I'm a big fan of farm tours. BIG fan. With so many so removed from from what it takes to produce food, tours give us a great opportunity to show folks what we do. But what if they won't show up? Time to get creative.
Ag United of South Dakota sponsors a Breakfast On The Farm in multiple locations every summer. Crowds from 400 to 1000 show up for the free feed. Tour guides set up at different locations answer questions, and it's a great experience.I've talked antibiotic use, cull cows, and ionophores at these events.
But how about WAY out of the box?
In a week or so, the Central Plains Dairy Expo comes to Sioux Falls. The kickoff event is a concert by Sawyer Brown. The floor area of the arena is going to be occupied by dairy producers and dairy industry people. The seating in the rest of the place? For a $10 dollar donation to Feeding South Dakota, the general public gets to come to the concert. They get to interact with people from the dairy industry, and meet "real" producers.
Now, granted, Sioux Falls isn't a huge metropolis, as removed from the ag community as some areas, but it is still a great way to let folks see our industry,
Every year we see a lot of people, mainly kids, coming through the trade show to get a glimpse of what the dairy industry looks like. We need to take advantage of these opportunities. They are coming to us!
So if at a trade show, you see someone wandering around, slightly lost, a little bewildered, or just confused, step up. It might be your moment to AGVOCATE.
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