Eat butter - WLNS news story

Nate Salazar from WLNS, organized by Jon Adamy at Michigan Farm Bureau, came out to talk about inflation and the effects on farms. Thanks to them for a good story!

The video is here.

You don't have to be lonely ...

Every other year, young ag people gather for a huge leadership, development, and social event - the American Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers & Ranchers Conference.  This year it was in Kansas City, Missouri.

Fellow USFRA Face of Farming rep Jay Hill and I were on a panel talking about our experience in this role and about how we are reaching out to our real life and online communities.  People asked lots of questions and it was really enjoyable!

We were also judges for the collegiate discussion meet, which is a competition where the students discuss issues in agriculture.  We judged the sweet 16 round, and we were impressed by the students' talents.

After a breakout session, a woman approached me and said she was originally from Michigan but now she and her husband farmed in Missouri.  I asked how they happened to move there, and she said that she met him online.

"What site did you use?" I asked ... because I always do.  (I have my own personal survey going and like to share the results with my single friends.)

"We met on Farmers Only," she said.

"Hooray!" I practically squealed. "You're only the second married couple I know that met that way!"

"Really?" she said. "I know a few!"

She told her romantic story of them meeting, talking on the phone for hours, driving to see each other and meet their families, and getting married within four months. She finished, "And now we've been married nine years!"

After we left, my friend Alex (who is also married but likes to help friends) said, "We should coordinate a YF&R singles event!"  A group of us started discussing the possibilities. A girl offered, "We could have nametags that designate you as married or single.  A guy offered, "Or add 'dating but willing to upgrade!'"

I sat down for lunch with different friends and relayed the Farmers Only love story. A girl said, "One of my friends asked if I was on there, and I said I would never be on there! I hate their commercials! They make farmers look like a bunch of hicks. My friend threatened to sing it and I got mad." 

Jay said, "But I bet every person in America knows that jingle."

I told them I think their commercials are hilarious. Good marketing, memorable ... And apparently it works.

She said, "Yes, but the way they reinforce stereotypes?  And the way they talk?  They make it seem like we're a bunch a rednecks!"

We discussed it for awhile. Some of their commercials definitely go for the stereotype, but some are just goofy.  (You can see the first Farmers Only commercial here.  I remember seeing it for the first time and laughing so hard.  Not so horrible ones exist like this, and there are some that celebrate riding horses, fishing, and country attire.)  

I brought up Alex's singles event idea and everyone thought it was great .... the married people could organize it for the singles, and it'd be way better than Farmers Only. These were real farmers in real life!

Later at the awards banquet, the farmer speaking said that we have chosen "the greatest responsibility" - we need to feed everyone. He went on to say that the future of farming and ranching was in that room of 1100 people, and that we all take it seriously. 

I looked around. There were college students, young people just starting out, people taking over after generations of their families doing the same thing.

The farmer asked who was a first generation farmer, and out of the entire room, four people raised their hands.  I looked to the back of the room where there were - as always during these events - tons of moms and dads standing and holding babies. Tiny babies, fat babies, happy babies. It's hard to start a farm from scratch. It's way more common to pass down the work and land you love. If Farmers Only is helping people find each other, despite their stereotyping farmers, it seemed their marketing was doing more good than harm.  

The next day, I was chatting with my Algerian electrical engineering student taxi driver. I asked him, "Have you ever seen a commercial for Farmers Only?"

"Yes," he said. "I've seen that."  He half sang, "You don't have to be lonely, at FarmersOnly.com ..."

"So, we were talking about those commercials," I said.  "Do you think they portray farmers in a negative light?"

He said, "Farmers are busy. They word hard. They are on their farms, and how do you meet anybody of you don't work somewhere else?  It makes sense."

Singles events, conferences, blind dates ...  no matter what, people are managing to meet, marry, have kids, and run farms together. The people in the Farmers Only commercials don't represent the farmers I know, (Kris has never even ridden a horse!), but the marketing seems to be working.

Maybe a suggestion?  Show farmers actually farming - but keep the jingle. If every farmer, Algerian student, and baby knows it ... you know you've got a hit.


Thank you for U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance, Michigan Farm Bureau, and the YF&R team!  Want to know more about the farm?  Like the page on Facebook, on Twitter @carlashelley, or sign up to get the blog by email - the form is on the right side of the page.

There was a casino night too ... here we are with Meghan Grebner of Brownfield Ag News after our interview

The Marriott decorated for Valentine's Day

Fun USFRA friends Paul Spooner and Jill Mantey

My Michigan people - Mark Daniels, Alex Schnabelrauch, Ricky Southward, Darcy Lipskey, and Calby Garrison

Michigan out on the town

Jay Hill farms in New Mexico, thus the cowboy hat!

Where FB stands for Farm Bureau and not Facebook

This week Kris and I were at the 96th (that's right, NINETY-SIXTH) annual Michigan Farm Bureau meeting.

I've written before about it, because I love, love going.  The people who go are fun, engaged, entertaining, and great to talk to about farming and everything else under the sun.

This year was a little different because for the first time Kris was on the policy development committee.  This meant that before the meeting he and the rest of the people go through all of the policy changes and additions sent in by local Farm Bureaus, make proposed changes, and present them to the delegate body.  (You can listen to him doing a radio interview about some of the issues here.)

The policy development committee members are divided into certain committees, and then they stand in front of the 400ish delegates and read the policy.  Through lots of parliamentary procedure, people approve or do not approve of the changes, make more changes, alter wording, and vote ... and by the end of the meeting every year we have fresh policy to guide our organization.

In between we have speakers (like Governor Snyder who also named today 'Spartan Green Day' - GO STATE!), Farm Bureau President Carl Bednarski, award winners, hold discussion meets, have social events, elect leaders, have charitable events, and have entertainment.  What's not to like?  I even jumped up to talk to Gov. Snyder and Pres. Bednarski at lunch when they were coming around to talk to people.  I'm introverted like that.

Then, it was back to the farm.  We're hauling manure, we're getting our new cows used to our place, we're modifying the feed rations, we're checking on our heifers at our heifer raiser's place, and we're thankful that we have such a large, well-run, well-meaning organization at our back.  (It doesn't hurt that they throw a great party, too.)

Here's to 96 more!

My view as a delegate

 

I love Grand Rapids

A couple of the super-fun farmers - Keegan and Annie

If you want to know more about the farm, like the page on Facebook, follow me on Twitter@carlashelley, or get posts sent to you by email.  Sign up - the form is on the right side of the page. 

Ag week

Not only is it Ag Week, but it's also reading month.  As a result, my son's preschool teachers asked parents to come in and read to the class.  

My favorite types of books to read to classes are farming-related.  I brought in a milker and some cow models ...

I love tiny chairs

And I read 'The Cow in Patrick O'Shanahan's Kitchen'.  If you're interested in doing it, Michigan Farm Bureau has lesson plans.

Great time.  The kids were cute, super attentive, and loved the cow models in particular.  They loved them so much I thought their little legs might to snap off.  (The toys, not the kids.)

If you have the chance to go read to a class, have fun!  Meanwhile, back at the farm ...

- tons of meetings this week.  We're meeting with the nutritionist and vet (together), and we have another co-op meeting.

- going to dry up a group of cows, which means we stop milking them before they calve.

- Kris is trying to schedule his entire life around NCAA basketball.  You know, work life balance.



Want to know more?  You can like my farm page on Facebook, follow @carlashelley, or get the posts in your email by filling out the form on the right.

Voice of Agriculture!

Michigan Farm Bureau puts on a Voice of Agriculture conference that helps people get ideas about promotion and get educational resources for doing outreach in schools, for adults, and to the media.  

I attended the breakout sessions on working with the media, doing lesson plans with The Cow in Patrick O'Shanahan's Kitchen (which teaches about food sources), and social media.  Then I did the motivational, go-get-em speech.  It was a blast!  Everyone was so enthusiastic and invested!  

When I was in a breakout session I met some new people - they were whispering funny things in the back of the room.  One girl is a cherry farmer!  She asked me, "Have your kids ever picked cherries?  Have YOU ever picked cherries?"  Big no to both of those.  So she immediately invited us to her farm this summer and said she'd save us some to pick.  

So obviously, the day was already a success at that point.  

Another girl had a sheep farm.  (I learned a common question for sheep farmers - "Do the sheep get cold when they're shorn?")  The background of her phone was a picture of a sheep.  Know why?  Because they're adorable.  She lives in the same area as the cherry farm ... probably should visit.

After my talk, and meeting great people, and learning about promotion and education - I ate the snack they had.  Warm, salted pretzels, which are one of my favorite treats.  The drink they provided? Milk.

Thanks to Farm Bureau!  You really know how to put on a good conference.  Inspiring, entertaining, and nutritious.

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Michigan Farm Bureau Annual meeting

This was the 95th annual Michigan Farm Bureau meeting.  95?!  So long.  This is only the seventh year we've gone.  We've gone from knowing just a couple people to it feeling like it's one big family.

What an organization!  As they state, the purpose of Michigan Farm Bureau is to "represent, protect, and enhance the business, economic, social  and educational interests of our members."  At the annual meeting, part of the program includes going through the process where farmer members adopt resolutions.  

Farm Bureau is the governmental voice for farmer members.  There's the county level, the state level, and the national level.  In Michigan we have 48,552 members and 67 county Farm Bureaus.

We love our dairy farming organizations, but in this one, it's everyone together.  Fruit farmers, vegetable producers, pig farmers, sheep ... it makes of a lot of involved people! 

And we're ... 

This year, our Michigan Farm Bureau president Wayne Wood is retiring.  He did a great job (and is a super nice person) and there were nice tributes to him.

Our Governor Rick Snyder comes and speaks each year.  He does a really good job.  I thought back fondly to the first time I saw a Rick Snyder commercial (during a Super Bowl game, where we were instructed to go to onetoughnerd.com) and I immediately did, to check him out.  We wanted to see his views on agriculture and there was nothing other than a heading with a vague paragraph.

Times have changed.  Many years later, he's considered a friend of agriculture.  Part of that is because he showed a real interest and willingness to learn.  His talk was very well-received!  And not nerdy.

We had a tribute to Dave Camp, some great young farmer awards won by friends Melissa Humphrey (from our county), Michael Noll (from our co-op), Kevin Thiel, and Ashley Messing-Kennedy.

Farm Bureau then held a fundraiser for Michigan Foundation for Agriculture where everyone could get together - right across the street at a dueling pianos place.  Another great part about Farm Bureau is that we have a reason to see friends who live far from us ...

'

Again, it doesn't matter your role in ag.  Whether it's part time, full time, supporter, selling Farm Bureau insurance, on any type of farm - we're all in it together, and it's a great way to be involved in the policy part of farming.  And the people who we've met through it?  Passionate, dedicated, outgoing people!  I can see why this has gone on for 95 years ... and I hope to go until I'm at least that age.

If you want to know more about the farm, like the page on Facebook, follow me on Twitter@carlashelley, or get posts sent to you by email.  Sign up - the form is on the right side of the page. 

The shadowy organization you’ve never heard of

Last week Kris and I stole away with hundreds of other agricultural people for our annual meeting.

There - as part of an exclusive group - we debated and discussed and voted on book-length policy.   We covered everything from tagging cattle to the definition of a full-time farmer.  Over three days, every single word of every single change in our written doctrine was voted on.

And this was just in Michigan ... the same meeting was happening all over the country. 

There isn’t an organization for agriculture (dare I say) that has more governmental influence.  Elected officials come to address us.  People want our support.  Governmental people want to be associated with us.   

What is this shadowy organization?  It's Farm Bureau.

Ever heard of it?  No, it's not just an insurance company.  (We do have a partnership with Farm Bureau Insurance.  It's different.)  For 94 straight years, people in Farm Bureau have been getting together to make sure that the government hears the voice of people in agriculture. 

When Kris and I moved to the farm we got involved with Farm Bureau because we wanted to meet other farmers.  Kris is on the local board, so through that we met fun local people.  By attending the state annual meeting and a couple national ones, we became great friends with farmers from around the state and country. 

These meetings have everyone from new moms with babies to super old farmers who have been going to these meetings since ... they were the babies being brought along.  Sugar beet farmers mix with sheep farmers and apple farmers hang out with dairy farmers.  We're all in it together, working for the good of our industry.  More voices, louder voices - hopefully better results! 

Each year, we've gotten to know more and more people.  It's so fun walking around and talking to everyone - some people that you see only once a year - and hanging out together in vibrant Grand Rapids.  Michigan State always plays UNC in basketball one night when we're there, we always go out, and every single year has ended in dancing.

So yes, this age-old organization is responsible for working with government officials to implement member-driven policy.  It's also a fantastic way to get to know other driven, involved, and outgoing farmers. 

And, probably, the closest I'm going to get to joining a secret society.



 

Farm Bureau

I'm now a contributing author on the American Farm Bureau site. My first post for them is here: Terms.