Celebrating Agriculture on National Ag Day

Caring for Animals & Creating Trust in Food

Jane Dukes, associate director of value chain & consumers affairs, speaks with Tara Vander Dussen and Brandi Buzzard Frobose. Tara is an environmental scientist, dairy farmer and online influencer. Some of you may know her as the “New Mexico Milkmaid” on social media. She’s also a mom to two adorable little girls, and the co-founder of Elevate Ag. Brandi calls herself a Kansas “cowgirl.” She’s also a rancher, mom and author of a blog, Buzzard’s Beat. She has a suite of resources to help advocate for agriculture called “Amped Up Advocacy” Both of these women are tireless advocates for agriculture with tens of thousands of followers on social media.

“I think to some extent we don't give grocery shoppers enough credit for what they can handle. There's always been a wall, like we want to give them information but not too much because we don't want to scare them off…but I feel like if grocery shoppers can see how we truly do care and we are doing what we need to do, even if that means expensive medical treatment to save an animal and a calf, that's the right thing to do.” - Brandi Buzzard Frobose

Consumers are three to four generations removed from the farm and want more information about how their food is grown and raised. Farmers and ranchers are feeling the pressure of a changing dynamic and perceptions of the food chain.

“If every single farmer and rancher shared their story online, I don't think there would be enough of us sharing. Every single farmer rancher out there is going to reach somebody different and that's why it's so important to have so many of us sharing our message is because we're going to connect and relate with people differently.” - Tara Vander Dussen

This Week’s Podcast:

• Meet Tara Vander Dussen an environmental scientist, dairy farmer and online influencer and and Brandi Buzzard Frobose a rancher, mom and author of a blog, Buzzard’s Beat
• Discover the benefits in “sharing your story” in agriculture and the trust that action can foster in consumers
• Explore the common misconceptions around “factory farming” and how this ambiguous term has created a stigma around larger operations in the minds of grocery shoppers

Click the SpeakPipe link and let us know what your questions are! We will try to answer as many of them as we can on podcasts throughout the year.