The livestock business has faced some tremendously trying times with the continued closure of the borders around the world. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like BSE is going be an issue that disappears from the spotlight any time soon.

While politics have played an unfair role in agriculture over the last couple of years, I’d encourage you to consider other key influencers in the future success of our business. Long-term, consumer understanding of the modern agriculture system will be as crucial as re-opening the borders. Studies have shown that consumers don’t understand the science and technology of agriculture, so it’s safe to assume they don’t really understand BSE or other diseases.

How are you going to create a greater understanding of what’s happening in your part of the agrifood chain? Animal welfare is another significant challenge for many aspects of the meat business. Radical activist groups are regularly citing examples about how chickens are raised in inhumane conditions, cattle are mishandled in slaughter and that diseases run rampant in processing plants.

Unless forced into public limelight, agriculturists typical response is to do nothing. I understand this is our inherent nature, but it is time to change. Opinion Research Corporation recently showed that 56-percent of Americans believe an industry is guilty if “no response” is the only answer is given. What does that mean for our bottom line we don’t respond to accusations and false science?

We don’t need to pander to activist stunts, but we do need to determine how we can be more proactive. One of the first steps in doing that is to know who’s behind the “hogwash” that’s being distributed about our industry. I’d encourage you to take a look at a few of the resources I use in my agricultural advocacy work so you can be informed on both sides of the issue as you speak out for agriculture!

• http://www.junkscience.com
  gives the story behind studies in the headlines. “If it’s in the newspaper, it is probably junk science.”

• http://www.activistcash.com
  is a great source for background information on activist groups. “Despite their innocent-sounding names, many of these organizations are financial Goliaths…”

• http://www.meetyourmeat.com
  is a gross video featuring Alec Baldwin’s voiceover filled with unlikely examples of farm animal cruelty. “Once you see for yourself the routine cruelty involved in raising animals for food…”

• http://www.goveg.com/feat/chewonthis/
  is another graphic “hip” video featuring reasons to become a vegetarian. “Because the grain used to feed animals could be used to feed hungry people.”

• http://www.consumersunion.org/campaigns/notinmyfood/about.html
  is a special project from the trusted non-profit, Consumer Reports. “Do you think we have the safest food supply in the world? Well, think again.”

• http://www.sierraclub.org/factoryfarms/factsheets/
  features rap sheets from Sierra Club on factory farms. “Groundwater is frequently contaminated by factory farm pollution…”

If you’re concerned about this type of rhetoric damaging agriculture’s reputation, I’d invite you to go to http://www.michelepaynknoper.com/AGadvocacy.html
This page is my running list of references on ag advocacy, including studies and links to topics that impact relations from the consumer plate and farm gate.

Visions of hippies running around college campuses, claims of processors dumping poisons into the water supply and zealots condemning CAFOs come to mind when environmentalists are even mentioned in agricultural circles. Earth Day? Isn’t that a time for the “greens” to band together?

Maybe it is. Or maybe Earth Day is a reason why the players across all segments of the food chain should speak out! In its 35th year, Earth Day is “a worldwide movement to protect our planet, our children, and our future.” I suggest you share are a few of these facts about the progress of today’s agriculture in each of the areas highlighted by Earth Day.

Protect Our Planet

• Modern farming techniques have led to a significant decrease in soil erosion. Low-till farming reduced soil erosion by 65% and no-till farming cut erosion by as much as 98%.

• Free range animals may be more aesthetically appealing to the general public, but reality is that today’s modern animal operations protect the environment. For example, the hog population is expected to grow from one billion to 3 billion in the next 20-30 years. Raising these extra 2 billion sows outdoors would require 800,000 square miles (about half the land area of the Amazon rainforest). Similarly, putting each of the 6 billion chickens in the U.S.on free range would require 4,300 square miles or a land area equal to New Jersey.

Protect Our Children

• Food availability increased 24% on a worldwide basis from 1961-1998. The greatest increase was in developing countries, having 38% more food available. Malnourished children were largely the beneficiaries! What role does your business play in getting protein to people who need it? Tell somebody about it!

• If the world’s farmers utilized the best and most advanced farming technologies, it is estimated they would produce enough food to feed an American diet to a world population of over 35 billion.

Protect Our Future

• Try this question on for size… “What kind of future would you have without food?”

• High-yield agriculture provides for a burgeoning population; food production will likely need to be tripled again in the next 40-50 years. How will this be achieved without modern practices that result in more food production, more efficient processing and better distribution?

If you’re tired of the myths about how agriculture hurts the environment, then fight back with facts that will open eyes. “A Field Manual for the Green War” by Pat & Colleen Tigges provided many of these statistics – see the ag advocacy page on my website for more arsenal. And by the way – I’ll let you in on a little secret – consumers won’t know this kind of information unless YOU tell them.

Every day is Earth Day in agriculture and we need to start sharing that message! If you’re being a good environmental citizen (and if you’re not, you are jeopardizing our industry), let people know why it’s important to you. Imagine this; every segment of the food chain tells consumers how we celebrate Earth Day every day. Are they as likely to believe the junk science if they’ve been given facts to the contrary?

As you move into summer, I challenge you to communicate the non-agricultural public about our industry’s role in the environment! Tell them how your agribusiness IS making the earth a better place.

Salesmanship? As an agriculturist, selling may not be on your list of favorites. Yet reality is that we all have to sell in today’s competitive business…whether it’s an idea, your products, or a service. Before you frown on having to sell; erase the picture of a “high pressure used car salesman.” Rather, consider how you can build a relationship and connect the other person’s hot buttons.

For example, let’s take a look at how selling is a part of speaking out for agriculture. After all, why should those outside the industry care about the agrifood business? The country isn’t facing starvation and until BSE hit, food safety wasn’t a huge concern to many consumers. The fact of the matter is that people won’t care about agriculture until we give them a reason to; in other words “sell” the industry to them. I’m not talking about “selling out” what’s important to us, but relating on their terms.

“Communicating strictly facts to consumers when trying to explain technology is a recipe to fail” according to an Iowa State University sociological study conducted about animal agriculture in 2002. All of us in agriculture know how critical the trust factor is within our business; we like to buy from people we know and respect. It’s no different when trying to connect our cause with people who are generations removed from the farm. The same study mentioned above found “The person who says food is safe is at least as important as the facts being communicated. Consumers rank farmers as the most credible on animal care issues.”

Perhaps you’re not on a farm or ranch, so you don’t feel like you should have to “sell” agriculture. As food moves from the farm gate to the consumer plate, each business along the way needs to shoulder the responsibility of educating the end user. After all, where would you be if there was neither a consumer purchasing that food product or a farmer working with animals?

Help put a face on the business by actively “selling” agriculture to the people who are buying our products. Here’s a seven-step sales process you can use to build their trust and understanding of our industry.

• Build rapport: Spend some time getting to know the target audience.
• Establish interest: Use the majority of your time with the target audience listening and give enough info to grab their attention.
• Identify needs: Look for hot buttons you can push!
• Offer Solutions: Connect agriculture to those hot buttons – relate from their perspective, not yours. Try offering a solution.
• Motivate into action: Give them a reason to react quickly to what you’re proposing.
• Overcome objections: Remember, ‘no’ won’t hurt you. It simply means you have to ask some more questions to identify what needs they still have.
• Gain a commitment: Don’t forget to close the deal by confirming what you’ve agreed on and any action points.

This sales process can really help you develop relationships and, in turn, credibility for the meat business. Successful business today has to include some element of selling, whether we like it or not. Rather than looking upon selling as high pressure, consider it as the art of persuasion.

You might even be able to protect your place in agriculture in the future by successfully “selling.” After all, Forbes just reported Vegetarian food sales doubled since 1998 in the U.S., hitting $1.6 billion in 2003. The market is forecast to grow another 61% by 2008. If that fact concerns you, now is the time to begin selling!

Agriculture received great news from the Supreme Court this week “Because the Beef Checkoff funds the Government’s own speech, it is not susceptible to a First Amendment compelled-subsidy challenge”. While the ruling is not a carte blanche for all producer-funded programs, the decision is a very positive sign. As a lifelong agriculturist, I believe check-offs are an excellent tool in uniting our industry to both educate consumers about different ag commodities and increase consumption.

Yet, a Dr. Seuss-like quip came to mind after hearing the news that check-offs were upheld by the Supreme Court. “How now, brown cow?” How do we make the most of the check-off programs? The results are impressive; increased awareness of pork “the other white meat”, growing support of ethanol/biodiesels, and improved consumption of dairy products. I know many talented professionals who work very hard in producer-funded programs and consistently hear them talk about how checkoffs need to do even more.

We can make the most of that brown cow by bringing the various groups together on topics of common interest such as education, leadership, and advocacy. Here’s a radical idea for our independent-minded industry: commodity and promotional groups pool their expertise on an issue they can all agree on, such as developing curriculum or programs for elementary school teachers.

Rather than having Food for America, Ag in the Classroom, soy crayons, and animals go to school (all good programs in their own right), agriculture could develop curricula encompassing all levels of the food chain. Besides the obvious advantages of producing more well-rounded material and having a larger distribution network, there would be greater funding to improve the mass appeal of the curriculum to students and teacher alike.

What if we then moved to working together more complex programs such as leadership development? I’ve had the privilege of speaking for several of the leadership programs in agriculture and see the training wheel frequently re-created. Leadership in agriculture has to be about influencing change, whether you’re growing beans, raising hogs, selling food or marketing fertilizers. Many commodity and agricultural leadership programs would benefit from each other if one group specialized in media relations, another in agricultural advocacy, and yet another focused on core teamwork skills – and they all shared their expertise with each other.

Sure, it’s tough to get together on legislative issues. Let’s start with smaller, more agreeable projects. After all, we have PETA targeting kids in the classroom, the organic movement putting out a catchy “Store Wars” video attracting attention across the internet, and a variety of other groups working diligently against modern agriculture. Is it really too much to ask to look for areas of unity when we’re getting beat up by those against modern production practices?

The diversity of the agrifood system is our greatest strength and our greatest downfall. The reality is that all parts of agriculture are connected. How can we act upon this reality? Feel free to e-mail me (mpk@mpk.info) with your opinion.