AgVocating at the Fair

We are definitely in the thick of county fair activities this time of year. Ag Blogger and first generation Washington dairy farmer Krista Stauffer shares some ways that all of us in ag can advocate while at the fair.
Stauffer: “Each year at our fair we have a booth set up at the dairy farm and it is all about educating about dairy farming. This year all I did on my computer was printed out some simple facts like: Did you know that 97 percent of farms in the U.S. are family-owned? Did you know that organic or conventional milk is antibiotic free? So I just printed out simple signs like that, laminated them and posted them throughout in the dairy barn. It was fun to watch people come through, because typically they come through and pet the calves and pet the cows but they also had these signs right at eye-level that could perk their interest. Especially more controversial like antibiotics in milk and things like that. It sparked a lot of conversations that we typically don’t have in the dairy barn by having those signs. So that was really neat and a simple, simple feature to add to the dairy barn.”
In a recent article on the agchat.org, Stauffer shares some other ways to begin the conversation with the public. Wear farm or ranch attire with your farm or ranch name, sponsor another child with another species in the livestock auction.
Stauffer says it doesn’t have to be complex or difficult to begin the conversation — just be willing to tell your story and engage with the public.