For a long, time, there have been many - myself included - who have been calling for good advocates for agriculture. We need articulate and intelligent individuals who can represent the food and fiber industry to consumers. That is why I was struck by what happened to me last week.

On Monday I interviewed Miss America Katie Stam, who is the new spokesperson for Indiana dairy farms. I ended the week by interviewing the director of the State Department of Agriculture, Anne Hazlett, who had just announced the new goal of her department is to be an advocate for agriculture.

While these two women are vastly different, they share a common passion for telling the story of the American farmer. They are also both products of rural America and fiercely proud of their heritage. While they will tell the story of the food and fiber system in vastly different ways, they will both contribute to a better understanding of agriculture by those not involved in agriculture.

Stam grew up in a Hoosier dairy family, and as the youngest of four children, she helped with chores on her grandparents’ dairy operation. As a 4-H participant, she showed cattle at the county fair. Last year she became the first Hoosier ever to be crowned Miss America and now has been hired by the American Dairy Assoc. of Indiana to be a spokesperson for the dairy industry.

This selection was a stroke of genius. Not only is Stam intelligent, attractive and articulate, she is constantly in the media spotlight. What better place to talk about agriculture? In fact, she told me the question she gets asked the most is how a girl from rural Indiana got to be Miss America.

This gives her the perfect chance to talk about her rural upbringing and the values learned on a family farm. She is also not shy about tackling tough issues like animal care and the environment. She speaks from knowledge and conviction about how farmers treat their animals and care for natural resources.

Those who attack agriculture often use Hollywood celebrities to pitch their lies and science fiction, and recruit muddle-headed music stars to tout their vegan lifestyles. But now, agriculture has an international celebrity who can go toe-to-toe with the best of them and make us all proud.

Hazlett did not have to win a beauty pageant to get her job as director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. She got her position by being an effective and adroit political negotiator. Her experience in both state and federal government has made her an effective political operative.

She will need this experience as she takes ISDA into uncharted waters. When announcing the agency’s revised strategic plan last week, advocacy was among the top priorities. Hazlett sees her department being involved in everything from local zoning issues to federal legislation on Capitol Hill.

She admitted that Indiana is the first state to so openly articulate the advocacy role of the ag department. Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman supports the new role saying times have changed and agriculture is facing many policy and regulatory challenges that need to be addressed.

This approach brought ISDA into a head-to-head battle with HSUS over a dog-breeding bill in the Indiana General Assembly. Skillman admitted these kinds of incidents may occur in the future. Indiana farm groups are in favor of this new role for state government.
Julia Wickard with the Indiana Beef Cattle Assoc. welcomed the resources the state can bring, but stressed there needs to be coordination among those organizations representing agriculture.
There is a history of turf battles when it comes to representing agriculture. Commodity and regional groups want to speak for their members, while general organizations want to speak for all. The American Farm Bureau Federation even calls its website “The Voice of Agriculture.”

With government now entering the fray, there is the potential for politics to become a barrier to unity and coordination. With the many regulatory and public relations challenges that agriculture faces, we need to have all the advocates we can get. But there needs to be an extreme amount of cooperation and coordination if we are to be as effective as we need to be.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.