Family Farm Friday #4: Promoting Our Product and Way of Life

"We rise early, and work hard. We are devoted to our animals whose care has been entrusted to us. They depend on us, and we are there for them because they are our livelihood as well as our passion. " ~Midwest Dairy Association

The agriculture industry frequently comes up with some pretty catchy slogans. "Beef, It's What's For Dinner." "Where's the Beef?" "Got Milk?"
I think my all-time favorite was one by the New Mexico Beef Council. It came out way back in the day.....I remember being about 15 at the State Fair and they were handing out stickers and t-shirts with the slogan on it. I remember this, becuase that year one of my friends stuck one of these bumper stickers on the animal rights people's booth and chaos insued. This is probably another blog for another day.....the one State Fair blog I've written is clearly not enough!

Anyway, my favorite slogan is simple, but I think it incorporates promoting both our product and our way of life.

New Mexico Beef: From Our Families Ranches To Your Families Tables.

That sort of tells the story, doesn't it? One family works the land and raises the cattle in order to feed the other family. This is a great marketing point that our industry needs to remember. Instead of just selling beef, we need to sell the way of life. People care about other people and enjoy hearing their stories. Obviously it is critical that we promote our products, but in doing so, if we can find ways to promote and bring awareness and understanding to our way of life, we'll be better off in the long run.

Here are a couple of great examples of this idea at work.

People Behind The Product (Midwest Dairy Association)
Faces of Rural South Dakota (Ag United for South Dakota)