Agvocating

Disclosure: I am traveling to the Bayer AgVocacy Forum as a Bayer Blogger, which means that they will be paying for my trip, but all thoughts and comments will be my own.

Hello! Happy 1st day of March! I know I’ve been MIA lately on this blog, but family, work, tax season, etc has taken up all the hours of the day it seems! I am around and post on other social media, so if I’m quiet here you can always see what we are up to on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!

Today I’m heading down to New Orleans for Bayer’s AgVocacy Forum. This is their 10th annual forum (formerly known as Ag Issues Forum) and will again be bringing in exceptional speakers to talk to us (Ag media and bloggers) about advocating for agriculture in today’s world.

I was just reading Successful Farming’s Mid-February 2016 issue where the main topic was “Meet Your New Boss–Moms, Bloggers, and Foodies–These Millennials are Driving the New Food and Ag Economy.” In the magazine it has numerous articles about how social media plays a HUGE part in today’s food choices made by consumers. Here are some interesting statistics:

45% of consumers use the Internet for recipe information
76% of Millennials (under 35) buy local foods (up 20% in two years)
25%-average amount U.S. women say they would pay more for foods they perceive as fresher, healthier, more nutritious
38% of U.S. consumers want nutrition news on labels
42% share of millennial consumers who don’t trust large food companies (18% for nonmillennials)

And the most important: 98% of consumers DON’T live on a farm.

This means that it is now more important than ever before for farmers to be transparent and share with consumers what they do on their farms and how they raise their crops and livestock. I have been blogging for over five years and have talked with many consumers online and in person about our sixth generation family farm in southwest Iowa. I have had great conversations with consumers who have never stepped foot on a farm and we usually both come away from the conversation learning something new.

As I head down to New Orleans for the AgVocacy Forum, I am excited to listen, learn, and hopefully bring away from this conference many ideas and tools that I can use to advocate for agriculture. It’s so important for farmers to speak up about agriculture, because if we don’t someone else will and it won’t be accurate!

Please follow me on Twitter (@sarashousehd) for updates from the Forum! We will be using #AgVocate throughout the conference and you can watch the livestream at www.agvocacyforum.com. Please follow these farmers who will also be in attendance too:

Kristin @localfarmmom
Cristen @foodswineiowa
Danielle @haydanib
Jenny @amagicmama
Brian @thefarmerslife
Carrie @dairycarrie
Ryan @agproudryan
Jennifer @farmwifefeeds

Jessica @jesswcreative

Katie @katpinke
Bayer CropScience US @bayer4cropsus

Have a great day!