Join the Conversation About the Food You Produce

“It’s not what you say, but what they hear.” This simple statement is the key issue farmers and ranchers must remember when communicating with key audiences about agriculture.  

For years when we talked about agriculture we told people how safe, abundant and affordable our food was in this country. Farm Bureau members learned today from U.S. Farmers and Ranchers’ research that consumers don’t connect to these messages because it isn’t a concern they have.  People are more concerned about the methods we are using to produce food and the impact it might have to consumer health.  

What does this mean?  Farmers and ranchers need to do a better job of listening to the concerns people have.  We need to let people know we hear their concerns and we want to address them.  We need to engage in conversations and acknowledge the validity of the concerns people have.  We have to earn their trust and share our personal stories.  

The most important fact for us to remember is to not be combative. We can not tell people they don’t understand or they need to be educated.  That is offensive to everyone, even farmers and ranchers.  We need to let people know we hear them and we have shared values with them without making them feel inadequate about their concerns.  We care about the same values they do and we want to improve our practices so we have continual improvements on our farms and ranches.  

So how do we find common ground?  Farmers and ranchers are using less land, water and resources to produce food.  This is a remarkable accomplishment and most people have no idea agriculture is achieving this.  This is a value consumers share with farmers and ranchers, we want to care for our environment and animals just as they do.  This is the type of information we should be sharing; it helps us earn the trust of people when we find common values.  We need to find common ground and engage in open conversations while telling our personal stories.

chrischinn is Chris Chinn, a Farm Bureau member in Missouri. She will represent her state as an alternate at the delegate session in Honolulu. She is a hog producer, 5th-generation family farmer and former chair of the national AFBF Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee. She is on Facebook and Twitter (@ChrisChinn).