CUT. RAKE. BALE REPEAT.™

From first cut to last bale, New Holland hay and forage equipment helps you make top-quality hay and make it more productively—day in and day out. That’s the advantage of our over 125 years of invention and innovation. New Holland haytools save you time and money, all while maximizing quality and feed value. You’ll also work more confidently, knowing your local New Holland dealer is there with unparalleled service and support when it matters most. Cut, rake, bale, repeat—no one does hay better.

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Right now, consumers’ top reason for reducing their meat consumption is price, but as the price of beef has been slowly coming back down in 2023, other reasons may cause them to pause before they pick up a package of beef or order beef on a menu. Some of the other reasons consumers say they are reducing their meat consumption include2:

• 33% of consumers have concerns about the healthiness of eating meat.

• 28% have concerns regarding antibiotics, hormones and chemicals.

• 27% are concerned about the environment.

• 25% are concerned about animal welfare.

Sharing more of the story of what farming and ranching truly looks like can help consumers avoid assumptions that make beef a concern for them. Let’s look at an example I shared during Cattlemen’s College — distillers’ grains. When I hear about a cattleman feeding distillers’ grains, I don’t give it a second thought. But put yourself in the consumers’ shoes for a minute — we’re feeding cattle the spent grains from making beer? A consumer may think that doesn’t sound particularly nutritious. And, if they’re unfamiliar with the process of making alcohol or ethanol, they may even think cows can get intoxicated from these grains (yes, I have been asked about this before). As a consumer, not understanding the nutrient value and the awesome way we use a byproduct as feed may cause me to reconsider my next cheeseburger craving. See how easy it is for misinformation or a gap in information to dissuade a person? This is an assumption that we can easily correct by sharing information more often with our consumers. Distillers’ grains contain a lot of fat and protein that provide energy for cattle, and it’s earth friendly as these grains had otherwise out lived their potential. But consumers won’t know unless we tell them.

According to a 2022 Gallup Poll, 57% of Americans have a positive view of the U.S. farming and agriculture industry. This is the second highest of any business sector they surveyed — the restaurant industry came in ahead of us at 60%.3 Furthermore, 58% of consumers trust beef ranchers to produce a healthy product and 51% trust that we’re treating animals humanely.4 While none of these numbers are earth-shattering, they’re still positive. They show that even if consumers don’t trust “big ag” and what they perceive as “factory farming,” they do trust producers. Their confidence is in the individual cattleman. Lucky for us, your stories are exactly the ones consumers need to hear.

So how do we, as an industry, start to tell our stories? One way is harnessing the power of social media. I know posting about your farm can be really intimidating. I do meat marketing all day, every day and still get a little nervous when I’m posting about the farm on my personal Facebook or Instagram pages. My hope, though, is to make it easier — even if it’s still intimidating. There are four steps to getting started:

1. Pick your platform:

Facebook and Instagram are both safe bets if you’re new to posting on social media. One of the great things about both is that, with personal accounts, the folks who will see your post are people you’ve intentionally connected with. This is a great way to dip your toes in and get comfortable sharing your story. I know when I post on Facebook, I always get overwhelmingly positive feedback. I know you may feel like you are preaching to the choir — other farmers and ranchers. You are, but every one of us in ag have friends who are not, and as your message is liked or commented on, those friends begin to see it in their feed (Tip: Be sure you make your farm education posts public so they can be seen by a wider audience).

2. Share photos or videos:

Content with a visual component performs better on social media because it gets attention faster. It has the added bonus of showing folks what life on the farm is like. If you’re worried the photo shows

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TEXT BEEF TO 877-319-2142

Continued from page 48 something that consumers don’t understand or are making wrong assumptions about, great! Now you have the opportunity to explain it. With our added human touch, that scary chute we use when vaccinating animals can be equated to a parent’s embrace while their young child is getting their shots.

3. Be a bit vulnerable:

Sharing part of your story and the emotions you’re feeling is a big part of this ask. Emotions in a post allow others to relate to your story and feel connected to both you and your ranch. Show that despite the blizzard raging outside, you’re still out in it assisting the one momma who is calving. Show the absolute excitement and joy that comes during calving season or harvesting a bountiful crop. Show the highs, show the lows, and show that real humans are doing this work every day.

4. Get help:

I know for a lot of cattlemen (my dad included), that iPhone in your pocket is for phone calls and maybe sending a text or snapping a picture. Asking you to even think about Instagram or Facebook is a lot. That’s okay! Hand the phone to the “youngins” that you’re desperately trying to get engaged on the farm. Let them take the photos and videos for you. Let them post on your Facebook. Let them do a silly TikTok dance with your cattle watching from behind. They’ll be engaged, and you’ll be sharing your story. That’s a win for you, for them and for the cattle industry.

The wannabe racecar driver that zooms around me during my drive may have a valid reason for driving that fast. Maybe his kid is about to undergo surgery, and he’s racing to the hospital. Maybe he got a call that his house is on fire. Maybe my assumptions about why he’s driving so dangerously are totally off base. And maybe our consumers’ assumptions are the same way — simply not based on all the facts. The only way we can change that is to give them the facts.

Our industry is working toward one goal — consumers happily enjoying beef as a regular part of their meals. But they need our help to make meat a priority. If we don’t tell our own story, they’ll either hear it from somebody else (which we don’t want) or they’ll fill in the gaps with their own assumptions. The only way to stop that is for us to tell our stories and show them what life on the farm really looks like. I’ll keep sharing glimpses from my little corner of Kansas. I hope that you, too, will consider what part of our industry’s story you can tell.

For inspiration, follow Midan Marketing on social media to see how we are sharing the stories of our clients and their producer partners.

Sources

1. Frank Han, Yale Scientific: How the Brain Saves Energy: The Neural Thermostat, September 2010.

2. Anne-Marie Roerink, Principal, 210 Analytics LLC, The Power of Meat 2023, Report sponsored by Sealed Air Food Care Division/ Cryovac® and Published by FMI and the Foundation for Meat & Poultry Research & Education

3. Gallup, Image Ratings of Several U.S. Industries, September 2022

4. NAMI Protein PACT, Trust in Industry Webinar, June 2022