickings magazine platforms. “Working with Iowa FFP allows me to join the conversation on food and farming on a larger scale,” says Crow. The spring planting video Crow created received 4,100 views after being shared on Iowa FFP’s Facebook page. Despite a year of social distancing, Iowa FFP’s powerful channels continued to spark meaningful conversations. Since the pandemic began, the initiative shifted from its traditional in-person events – like farm tours and Iowa State Fair outreach – to put an added focus on farm tour videos, radio promotions, Fresh Pickings magazine distribution and social media sharing.
“No matter if it’s a farm tour, interview or social media video, I am always so impressed with the farmers I meet through Iowa FFP,” says McVey. “They are so gracious to openly share about their livelihoods and family histories with consumers like me. Our conversations really stick with me.”
Contact Kelly Visser at kvisser@iasoybeans.com.
— Ethan Crow, farmer from Marshalltown
Communications Squad participant Dave Struthers (center) shares his experiences with participants at a 2020 meeting.
Sharing Our Story
From farmer to consumer and beyond
BY KATIE JAMES
In a world where more than 70% of American consumers use at least one form of social media, it’s no surprise the majority (55%) now get their news from digital platforms, according to the Pew Research Center.
For farmer Klint Bissell of Bedford, he knew when his 13-year-old son started an Instagram account to promote agriculture, he needed to keep up or get left behind.
“Someone is going to tell the story of agriculture, and if you always leave it up to someone else, then you have no control over how it’s told,” Bissell says. “If you want it to be told the right way, then you have to help tell it.”
The southern Iowa farmer is one of more than two dozen to have participated in the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) Communications Squad in 2020. Bissell and his wife Aimee are participating again this year.
The Communications Squad is a value-added program for ISA members driven to empower farmers to be better spokespersons for the soybean industry. Originally created to keep farmers atthe-ready for the hundreds of media inquiries ISA receives each year, the group has evolved in its fourth year to promote agriculture and the soybean industry in all facets of communications, including social media.
Aiming to post a picture or video of his row crop farming operation daily, Bissell operates his newly formed Instagram account with the objective of simply making agriculture more visible – something, he says, that doesn’t come naturally.
“I think the more you do it, the more comfortable you get,” he says. “There’s a need – a demand, even – for farmers to talk to people and tell your farm’s story.”
That need is at the backbone of the Communications Squad. Professional media training, updates from industry experts, opportunities to meet and speak with reporters and guest speakers, help propel participants to actively speak up for modern farming. Partially funded by the soybean checkoff with support from industry partnerships, the group serves as a way for farmers to stay connected to ISA while learning skills that benefit their farm and the industry.
Beyond the comfort zone
Lacona farmer Randy Miller says being a communicator has always been outside of his comfort zone, too. As Miller joins the Communications Squad again in 2021, he reminds other farmers that speaking to non-ag audiences is vital to supporting the world of agriculture.
“I’ve been the guy who got up every morning and went to work,” Miller says. “Even though I knew it was important to do, I didn’t make time to be a communicator because frankly, I didn’t enjoy it. I preferred to be behind the scenes.”
