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Farmers motivate Hoosiers to stand up, speak out for ag

By MEGGIE I. FOSTER
Assistant Editor

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Grain, livestock and forage producers from across the state of Indiana converged onto the Indianapolis Convention Center last Friday to discover new ways to communicate to consumers the myths behind modern agriculture production.

During the Indiana Livestock, Forage and Grain Forum on Jan. 15, four farmers each varying in size and type of production stepped forward to discuss their individual efforts in reaching out to neighbors, community officials and consumers, in general.

Malcolm DeKryger, chairman of the Indiana Pork Advisory Coalition and vice president of Belstra Milling Company, a large-scale pork operation in northwest Indiana that markets 300,000 pigs per year, said that in everything they do, they strive to be a better neighbor.
In fact, Belstra Milling executives are in the process of working with local area officials to make Belstra a local tour attraction, where visitors can view farrowing and nursery rooms from the outside.

“You can tell someone (about what you do) all you want, but you gotta show them, the proof is in the pudding,” said DeKryger, in reference to the addition of agritourism to the Belstra portfolio.
Additional outreach efforts at Belstra in Demotte, Ind., include working with Chicago Gourmet (a Millennium Park event to celebrate food, wine and spirits in late September) to offer a series of bus tours to the swine division operation “to show the chefs how the pork they cook with is being raised. There is an awful lot of wow factor when they step foot on the farm.

“I didn’t grow up on a farm so I honestly understand the disconnect that people have with farm and food,” added DeKryger. “We need to show people that we’re proud of our farms and take the time to show them.”

Although, traditionally, grain farmers haven’t participated in the ‘communicating with consumers’ conversation, many are starting to contribute in a message of unity for the agriculture industry as a whole, including Hamilton County grain farmer George Kakasuleff.
Kakasuleff, of Cicero, Ind. is working diligently to develop and raise funds for a local public relations campaign for Hamilton County farmers, thereby, propelling a state public relations campaign for the Indiana Farm Bureau.

“We wondered how one small county could make a difference, so we decided to raise $50,000 for a local public relations campaign and if matched by the state farm bureau, we asked that a statewide public relations campaign be created,” he said. “Since then, Madison County has joined the effort and it’s just started to snowball. We don’t know how much we’ve raised at this point. But we’re excited to tell our story.”

Although, farm tour times are variable on Kakasuleff Farms with limited activity year-round except for spring planting and fall harvest, Kakasuleff is heavily involved in communicating the modern farm message through social media websites such as Twitter (@IndyFarmer) and Facebook (through a fan page under Kakasuleff Farms).

Warren Wilson, a beef producer from Orleans, Ind. was sparked to action after attending the Indiana Livestock Forum last year.
“No one has ever motivated me to action like Bruce Vincent, a logger from Montana, who spoke at last year’s Livestock Forum,” said Wilson, who operates a freezer beef business. “I’ve never heard a gentlemen speak with such passion.”

Soon after, Wilson invited his local chamber of commerce out for a farm visit and tasting buffet, upon recommendation from Vincent.
“I wanted folks to see what we’re doing out here, I cleaned the place up and had a tasting buffet,” he said. “We had a few conflicts with other events in the area, but as a whole it was a decent turnout. I was surprised how many people didn’t known how beef was raised.”

A super large-scale dairy operation on Interstate 65 in northern Indiana, is often credited as being an innovator in educating consumers about modern agriculture, but CEO Gary Corbett said there are principles at Fair Oaks Dairy that can be applied to any size operator.

The idea behind Fair Oaks Dairy, an operation that milks over 30,000 cows and welcomes over 400,000 visitors a year to its shop and tourism center, was born in an effort to develop a model milk production operation of the 21st that focused on environmental concerns, animal welfare and consumers.

“We soon began to realize that we had strategies developed to deal with one (environmental concerns) and two (animal welfare), but we didn’t have a strategy to deal with consumers,” said Corbett. “We decided early on that we wanted to go on the offensive, rather than defensive, be proactive rather than reactive. The public thinks for a reason that you’ll be biased.”

Corbett went on to discuss the “average consumer,” ex-plaining that “there are a whole lot of people in the middle that make decision on what there heart tells them, and a good deal of these folks have never visited or stepped foot on a farm. We took this opportunity to discuss the issues in modern agriculture, including dairy at Fair Oaks, and from there our tour site became operational in 2004.”

As for advice to farmers considering opening their barn tours to visitors, Corbett said “we need to take this threat very seriously and start talking. We have a tremendous story to tell and be proud of.”
Wilson added that, “I don’t care what size you are, you can still put a positive spin on this.”

Kakasuleff offered a take-away message that sums up the motto of the Indiana Livestock, Grain and Forage Forum quite well.
“Don’t be intimated by one large scale operator who has a larger budget, anyone can do this – any size – any scale. Take this as being unified, we need to stay together, we’re going to be stronger as one voice than individual voices,” he said.

1/20/2010