CALF_News_February_March_2020

20 CALF News • February | March 2020 • www.calfnews.net T he fifth annual Ag Innovation Summit held by Colorado State University was host to a plethora of speakers, all focused on one topic: innovation in agriculture – specifically, innovation on the commu- nication front for agriculturists. Kicking the event off was a panel dis- cussion titled “Telling Our Story.” This panel featured speakers Krysta Harden, executive vice president of global envi- ronmental strategy, Dairy Management Inc.; Polly Ruhland, chief executive officer, United Soybean Board; Daphne Taber, customer experience practice area lead, Slalom Consulting; with modera- tor Kate Greenberg, Colorado Com- missioner of Agriculture. The group of women discussed various issues, formats and methods of communicating the story of agriculture to consumers. Greenberg began by asking each of the panelists to explain the problem occur- ring with storytelling in agriculture. Both Ruhland and Harden touched on the importance of how producers go about communicating with consumers. Ruhland voiced the importance consumers and producers have with each other. She went on to explain the need to let consumers into the agriculture world and listen to what they are saying in a mutual exchange.“Story telling will become story engaging,” she said. “We have lost sight of our customer,” Harden said. She explained the need to remain open minded in the face of discussion as opposed to shutting down a consumer’s idea. “I always talk about listening with a capital ‘L.’ Listening not to convince somebody that you’re right. …We have to approach storytelling in a listening mode. You’re learning as well as telling.” Moderator Greenberg next prompted the panelists to recount methods they use to engage consumers in discussion. Ruhland covered the topic of sustainability and the relevance it holds over the next-gen consumers – students in grades K-12. “If we want agriculture to be relevant in these kids’ lives, we have to approach them in way that makes it relevant to them.” She continued by explaining the use of agriculture concepts to teach STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) in a classroom setting. Harden discussed the importance of good storytelling to capture an audience’s attention. In addition to incorporating authenticity, relatability and humor, she said,“You’ve got to listen to your audience. You can read your audience. You can tell where they’re following you, what’s missing and what they want to hear more of. …And you’ve got to have something good to say.” Continuing with the importance that mindset plays in communicating effectively to an audience, the panelists broached the topic of “consumer” vs.“customer.” “The consumer has a negative conno- tation in a lot of agriculture,” Harden said.“Don’t think of the consumer as someone bad who doesn’t understand. They’re your customer and there’s a respect that needs to be there. There’s a mutual understanding that needs to be there. It’s just semantics really. But, it changes the relationship and the need for wanting to have a closer relationship and better understanding.” Ruhland continued to highlight the interdependence that consumers and producers have. She has worked to emphasize that producers need to under- stand the importance of a consumer they consider to be different from themselves. She said that even though the customer and producer are on opposite ends of the supply chain, they’re still necessary to each other. “There’s only one place where raw materials enter the supply chain, and that is the farmers. And there’s only one place that cash enters the supply chain, and that’s the customer,” she explained. Moving from the mindset of pro- ducers to the mindset of consumers, Greenberg prompted the panelists to discuss their opinions on the villainiza- tion of producers and the steps being taken to transform storytelling to alter this consumer mentality. “Fear is the biggest driver of defensive- ness,” Ruhland said. Technology and the demand for consumer involvement is con- stantly and rapidly changing in agriculture, she explained. The velocity and magnitude of change entering agriculture allow for fear to seep into producers’ minds as they attempt to meet and adapt to these new concepts. This, in turn, creates a sense of victimization among agriculturists. “We need support systems to help farmers learn to tell stories and adapt more quickly, and to understand technol- ogy more quickly and to assimilate data more quickly,” she said.“Those kinds of things are all things we need to help farmers move into the future and not feel victimized and fearful about what is coming next in their business.” “I talk a lot about the messenger, not just the message,” Harden stated.“Some- thing we have to think about in agricul- ture is who is telling our story.”The most relatable storytellers for agriculture are young couples and female spouses, she explained. Agriculture needs to feature the diversity of its members in the telling of its stories in order to promote the con- nection between diverse consumers. Taber related this back to Ruhland’s previous discussion on using children By Olivia Willrett Contributing Editor Ag Innovation Summit Telling Our Story 