The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA), a consortium of 49 agricultural groups ranging from dairy and egg producers to the United Sorghum Checkoff Board, announced this week a $10 million effort to reach out to consumers.
The announcement came at the week’s Ag Media Summit here in New Orleans, where more than 600 agricultural journalists and communicators are meeting.
The thrust: To start a dialogue with 1,000 consumer “key influencers” about what is right about U.S. agriculture. “No matter the cause, a knowledge and credibility gap has formed between the American people and their food,” says Bob Stallman, USFRA chairman and president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. “Farmers and ranchers want to, and need to, do a better job of answering Americans’ questions about their food.”
USFRA is made up of 49 national, regional and state agricultural organizations including the National Milk Producers Federation and Dairy Farmers of America (but not Dairy Management, Inc.). Other prominent groups include the American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Cattlemen’s Association, National Pork Producers Council, U.S. Grains Council and the National Association of Wheat Growers.
USFRA plans an intense, six-part program to reach out to key consumer influencers to not only share agriculture’s message, but create a dialogue to listen to and understand consumers’ concerns about how their food is produced and processed.
Read more about USFRA.
