Honoring those that motivate us

In my lifetime few people have had as great an impact on my passion to explain Agriculture and get the Farmers story out there than Michele Payn Knoper (MPK). It is now time for me to help honor her for her passion to get farmers to tell there story. I first met MPK several years ago while attending the Young Dairy Leaders Institute (YDLI). This was my first experience in a leadership program and boy was I uncomfortable but in a good way, as I soon came to realize that learning to function in an unfamiliar environment would be a great asset in speaking out for Agriculture. Fast forward a few years and again MPK was there encouraging me to speak out for my industry this time with a new form of media we have all grown to love “Social Media” . I had just  started using Twitter to “put a face on the farmer” as many have heard me say, and MPK was htere pushing me to meet my potential.

It is now time for me to honor MPK and encourage people to nominate her for Mashable’s Twitter user of the year. MpK believes she is not deserving of this award, however her humbleness just adds to the reasons to nominate her. One of the greatest tools Agriculture has to connect is her brainchild, Agchat a Twitter based chat on Ag is held every Tuesday evening with the exception of the 3rd Tuesday of the month when Foodchat is held. I was given the honor of being the guest moderator for Agchat tonight 10/27/09 and could not help but fell like “Wow the Master Agvocate is letting me take her sports car for a spin, don’t wreck it”! Mpk is well deserving of the award as a great representative of Agriculture and speaking out to tell our story. Please vote daily for a great Agvocate!

Quick update

Unfortunately I have neglected to make any new posts. I am working on some new stuff so keep an eye out for it in the coming days.

Dino Giacomazzi nails it again.

This is getting scary how Dino is taking the words right from my mouth! He lays it out on the hijacking of the money that was to be used to clear cheese inventories and give the product to those who can use it.

http://dinogiacomazzi.com/2009/10/washington-quit-politicking-feed-the-hungry-help-your-dairy-families/

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Sensationalism and the Animal Rights movement

Below is a link to a blog post by a fellow California Dairyman Dino Giacomazzi. Dino does an awesome job highlighting the unnecessary pressure and sensationalism some Animal right groups are using to ban the docking of Cattle Tails in CA. This is all unnecessary because no farm or dairy group opposes the ban and one group even supports the ban now that the farmer can provide prompt care for an injured animal.
I’m not a farmer but I play one on TV!

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A Dairy Goddess’s Blog

Another great dairy farmer blog. Barbara and I were both in the same CA Dairy Leaders Class and I am excited to see her engage in the use of Social Media.

A Dairy Goddess’s Blog

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My comments on:Op-Ed Columnist – Food for the Soul – NYTimes.com

Mr. Kristof,

You really do cast a wide net with your statement “It’s not just that it produces unhealthy food, mishandles waste and overuses antibiotics in ways that harm us all.” It is very disheartening to myself a member of a family farming operation to be painted with such a broad brush.

As long-time dairy farmers, my family and I care deeply about our profession and are committed to doing what’s right for our community, our animals and natural resources, while producing dairy products that are safe, affordable and healthy.
Today, through lessons learned from previous generations we can operate our dairy more efficiently to remain economically viable. Modern technology enhances individual animal care and attention; for example, using my cell phone I can now access whole-health history for each cow at any time. Modern freestall housing keeps our animals comfortable and healthy – protecting them from weather extremes, predators and disease. Our herds health is checked at a minimum of every two weeks by a veterinarian.
Change? Yes. Compromise? No. We manage every aspect of our farm in a socially responsible manner so we can be proud of the legacy we leave. As parents, & grandparents we take this responsibility seriously.

Op-Ed Columnist – Food for the Soul – NYTimes.com

My response to: Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food – TIME

Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food – TIME

As a longtime family dairy farmer, I’m angered by TIME’s biased attack on agriculture in its article “Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food.” There’s no question that farming, like every industry, has changed – but the change is driven by a passion for our profession.

My father, brothers and I are committed to doing what’s right for our community, our animals and natural resources, while producing dairy products that are safe, affordable and healthy.

Today, my father, brother and I can operate our 500-cow dairy more efficiently to keep up with the growing world demand for our milk. Modern technology enhances individual animal care; for example, I can access whole-health history for each cow from my cell phone. Modern freestall housing keeps our animals comfortable and healthy – protecting them from weather extremes, predators and disease. Also, a veterinarian frequently checks on our herd.

We’re committed to doing everything we can to conserve and minimize our impact on the environment, too – from re-using 10- to 11-million gallons of groundwater each year to carefully applying nutrients from manure to grow our crops.

Change? Yes. Compromise? No. We manage every aspect of our farm in a socially responsible manner so we can be proud of the legacy we leave.

Hoards Dairyman: HD Notebook-Twitter dairy “tweeps”

http://www.hoards.com/blogs/2009/08/twitter-dairy-tweeps.html

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Here is an article on some Twitter trends I was involved in

Fastline Blog: With a Moo Moo Here and an Oink Oink There

August 18, 2009 by sabrina829

A couple of weeks ago, Twitter started making animal sounds. First, people from all over the world joined together to make Twitter Moo and then this past Sunday, they made it Oink. Confused? Let me explain….

Three farmers from different areas of the country, who have never met in person,  put their heads together and made a plan. First, Will Gilmer, a dairy farmer from Alabama, began using the #Moo hash tag in his twitter posts to encouraging people to enjoy dairy products and support dairy farmers.  Then, Mike Haley,  a farmer from Ohio, made a birthday wish- to see Moo appear in the Trending Topics (popular topics) of Twitter. Lastly, Ray Prock, a California dairy farmer, completed the plan by suggesting that getting Moo to trend would call attention to and make people aware of  the crisis that dairy industry is currently in. With the help from people all over the world, Moo did become one of the ten most popular topics on Twitter that day. “We got it to trend for eight hours, which is huge,” Ray Prock said.

A few weeks later, the grassroots effort began again, this time to try and get Oink to trend in support of  pork farmers and to show that pork is safe to eat. The pork industry took a major hit when then media hysteria broke out over “swine flu.” The flu was later correctly labeled H1N1, but not before the pork industry took a devastating blow.  Again people from across the world joined forces and managed to get Oink to trend has high as number two on the Twitter Trending Topic.

Prock and the rest of the people involved with the grassroots effort were very please with the results. “A lot of Trending Topics are usually marketing campaigns, or offering something for free. We were able to get something to trend that spread information and knowledge…. that’s huge.”

While getting Twitter to Oink and Moo was a huge accomplishment, there is still more work to be done. Prock urges other people involved in agriculture to get involved with social media to spread the word about what is really going on in agriculture. “As farmers, social media allows us to educate the public on what we actually do, where food comes from, and how we care for our animals,” Prock said.

For all of you out there who are putting off getting involved in social media, don’t wait another minute. Don’t be intimidated, just start small and get involved. People are more than willing to help explain things to you and help you become accustomed to the sites. Ask questions, start conversations, and be willing to learn.

Oink Tweets Top 10,000Â Â Â Pork – Industry News

Oink Tweets Top 10,000   Pork – Industry News

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