Telling Ag's Stories Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. It’s a common theme in agriculture these days: Getting past these challenging times until we’re back to smoother sailing.
In the meantime, Washington State Tree Fruit Association President Jon DeVaney says a big key to calmer seas will be making sure the ag industry is out there teling our stories …
DeVANEY … “The mistake, I would say, that we in tree fruit and in all of agriculture, we frequently make is keeping our heads down, focused on doing what we do as ag producers, and therefore we only show up in the media when something goes wrong.”
That, DeVaney says would help people from outside the ag industry understand better what we do and why we do it …
DeVANEY … “It’s really incumbent upon us to talk about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it and the challenges that we’re facing so that when we do have a problem they see it for the aberration or the unusual circumstance that it is, that that is the exception and not the rule.”
DeVaney says the stories may not be news to us, but others don’t always know the long-term challenges we face …
DeVANEY … “The fact that we have overseas competition, the fact that we’re facing a lot of economic pressures, the fact that we facing changing weather patterns might not be new to growers, but it might be new to the people who are thinking about how we produce food in this country, and they need to be aware of those challenges that our producers are facing so that they recognize that they’re not making these management decisions in a vacuum.”
Listen tomorrow for more on the WSTFA President’s message and why it’s so important to get out and tell our stories.
