May 2015
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Hors d’Oeuvres
The Main Dish
USFRA VISION TO EARN CONSUMER TRUST IN U.S. FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
USFRA MISSION Photo Caption: USFRA CEO Randy Krotz (not pictured) honors several USFRA Board and team members with autographed FARMLAND posters during the 2015 Spring Board Meeting.
ENSURING THE VOICES OF FARMERS AND RANCHERS ARE PRESENTED IN INFLUENTIAL CONVERSATIONS ABOUT FOOD AND AGRICULTURE WHERE THEY CAN MAKE A POSITIVE IMPACT
USFRA PRINCIPLES WE BELIEVE IN: SUSTAINABILITY, DIVERSITY AND TRANSPARENCY
For Dessert: Food Connectors, the core target audience of USFRA’s consumer efforts, are deeply linked to the food world and voracious consumers of food-related media. Food connectors are more likely than the general population to be well connected to pop culture. Today more than half of Food Connectors are Millennials (18-34 years old). Over the next five years, USFRA will focus on Millennials with a sub-focus on “Super Influencers” active in the “Food Movement,” nutritionists, physicians, academics, retail and food service innovators and culinary trendsetters.
The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) Spring Board meeting, held at DuPont Pioneer in Johnston, Iowa, was successful with Board approval of the 2015 Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan was developed in January during the USFRA Strategic Planning Retreat, hosted by AFBF, in Washington, D.C. For the foreseeable future, USFRA strategic priority issues will focus on animal welfare, antibiotics and hormones, crop inputs and GMOs. In addition, sustainability will be woven into all priority programs and messaging. The core target audience remains the same – consumers. All programs will target Consumer Food Connectors who directly influence the general consumer population on food and agriculture issues. Millennials will also be highly targeted. These core audiences will be reached through four key channels: traditional earned and paid media, social media, entertainment and pop culture. As well, high profile events where food conversations are happening will be included. Five strategic objectives were identified. The first objective is to insert farmer and rancher
voices in important conversations about food and agriculture in popular culture. The intent is to create access to transparent information on how food is grown and raised and to improve understanding of American agriculture among Consumer Food Connectors and super influencers. There are initial plans to continue to expand distribution for FARMLAND, amplify conversations with food influencers through social media, events and multimedia and to continue to create opportunities for farmers’ voices to be heard in new and unexpected places. The Communications Committee will continue to play an active role in the development and implementation of the tactics. Additional objectives include collaboration with respected industry groups to create education opportunities and to enable the Ag community and its key partners to speak in one voice. It is critical our unified messages and actions are proven to earn trust with Consumer Food Connectors. A unified effort will better amplify positive messages about how food is grown and produced in the U.S. Over the coming months, USFRA will share information on specific programs as they are developed and implemented.
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Head of the Table “In the pursuit of agri-power, farmers and ranchers have been out of the running for too long” - Sister Thomas More Bertels
“In the pursuit of agri-power, farmers and ranchers have been out of the running for too long.” Sister Thomas More Bertels wrote those words in her 1988 dissertation-turned-paperback “In Pursuit of Agri-Power” where she implored agricultural groups to find consensus and communicate with consumers to gain the power they’ve been seeking for nearly a century. Today, that agri-power exists with the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance and its potential was well represented at our April board meeting. Hosted by DuPont Pioneer at their headquarters in Johnston, Iowa, we assembled people from 39 different agricultural organizations; people with a broad range of experience, talent and passion for agriculture. In fact, the potential of our group was powerful enough to attract the governor of Iowa to join us for the evening. Working cohesively, we gained unanimous approval of a new strategic plan to help guide USFRA to realize our vision: To earn consumer trust in U.S. food and agriculture and to realize our mission of ensuring the voices of farmers and ranchers are presented in influential conversations about food and agriculture where they can make a positive impact. At the board meeting, we heard updates from three key committees including the Budget Committee, chaired by Dawn Caldwell; Evaluations Committee, chaired by Lisa Lunz, and; Chairperson’s Advisory Committee chaired by Chris Novak. Specifically at the meeting, the USFRA board acted as follows: • The Budget Committee will construct USFRA’s proposed FY16 budget with the adoption of the new Strategic Plan. • The Evaluation Committee presented findings of our Faces of Farming &
Ranching Program, and our signature Food Dialogues Program while committing to making evaluation and metrics of USFRA programs an institutional component of our work. • The Chairperson’s Advisory Committee is becoming more active in assisting USFRA in our work toward the securement of required resources to fulfill our mission and programs. In contrast to previous meetings, the Communications Committee, chaired by Chris Galen, met following the Board meeting. This change was made so that the committee first received clear strategic direction, in the form of our new strategic plan, before considering new USFRA programs. Accordingly, the Communications Committee
is now hard at work on next year’s program, based on the Strategic Priorities and Program Objectives adopted by the USFRA Board. Additionally, the Audit Committee, chaired by board treasurer Mike Geske, recommended expanding the role of their group to schedule administrative audits which look at the organizations internal staff & working procedures. The USFRA Board also reiterated support for the U.S. Farming and Ranching Foundation. Articles of Incorporation have been filed and we are now scheduling efforts to adopt bylaws and formally submit the application to establish this philanthropic organization. Focusing on how to counter our detractors, USFRA CEO Randy Krotz and Consumer
Communications Manager Jill Mantey, presented an insightful overview of the power of the anti-ag forces that we continue to experience and work to counter. Social media provides an easy means for anti-ag entities to spread misinformation and pileon in validating each other’s fabrications. The presentation served as a reminder to our Board and USFRA Shareholders that vigilance and counteractions - both preventive and reactive - are imperative for representing the productive good that modern agriculture does to feed this country and the world. Sister Thomas didn’t see her dream of Agri-Power accomplished in her lifetime and we still have a lot of work to make it happen in ours. Nevertheless, her concept of agri-power is flourishing in the form of U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance.
Right of the Table
Dairy Business Milk Marketing Cooperative “The more we can come together with a common voice, the more amazing things we can do,” says Tim Trotter, executive director of the ag-newbie cooperative, the Dairy Business Milk Marketing Cooperative. DBMMC was formed five years ago. When Trotter joined last fall, one of the first things he did was to begin the “dating” process of becoming a USFRA supporting partner.
Tim Trotter, Executive Director of the Dairy Business Milk Marketing Cooperative
DBMMC’s mission is to find more ways to add value for producers. Today the organization is branching into public relations and working to improve the image of the industry. DBMMC is unique in that it has a strong pulse on the needs of its more than 500 producer members. The mission aligns well with USFRA’s and a partnership was born. Trotter is concerned because the industry is under attack. “This is a time when we need to be pooling our resources, not doing independent programs,” he says. “We need to focus our message to get the results we’re looking for.” USFRA was a natural fit, says Trotter, because the program has shown great value, is proven and has buy-in and support from all commodity groups. While the benefits of being an affiliate partner may vary among groups, Trotter says in this case USFRA was quick to act during DBMMC’s inaugural Dairy Strong Conference. The organization set up a booth and provided unique program content. Also, USFRA CEO Randy Krotz delivered a powerful message in a keynote presentation. “With the services, content and research USFRA has done, there is no way an organization of our size could do all that, so supporting the Alliance is extremely valuable for us,” Trotter says. Trotter sees his organization’s support of USFRA as a long-term one. He is impressed by how the Alliance cares for farmers, the environment, food safety and animal health and that in a short time USFRA has become a proven voice in agriculture that consumers trust. “If you really care about the future of agriculture, you must support USFRA,” he says. “The future of agriculture is going to be determined by how we communicate with our customers and our relationship with our customers.”
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The Special Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council by
Tom Slunecka
http://mnsoybean.org/msrpc The Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council (MSR&PC) was one of the first state organizations to join the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. They are like-minded in many ideas including the importance of research that enables the agriculture industry to better understand how to communicate with consumers.
Association, focuses on Ag policy.
Executive Director, Tom Slunecka notes that MSR&PC has several key areas of focus including research, water quality, new uses such as bio plastics and biodiesel and how best to prep and support the incoming crop of Ag leaders. Their sister organization, the Minnesota Soybean Growers
Minnesota has tried to reach out to consumers, explains Slunecka, but the cost and impact are varied and success is hard to measure. “As a small group, it’s difficult for us to develop talking points and create meaningful media penetration in the way a national group can do.”
Slunecka says their support of USFRA is important because its national approach provides programs and reaches consumer audiences the state organizations can’t accomplish. “USFRA is a national, credible voice delivering effective messaging to consumers.”
“Farmers, no matter where they live, are concerned about how consumers view their operations and their business practices,” stresses Slunecka. “By state Ag groups joining together under USFRA we can communicate more cost effectively. With targeted communication focused on only the top national issues, messaging can be developed and refined beyond what one group could do. By addressing the issues from a national viewpoint, our issues can be addressed with national media that have a dramatic effect on how people in individual states and regions feel about our issues.” “Research is a key component of USFRA’s work. Their ongoing consumer research allows them to know how consumers can best be reached and how best to form the messages they need to hear. Understanding how to talk to consumers is often overlooked. Effective communications is a combination of art and
Aperitif For 2016, global advocacy spending on food and agriculture related topics is expected to exceed $11 billion. This estimate is a conservative reflection of formerly reported NGO budgets. This does not include significant government, political and commercial expenditures (including organic and natural) on food and agriculture-related propaganda and marketing disparaging crop protection and plant biotech.
There is a food movement underway that is gaining momentum, and not in a positive way for conventional agriculture. There are growing attacks and more coordinated campaigns against GMOs, crop protection and animal health. Misinformation is leading the way. This is why the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) was created to counter this anti-ag movement. Early reporting suggests 2015-16 spending is anticipated to be more concentrated on combined anti-GMOs and anti-crop protection campaigns with major groups supporting these campaigns by increasing their budgets 50-100 percent.
Research suggests that socio-economic themed anti-corporate attacks on corporate lobbying and marketing practices will significantly intensify and may extend to increased “direct action” protest activities including more action to mandate GMO labeling. Positive industry initiatives are also expected to be heavily attacked. For example, the New Green Revolution is attacking endocrine disrupting chemical health and safety risk claims conflating GMOS with increased toxic pesticide dependency. This is why USFRA must continue to counteract the anti-ag campaigns through a unified, informational consumer-facing campaign. If all of us in the industry speak with one voice and tell the truth about agriculture, then consumers win.
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Tom Slunecka, Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council Executive Director
science. For example in a recent study completed by USFRA in conjunction with MSR&PC, we learned the words we typically use to talk about ag issues such as ‘precision’ does not have the positive effect you would think. It is better to use phrases such as ‘the right amount and the right time’. By sharing the key learning from this USFRA study we are not only helping the organization in our state but the often over looked allies like state and local governmental groups to be more effective in the communication they routinely place in the media,” Slunecka says. “As large as agriculture is, historically the investments we have made to promote ourselves and our products are very small. We can no longer stand as individuals if the goal is to have our voice heard on an equal level as the groups that take issues against our industry. I have spent much of my career working to pull together the resources necessary to have a substantial influence with general consumers and I understand why individual companies and state organization are reluctant to pool resources with a national consumerfacing group. USFRA is the right organization at the right time. It is today’s best tool to turn our precious resources into results that our farm families our counting on us to deliver.”
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Tasty Tidbit FARMLAND now Streaming on Netflix Todd Wurschmidt, USFRA Executive Director
Second Helping U.S. Farming and Ranching Foundation
The U.S. Farming and Ranching Foundation (USFRF) is getting closer to fruition. USFRF’s initial focus will be to raise funding to support the hosting of FARMLAND film screenings and discussions on U.S. land grant university campuses and in high schools. The USFRA Executive Committee has given its approval for the Foundation’s purpose statement:
Academy Award®-winning filmmaker James Moll’s feature-length documentary, FARMLAND, is now available for streaming on Netflix.com. FARMLAND premiered in theaters across the country in spring 2014 and has been available in retail stores since March. The availability of the documentary on Netflix provides yet another opportunity for viewers to experience the film. FARMLAND offers a firsthand glimpse inside the world of farming by depicting the lives of six young farmers and ranchers. “I’m thrilled that FARMLAND has found a new home at Netflix,”
To assemble, promote and facilitate an open and balanced dialogue through the dissemination of scientifically based information about food production, sustainability and animal welfare, and to support academic interest in agriculture through funding scholarships.
said Moll. “There’s a lot of interest out there in the next generation
There are plans to hold a Foundation Board meeting to elect Officers and once complete, the final steps will take place for USFRF to begin operations.
premium destination for documentaries and is a great opportunity
During the April 17, 2015 Spring USFRA Board Meeting, a Board Resolution was passed naming Nancy Kavazanjian the inaugural “Class A Director” to the USFRF. Chairwoman Kavazanjian has named Forrest Roberts and Don Borgman as the inaugural “Class B Directors”. USFRF will be heightening outreach efforts to recruit additional USFRF Board Members and in fundraising efforts. Todd Wurschmidt, PhD, USFRA executive director, will be assisting USFRA CEO Randy Krotz in staffing the operational responsibilities with the new USFRF Foundation.
at Walmart retail locations nationwide and via digital download
USFRF needs your help. If your organization would like to donate money to the Foundation, or is able to assist Krotz and Wurschmidt with fundraising efforts such as introductions to new supporters, please contact Todd Wurschmidt at twurschmidt@usfraonline.org or call him at 636-438-8177.
FARMLANDfilm.com.
Get connected with USFRA online.
of farmers and ranchers, and Netflix is a great venue to meet and be inspired by these six hard-working Americans.” With 57 million subscribers worldwide, Netflix is considered a to extend the reach of FARMLAND across the U.S. and into Canada. The film continues to be available for rent and purchase on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Blockbuster On-Demand, Sony PlayStation, Vudu.com, Xbox and YouTube. FARMLAND is also currently screening on major college and university campuses across the nation. Additional campuses interested in holding a screening can submit requests at