Beef Runner Podcast - Food, Farming and Agriculture Advocacy

I must say that I live in my boots. I like all kinds of boots, cowboy boots – fancy and plain, dress boots – tall and short, snow, rain, muck and work boots – yup I like them all. I feel comfortable in my boots, they are part of my everyday life on our family farm. But there are many times every year when I trade the comfort and casualness of my boots for the not so familiar formality of suits. – Deb Gangwish, From Boots to Suits

On episode 026 of the Agriculture Proud podcast, Ryan visits with Nebraska farmer and rancher, Deb Gangwish during the 2017 Bayer Agvocacy Forum in San Antonio, Texas.

Deb and her family raise corn, soybeans, and cattle in central Nebraska on two different locations that are three hours apart. While the distance creates some challenges for the logistics of her own operation, Deb says some of the greater challenges for Nebraska agriculture today include labor, asset utilization and making sure to plug the right people into the right positions to do the job to the best of their ability. Sound familiar for most small business operations?

While the Gangwish operation is a family farm, they’re still a large operation and have learned that advocacy is an important part of conducting business in 2017. Deb advises that an investment in advocacy isn’t always a monetary return. Sometimes that takes the form of reaching out to our customers through the work of organizations like Common Ground, and at other times it includes building business relationships in the community.

For Deb, advocacy is a two-way street, which includes bringing the farm to those who may not have the opportunity for that experience. Working with state and national legislators is an important form of advocacy for farmers and ranchers so that they can hear personal stories to better understand the impacts of policy and legislation.

When we find ourselves in situations where others disagree, Deb has good advice, saying it’s important to take a breath and seek to understand where common ground may exist.

As a part of the Bayer blogger program, I am not compensated for sharing this information, but am thankful for Bayer Animal Health helping me contact experts on important topics impacting our cattle and livestock business today. As always, thoughts shared are my own. Learn more about Bayer’s efforts to support agriculture advocacy by joining the AgVocate Facebook group.

I hope you enjoy this episode of the Agriculture Proud podcast. Check out all my episodes at BeefRunner.com/podcast.

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Want an opportunity to do research with Jack Daniels? Have you considered studying cattle nutrition? Well, I didn’t get to drink any JD as part of the work, but we did get to use some of their by-products from distilling as feed for beef cattle.

On Episode 025 of the Agriculture Proud Podcast, Ryan Goodman and Carrie Mess continue the Over A Beer series talking about hot topics in agriculture. This week, Carrie turns the table on Ryan to ask several questions about the world of beef cattle.

And Carrie doesn’t start off easy.

We talk about the import of beef from Brazil and concerns that have been expressed surrounding that import and export. And of course, associated with that conversation comes a discussion on Country of Origin Labeling.

Instead of reiterating numbers and resources, I’ll direct you to the blog post for this episode with answers and specific links to questions and topics addressed.

Thanks to our sponsors (if we had sponsors) – Spotted Cow Beer from New Glarus Brewing for the hydration and to Crawfish Junction for the location for the discussion.

Be sure to hop on over to Carrie’s Blog, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to connect with her. If you’re interested in helping your business learn more about involving social advocates in your outreach and marketing strategies, or if you’re an advocate looking to get involved, check out GROW Influencer Group.

I hope you enjoy this episode of the Agriculture Proud podcast. Check out all my episodes at BeefRunner.com/podcast.

Like what you see here? Sign up for my newsletter to be notified of future stories and weekly headlines. Click here to sign up.

On Episode 024 of the Agriculture Proud Podcast, Ryan Goodman and Carrie Mess continue the Over A Beer series talking about hot topics in agriculture. This week’s Ryan quizzes Carrie with frequently asked questions about dairy farming.

Thanks to our sponsors (if we had sponsors) – Spotted Cow Beer from New Glarus Brewing for the hydration and to Crawfish Junction for the location for the discussion.

Be sure to hop on over to Carrie’s Blog, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to connect with her. If you’re interested in helping your business learn more about involving social advocates in your outreach and marketing strategies, or if you’re an advocate looking to get involved, check out GROW Influencer Group.

I hope you enjoy this episode of the Agriculture Proud podcast. Check out all my episodes at BeefRunner.com/podcast.

Like what you see here? Sign up for my newsletter to be notified of future stories and weekly headlines. Click here to sign up.

We’d be lying if we said occasionally getting into a fight with activists isn’t fun and entertaining. But it is also exhausting and can make you look like a fool.

On Episode 023 of the Agriculture Proud Podcast, Ryan Goodman and Carrie Mess continue the Over A Beer series talking about hot topics in agriculture. This week’s topic is activists we encounter and how to handle the situation.

Ryan and Carrie both have some experience dealing with hateful comments online. Whether it be writing about controversial topics on CNN or encountering a coordinated vegan attack, these experiences have taught a few lessons about handling the situation.

While fighting vegan or animal rights activists online may feel good, that is not agriculture advocacy. Other people can see crazy too, so sometimes it is best to ignore the people on extremes that will never change their point of view. We should spend more time worrying about those in the movable middle who have honest questions.

When you do find yourself being the target of a hateful activist, it is OK to take the high road. It doesn’t make you a smaller person to back away from a conversation or delete hateful comments. And understand everyone isn’t an activist, sometimes people have genuine questions or concerns.

Let us know what you think about activism online and how to handle these situations. Or feel free to ask us any questions.

Thanks to our sponsors (if we had sponsors) – Spotted Cow Beer from New Glarus Brewing for the hydration and to Crawfish Junction for the location for the discussion.

Be sure to hop on over to Carrie’s Blog, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to connect with her. If you’re interested in helping your business learn more about involving social advocates in your outreach and marketing strategies, or if you’re an advocate looking to get involved, check out GROW Influencer Group.

I hope you enjoy this episode of the Agriculture Proud podcast. Check out all my episodes at BeefRunner.com/podcast.

Like what you see here? Sign up for my newsletter to be notified of future stories and weekly headlines. Click here to sign up.

Everyone aside from those too young remembers the iconic television commercials with Sam Elliott, a catchy tune and the phrase – Beef, It’s What’s For Dinner. But what happened to those ads? Many ranchers complain because these ads aren’t front and center. Why aren’t our Checkoff programs spending $5 million for a 30 second Super Bowl ad? [Read in as an angry complaint]

In Episode 022 of the Agriculture Proud Podcast, Dairy Carrie and Ryan continue their Over A Beer Series, with a conversation about beef and dairy checkoff programs.

I discussed some of the recent news around the Beef Checkoff in an earlier post. For this podcast episode, Carrie and I carry on the conversation and discuss our experience with these programs.

We’ve found that many critics love to complain, but don’t show up to state or national checkoff meetings to express their concerns, reach out to ask their state directors, or even show up to experience Checkoff programs working with consumers.

Checkoff programs aren’t doing the same things they were 40 years ago. Consumers aren’t consuming content or making food purchases the same way they were even 5 years ago. We have to adapt to those changing trends.

What’s the solution? You’ll have to listen to the podcast.

You can learn more about the Beef Checkoff at BeefBoard.org and BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com.

You can learn more about the Dairy Checkoff at Dairy.org and DairyGood.org.

Thanks to our sponsors (if we had sponsors) – Spotted Cow Beer from New Glarus Brewing for the hydration and to Crawfish Junction for the location for the discussion.

Be sure to hop on over to Carrie’s Blog, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to connect with her. If you’re interested in helping your business learn more about involving social advocates in your outreach and marketing strategies, or if you’re an advocate looking to get involved, check out GROW Influencer Group.

I hope you enjoy this episode of the Agriculture Proud podcast. Check out all my episodes at BeefRunner.com/podcast.

Like what you see here? Sign up for my newsletter to be notified of future stories and weekly headlines. Click here to sign up.

Statements in this podcast are my own and do not represent my employer, NCBA, or the Beef Checkoff.