Agricultural News
Ag Advocates Connect with the Consumer
Tue, 08 Oct 2013 11:21:04 CDT
South Dakota ranchers Troy and Stacy Hadrick founded Advocates for Agriculture in 2006 as a way to motivate fellow producers to tell their stories to consumers. Today, the couple travels several weeks a year sharing tips and methods connecting with the non-ag community.
"If we can go on the road for a couple of days, if we convince one other producer to go out and make telling their story part of their chore list as well, like we do, then that's only helping us out, too," Troy says.
"We also really feel like there's a strategic need for us to be out there connecting with people about what we're doing because, I believe, if I don't do that my children won't have the same opportunities in agriculture and that's what motivates me to continue to get out there and connect with people every day," Stacy says.
While most of their speaking engagements are geared toward those in agriculture, they do get to spend time at consumer events talking to the urban population about their ranch.
"It's one thing that we've noticed: when consumers get to actually talk to a farmer/rancher, which is something most people don't get to do any more, they really want to learn, they're interested in what you have to say, and they really trust what we're doing. They want to know that we care about our cattle. They want to know that we care about the food that we're providing them," Troy says.
As the Hadrick's seek to raise awareness among those purchasing the beef they produce, it makes them ever more conscious of that product.
"When I was in college, I was on the meat judging team at South Dakota State and that was really my first exposure to the other side of the industry. The product that I was raising, was feeding at home every day, now ended up on somebody's plate. I got to see that whole process and started to understand why it was important for me as a rancher at the cow-calf level to be really concerned about that experience. So, that was my first exposure to it. And now we go out and get to interact more with consumers as we travel across the world now and visit with them and hear about things they're interested in. I think it drives this home even more," Troy says.
As a result, the Hadricks have made management changes in their own herd such as implementing low-stress handling and an extensive A-I program to continue to improve genetics.
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