What's Your PR Strategy?

Every farm should have one.
Here's why ... and here's what to do.

As producers of the safest, most secure and most abundant food and fiber supply the world has ever known, we have to expect potshots hurled in our direction from time to time. Realizing that these barbs come with the turf, so to speak, is the first step in dealing with them. Incorporating public relations into our business plans is the second step. Let’s take a look at what we mean …

A multitude of issues

There is not a producer alive who hasn’t faced the multitude of political, social and economic issues bombarding agricultural businesses today. These include:

• Neighbors complaining about farming and land use practices
• Lawsuits from animal rights or environmental activists
• Town laws restricting ag business practices
• Adversarial letters to the editor
• Lack of response from legislators
• Increased competition from world markets

… and all of this on top of endless hours, hard work, low prices and the struggle to make a profit. It sure can take the wind out of anyone’s sails.

So what’s a producer to do?

Your first step is to concede that potshots are what you have to expect when you are in a leadership position.

“Farming puts farmers in the public’s eye,” says Keith Tidball, agriculture program leader with Cooperative Extension in Ontario County, N.Y. "If agriculture is important, deserves attention, is a leader and perceived to be big … strong … dominant … then we should expect to be attacked from time to time. That’s just life.”

In other words, as long as American agriculture is the best in the world, as long as producers have neighbors and as long as consumers think it is important for their food and fiber to be produced in healthful ways, agricultural producers can expect public relations challenges.

Examples of those challenges include angry nonfarm neighbors writing a steady stream of scathing letters to the editor about a farming practice. Or worried consumers challenging the safety and soundness of pesticides used on their families’ fruits and vegetables or flowers and shrubs. Or dedicated animal rights groups stealing livestock right out of farmers’ barns or lobbying your state’s governor to dump milk as a state beverage. Or eager environmentalists painting inaccurate pictures of loggers’ harvesting practices. Or …

How you deal with challenges such as these is highly relevant to your business, and should be part of your overall business plan. You may choose to ignore these issues, and you might even get angry about them. But those responses are nonproductive.

Instead, you need to identify the day-to-day image that you and your employees want to present to the public, and you also need to create a strategy for dealing with any public relations crisis, long before it comes knocking at your gate.

Four principles for PR management

This issue of F.P. magazine offers four key principles that can be very helpful to remember whenever a PR challenge comes your way:

1. You have a powerful message to present: American food and fiber is the best in the world.

2. You are not alone: Agricultural organizations are doing a wonderful job promoting agriculture’s messages to America and the world.

3. You can get help: Ag organizations have the skills to help you develop public relations plans and successfully overcome public relations’ challenges.

4. You have tremendous consumer support: Americans respect agricultural producers. …

“American agriculture is the provider of the safest, most secure and abundant food supply that the world has ever known." - Keith Tidball Cooperative Extension.

Let’s examine each of these concepts

1. You have a powerful message

A few months ago, New York Farm Bureau brought together about 35 of the state’s livestock industry leaders for a meeting. The headline topic related to public relations issues confronting the industry, and attendees spent a lot of time talking about image problems and how to solve them.

One of many insightful messages to come out of this meeting came from Keith Tidball. Keith said, “Agriculture has a tremendous competitive advantage as an industry. Who else can lay claim to such a market in terms of demand, where 100 percent of the population is a food consumer? The challenge for agriculture is to develop a more proactive self-image that emphasizes the agriculture community’s critical role as the provider of the safest, most secure and abundant food supply that the world had ever known.”

Keith added, “When producers are comfortable and confident with this message, they can be proactive by capitalizing on it. A farmer is a symbol of strength, of security, of hard work … and of family values. These are the most American of ideals, and in the wake of 9-11, farmers and their farms have a unique opportunity to reestablish themselves as the everyday heroes of food security. America’s quality farms and committed farmers are the best in the world, quietly and resolutely serving as the vanguard of America’s security. That is American agriculture’s most powerful and positive message to the rest of America, and to the world.”

As a member of the ag community, your job is to help your community understand how food is produced and to help publicize how agriculture contributes to a strong economy by providing safe, abundant and affordable products.

2. You are not alone

Keith Tidball is just one of many articulate and outspoken individuals who work diligently to promote American agriculture’s positive message. Dozens of other talented, creative ag professionals also direct advocacy and education programs for agricultural organizations throughout the Northeast. Their organizations possess the expertise and financial resources to effectively reinforce in the minds of consumers (and voters) the benefits that farmers contribute to the food system and the environment.

Tidball and others like him are experts in media relations. They write and distribute news releases about policy issues, work closely with lobbyists, and discuss issues with reporters. They also create effective communications programs on behalf of the agricultural community. Here’s a brief look at four of these individuals and the programs which they oversee:

Joni Elliott Director,
New Jersey Agricultural Society, Trenton, N. J.

• Farmers Against Hunger connects New Jersey farmers with churches and food banks to help feed 5,000 hungry people every week. The farmers donate fresh produce, while the churches offer pickup locations, and the Ag Society coordinates this impressive effort. An added benefit is that low-income families experience the health benefits of including fresh produce in their diets.
  
• New Jersey Agricultural Leadership Development Program trains farmers in the skills of debate, listening, mediation and talking to reporters. Three graduates of this program currently sit on the state board of agriculture and a fourth was recently nominated for membership.
  
• Training programs help educators apply their on-farm visits and hands-on learning workshops into a total learning experience. In these programs, teachers learn applicable lesson plans and classroom projects from Elliott and her colleagues. The Ag Society also provides educational and resource materials that encourage future classroom experiences for children.
  
• An outdoor learning lab helps schools lay out, plant and maintain their own gardens. Curriculum materials provide lesson plans for teachers on how to apply the gardening experience in the classroom and everyday living. Elliott has discovered that this is a highly effective way to help students understand food origins and why it’s critical to ensure the survival of American agriculture.

Lorrell M. Kenney Director of public relations and promotion, New York Beef
Industry Council, Rome, N.Y.

• Beefman, a popular promotional program for New York’s beef industry, brings “ZIP” (zinc, iron, protein) into the lives of children. “Beefman” is an award-winning big, strong, cowboy like character of Paul Bunyanesque proportions who communicates the nutritional message of beef to children and adults at county fairs and other large events.
  
• A cooking segment on a local TV station regularly shows Kenney preparing her latest sumptuous beef recipes on the air — and allows her to plug beef’s nutritional benefits as well.

Alan Knight Manager of communications, New York Farm Bureau, Glenmont, N.Y.

• The New York Yankees Farm Report is a season-long feature on WCBS, the flagship radio station for Yankees baseball. During postgame wrap-ups, announcers say: “Welcome to the New York Yankees Farm Report, brought to you by the New York Farm Bureau. New York’s farmers, producers of the freshest, most abundant, most affordable food on the planet.” An alternate message states, “… New York’s farmers, rural New York’s original environmentalists. When you make your living from the land, you take care of it.” These messages, and others, reached millions of baseball fans last summer.
  
• Farm posters reinforce the fact that 32,000 New York farm families stand behind the production of food, ornamental plants and environmental quality. New York residents view the posters in town libraries, town halls, grocery stores and other sites. Knight hopes that, the next time a town planning board suggests a moratorium on farms, perhaps voters will recall the poster messages.
  
• A video called “More than Food. Farms and Farmers for New York Farms.” helps Farm Bureau members tell local community groups the story of how the production of food and fiber contributes to their town. The video is accompanied by a step-by-step guide that explains how to introduce the video and use it as the basis for a complete presentation.

“Call on the talented public relations experts from your local cooperative, industry council, Cooperative Extension or Farm Bureau.“

• A Crisis Communications Plan features a Dairy Farmer Spokesperson Network, a Health Professionals Network, Crisis Media Training and technological tools to help the council staff prepare for a crisis situation, such as countering negative letters to editors. Dairy farmers are chosen to participate in crisis media training where they practice on-camera skills under the helpful guidance of nationally known media trainers. “We like to think of our Crisis Plan as insurance,” says Rick. “We hope that we never use it, but feel confident knowing we have it in place in case we ever have to.”

Rick Naczi CEO, American Dairy Association and Dairy Council, Inc., Syracuse, N.Y.

• Proactive messaging that includes regular recipe and product
  usage features in print and on television.
  
• Regular features on television programs in upstate New York and metropolitan markets.
  
• Media train health professionals to help them better deal with dairy product issues (both positive and negative).

3. You can get help

This message is very important for your public relations efforts: Help is only a phone call away. Dozens of organizations across the Northeast provide public relations support for individual farmers and farming groups.

Start with farm organizations, such as industry councils, cooperatives, the Farm Bureau and the Cooperative Extension Service. All of these groups have experts on staff who can provide the right “spin” to support agriculture’s messages.

According to Lorrell Kenney, director of public relations for the New York Beef Council, “I ask our producers to keep us informed about what they read in newspapers or hear on television or radio. That way, we stay current with issues. We will write a letter to an editor on a member’s behalf or call a reporter to discuss an issue and offer our point of view. We ask producers to tell us about issues as soon as they hear them so we can take advantage of a narrow window of opportunity and respond immediately — while an issue is still fresh in people’s minds.”

Like Lorrell, Monica Novelle Coleman, director of communications for Dairylea Cooperative, Inc., also offers a wide variety of public relations support.



Monica Novelle Coleman Director of Communications, Dairylea Cooperative, Inc., Syracuse, N.Y.

Monica says, “I prepare Dairylea members for an interview with a reporter by role-playing possible questions and answers with them. If a member prefers, I will talk to the media on his or her behalf. Or I can help a member organize a town meeting so we can give consumers and journalists take-home messages regarding the agricultural point of view. In addition, Dairylea offers members answers to frequently asked PR questions in our monthly newsletter. We offer extensive farmer training for members who want to become spokespersons for the industry. And we can target our advertising to address a current issue, such as the safety of the food supply.”

When talking about media relations, Monica advises, “The media are hungry for facts. With the exception of a few biased ‘journalists,’ reporters truly want to write a balanced story, but they are overworked, and many times don’t have the tools or time to follow a story.

“We are the experts. We know how to make a reporter’s job easier by providing information and getting them in contact with articulate ag advocates. At the same time, we also know how to take advantage of each opportunity, or ‘teaching moment,’ to reinforce our message with reporters.”

4. You have consumer support

“Unfortunately, the people who write letters to the editor every day seem to have a larger voice than they really do. If you do a little research, however, you’ll probably find their opinions do not reflect those of the entire community,” says Monica Novelle Coleman.

“Research shows that the general population overwhelmingly admires farmers and farming."

Research tells us that Americans overwhelmingly respect farmers and support the concept of the family farm. Americans view farmers as hardworking and providers of a valuable service. A recent survey of consumers tells us that the public wants to learn more about farming practices from farmers themselves. They want to know the benefits and the drawbacks of food production techniques.

“As a producer, you must be cognizant of consumer concerns. This doesn’t mean that you stop your farming practices, but you need to be responsive,” says Keith Tidball. “Listen to consumers. Keep your fingers on the pulse of your community. Network with ag associations.”

It all adds up to just plain good business practices that can go a long way toward promoting goodwill — and enhancing your bottom line.

Click here for Quick Tips for Dealing with Media

This article first appeared in the Spring 2003 issue of Financial Partner magazine. You can receive this FREE publication by clicking here.

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