This summer, more than 34 Milford FFA members worked, studied and practiced in preparation for the 2018 Delaware State Fair. The fair brings a time for members to compete as a chapter, with a team, or as individuals in a variety of competitions, some displayed at the Centre Ice rink and some held behind the scenes.

Milford FFA received the prestigious Gold Chapter rating from the State of Delaware FFA. This award recognizes Milford FFA as being a top tier chapter based upon our Program of Activities for the entire year. This award will go on to the National level of FFA to represent the Milford FFA Chapter.

As a chapter, Milford FFA members built three chapter displays that were recognized by judges: Educational Display, with the theme of “Biotechnology; Landscape Display, where the chapter must landscape an area of 8’ x 16’, reflecting the theme of the Delaware State Fair, placed 5th; and Delaware Agriculture Products, with a title of “Delaware Agriculture, Lighting the Way.

FFA members began working on these displays the end of May and came in to school over the summer to finish them up and get them to the fair on time. Nineteen members represented the Milford FFA chapter in a wide variety of Career Development Events at the fair. In order to prepare for these competitions, students spend hours both in and out of the classroom during the summer studying a range of topics from judging livestock, through identifying weeds, seeds, and plant disorders commonly found in local agronomic crops.

The Milford FFA Food Science team placed 4th in the state. Team members were Emily Morgan (8th individually), Emilee Mills (10th individually), Anis Lopez, and Hazen Leighty. The food science contest includes creating/marketing a food based product, identifying different scents/tastes/and products. Students also had to determine chemical, physical, and biological hazards in the food industry.

The Milford FFA Dairy Cattle Evaluation team placed 2nd in the state. Team members were Taylor Wessel (2nd individually), Jacob Smith (3rd individually), Miranda Walker (8th individually) and Ashlyn Welch. Dairy cattle evaluation includes judging six classes of dairy cows or heifers, presenting oral reasons, evaluating cows based on their linear evaluation, and a team activity. The team will travel to Springfield, Massachusetts to represent Delaware FFA at the Eastern States Exposition.

The Milford FFA Livestock Evaluation team placed 2nd in the state. Team members were Alison Nordberg (4th individually), Julia Adams (5th individually), Harley Lardner (6th individually) and Allie Davis. Livestock evaluation includes judging beef, sheep, swine, and goats, presenting oral reasons, and grading cattle. The team will travel to Springfield, Massachusetts to represent Delaware FFA at the Eastern States Exposition.

Milford FFA member Brianna Reynolds placed 11th in the Dairy Handler Activity. She was judged based on her ability to present a dairy cow to the judge in a manner that enhances the animal’s good points, while covering any faults the animal may have.

The Milford FFA Agronomy Team placed 3rd in the state. Team members were Kaitlyn Schafer (7th individually), Curtis Sharp (10th individually), Brendan Outten, and Megan Davenport. The agronomy contest includes judging grains, hays, silage, vegetables, identifying crops, weeds, insects, plant disorders, and a team activity.

The Milford FFA Tractor Team consisted of Dalton Nordberg (3rd individually) and Shannon Wilt (10th individually). Students had to drive a two wheeled trailer course, four wheel wagon course, front end loader tractor course, and a skid steer course safely. Students also had to complete a parts identification, tractor safety walk around, and a written test.

Milford FFA members earned over 50 ribbons at the Delaware State Fair this year for their individual entries. Attached is a complete list of ribbons and placings.

The Milford FFA Livestock Show Team consisted of eleven students. The following students made up the team: Goat Showman- Victoria Donovan- Showmanship 13th place, Market 10th place, Hali Sapp- Showmanship 7th place, Market 5th place, Ashlynn Freeman- Showmanship 6th place, Market 10th place. Dairy Showman- Brianna Reynolds- Showmanship 11th place, Breed 19th place, Julie Walls- Showmanship 10th place, Julia Adams- Breed 2nd place, Harley Lardner- Breed 1st place. Swine Showman- Sarah Stevenson- Showmanship 5th place, Market 4th place, Harley Lardner- Showmanship 2nd place, Market 5th place, Julia Adams- Showmanship 3rd place, Market 2nd place, Julie Walls- Showmanship 1st place, Market 3rd place.

The Milford FFA chapter is led by Chris Stahl, Caitlin Walton, and Aaron Rill. All of the advisors are very proud of all of our members and their placings at fair. The students represented Milford FFA with outstanding service and effort through their many hours of hard work throughout the Delaware State Fair. We would also like to thank all of the parents and supporters that helped make our Summer/State Fair Program a success.

Milford FFA – Delaware State Fair Results 2018

National Chapter Award: Milford FFA received the prestigious Gold Chapter Rating from the State of Delaware FFA. This award recognizes Milford FFA as being a top tier chapter based upon our Program of Activities for the entire year.  This award will go on to the National level of FFA to represent the Milford FFA Chapter.

Career Development Event Results

• Food Science CDE: 4th place team
• Emily Morgan- 8th place individually
• Emilee Mills- 10th place individually
• Anis Lopez
• Hazen Leighty
• Dairy Cattle Evaluation CDE: 2nd place team
• Taylor Wessel – 2nd place individually
• Jacob Smith – 3rd place individually
• Miranda Walker – 8th place individually
• Ashlyn Welch
• Livestock Evaluation CDE: 2nd place team
• Alison Nordberg – 4th place individually
• Julia Adams – 5th place individually
• Harley Lardner – 6th place individually 
• Allie Davis
• Dairy Handler Activity:
• Brianna Reynolds – 11th place
• Agronomy CDE: 3rd place team
• Kaitlyn Schafer- 7th place individually
• Curtis Sharp- 10th place individually
• Brendan Outten
• Megan Davenport
• Tractor Driving CDE
• Dalton Nordberg- 3rd place individually
• Shannon Wilt- 10th place individually
• FFA Department Results
• Shannon Wilt – 4th place- Best Toolbox 24” and over 
  • 5th place- Large Interior Woodworking
• Autumn Justice- 5th place- Dozen Brown Eggs
  • 5th place- Best 4 Potatoes
• Brendan Outten- 5th place- Best Container Garden 12” or less
  • 4th place- Best 12 Red Cherry Tomatoes w/out stems
• Ashlyn Welch- 3rd place- Best Small Welding
  • 2nd place- Best Pad Orchard Grass
• Alison Nordberg- 2nd place- Best Watermelon 2” stem
  • 1st place- Best Watermelon 2” stem icebox
  • 4th place- Best Head of Cabbage
  • 3rd place- Best 5 Round Radishes
  • 6th place- Best 3 Ears White Sweet Corn w/Husk
  • 4th place- Best 3 Ears Bi-Colored Sweet Corn w/Husk
  • 3rd place- Best Dozen Green String Beans in Pod
  • 5th place- Best 3 Yellow Squash Straight Neck
  • 6th place- Best Eggplant
  • 5th place- Best 6 Any Other Hot Peppers Other Than Cherry
  • 2nd place- Best 4 Red Slicing Type Tomatoes w/out Stems
  • 5th place- Barley Best Gallon
  • 1st place- Best Gallon Corn Silage
  • 4th place- Best Growing Soybeans w/Roots
  • 5th place- Best Single Stalk Corn
• Carissa Justice- 3rd place- Best 3 Ears White Sweet Corn w/Husk
  • 1st place- Best 6 Any Other Hot Peppers Other Than Cherry
  • 5th place- Best 6 Red Sauce/Italian Tomatoes w/out Stems
• Kaitlyn Schafer- 2nd place- Best 12 Red Cherry Tomatoes w/out Stems
• Jacob Smith- 3rd place- Best Pad Orchard Grass
• Milford FFA- 5th place- Best Chapter Landscape Display
  • Best Delaware Agriculture Products Display
  • Best Educational Display

Livestock Showteam Results

Goat Showman: 

• Victoria Donovan – Showmanship 13th place Market 10th place
• Hali Sapp – Showmanship 7th place Market 5th place
• Ashlynn Freeman – Showmanship 6th place Market 10th place

Dairy Showman:

• Brianna Reynolds – Showmanship 11th place Breed 19th place
• Julie Walls – Showmanship 10th place
• Julia Adams – Breed 2nd place
• Harley Lardner – Breed 1st place

Swine Showman:

• Sarah Stevenson – Showmanship 5th place Market 4th place
• Harley Lardner – Showmanship 2nd place Market 5th place
• Julia Adams – Showmanship 3rd place Market 2nd place
• Julie Walls – Showmanship 1st place Market 3rd place

Special thank you to Bender Farms and Vikki and Noah Gesford for leasing dairy heifers to Milford FFA members. Also thank you to Southern States of Milford and Horizon Farm Credit for purchasing Milford FFA member’s hogs during the Junior Livestock Auction.

Important:

We recorded this prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve been working remotely for the past several weeks to be able to share them with you while you have a little more time at home. These uncertain times have altered the way we’re all doing business right now, but that isn’t keep us from doing whatever we can to support our membership and communities. Head to mafc.com/update for resources related to your cooperative and the pandemic. From all of your friends at MAFC, stay healthy and safe. Thank you.

LISTEN TO MEAG'S EPISODE HERE OR FIND US ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP!

Jenny:

I'm very excited to introduce our guest today, though I might be a little biased. She is a team member of mine, Meghan Malinowski. She works in our Salisbury, Maryland, office as a digital marketing specialist. She's been with our association for about five years. She started out as an intern and has stuck with us since. We're happy to say that she's really been growing in this area of expertise and has been investing a lot more time and money and energy into digital channels to help us. You recognize new digital opportunities that will allow us to expand our reach. So in this episode, we're gonna talk about why it's important to take control of your brand digitally and how to do that in a few simple steps, while also discussing best practices on how to easily and clearly tell your farm story.

COULD YOU GIVE OUR AUDIENCE A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND ABOUT YOU AND YOUR BACKGROUND IN AGRICULTURE ON AND ALSO WHAT DIGITAL MARKETING SPECIALIST MEANS AND WHAT YOU DO IN MIDATLANTIC?

Meag:

I graduated from Salisbury University on the shore, back in 2014 and before I came to MidAtlantic, I really didn't have a whole lot of background in agriculture. One of my cousins lived on a small homestead farm up in northern Baltimore County, and I would spend a lot of my time in the summer going up and chasing the chickens around. And she taught me how to ride her horse, and that was fun. It was more of a how to hold on, more than anything. But it was always fun, riding four wheelers and pal’ing around on the on the acreage and that was really fun. But that was really my only experience with agriculture. So, when I heard about Farm Credit and I started working with Farm Credit, I really had a very limited knowledge. But, I feel like I learn something new every day, and it's pretty cool.

Jenny:

CAN YOU DEFINE FOR US WHAT DIGITAL MARKETING IS AND HOW YOU IMPLEMENT OUR DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY AT MIDATLANTIC?

Meag:

I've had so much fun with my job just because I feel like it's always something new and always something different; trying new things and experimenting. But our digital world, and the things that I do every day really revolve around our digital messaging. That includes the emails that we send out to our customers or prospects; what kinds of content we have on our website; downloadable e-books. I try to put those together, and work with the rest of the team at Farm Credit - a lot of our sales staff, help me out with that. In addition, we've been doing a lot of videos and I do all of the shooting for those. And we have our awesome intern, Morgan, who does the photography. We use all of that media to really craft messages around how we're able to help farmers be successful in their operations and how our programs and services are conducive to that. So I really work on the digital side of that, mostly in website and social media.

Jenny:

Yeah, you mentioned trying new things and this podcast being one of them. This was definitely something that was a passion project of our teams. And I'm super excited to be able to do this and hopefully provide another avenue for education and advocating with our with our customer base.

Meag:

Yeah, I have to agree. I subscribe to so many podcasts, and I know you and I share them a lot back and forth. But, it's really nice to have something to listen to when you can't be actively reading or looking for something.

Jenny:

You touched on what digital marketing is, and there's a big gap to some about what digital marketing is versus the information age.

WHAT ARE SOME THINGS OR TRENDS THAT ARE HAPPENING [IN THE DIGITAL SPACE] RIGHT NOW?

Meag:

I see the digital landscape just getting bigger and bigger, and we really try to encourage people to get active and take control of their brand online because we have shifted to more of an information searching kind of consumer. They want to do their research before they call us or they want to visit us online before they decide to come into the branch or even give us a call. I read on Forbes a couple of days ago that 90% of people actually go and try to find a brand online before they visit them in person. And so it's really important for people to have their information there and be available to answer questions or really clarify you know what, what kind of services and products they offer.

I would say the trend is that more and more people are gravitating towards the digital world and really being there, and they're starting to see the value in it. I think we're only going to have more information coming to us in the future, which is really neat, and it comes in all different forms. Some of the trends that that are very popular right now, a lot of social platforms are experimenting with video and different kinds of video. You know, Instagram TV, Facebook Live things like that. So I think we're kind of shifting away from the traditional, marketing messaging and the fluffy content. Even though I love a pun, we're shifting away from the punny kind of things and to being direct and to the point and really showing our authenticity through our digital messaging.

Jenny:

I remember when digital was strictly social media and, you know, that's one thing to get a grasp of. But digital's continuously evolving and getting a lot bigger. So I think for some people who might not be in that space yet, it could be quite daunting.

WHAT IS A COMMON MISCONCEPTION ABOUT DIGITAL MARKETING THAT YOU HEAR?

Meag:

I think the biggest misconception with digital marketing among most people is that it's just for advertising. I see a lot of a lot of companies and brands that are so new to it, and they think that it's just a platform for them to yell their message at. And I would say that is definitely not what it is. And when you think about it, it seems so simple that social media was created to be social. Our networks are so much bigger now than they were 10 years ago. And we had MySpace 10 years. We're all in a different world where we could meet just about anybody. If you go on LinkedIn, you can see different connections and you might know a CEO of a company that is in your state, but you're only removed by two person connections. So you know somebody who knows somebody.

I think that the biggest misconception is that it's just for advertising, and that's all it's really good for. But it's not. It's a whole lot more than that. It's a really great opportunity to meet your customers and meet your prospects and meet the people that actually use your products and services. It’s about finding your community.

Jenny:

It's a whole community out there of connections and people just waiting to find people like you and trying to learn new things. So again, for those who might not be in that space yet but they know it's important. They know they need to be there for that exact reason to find their find their community and connect with consumers.

WHERE'S A GOOD PLACE TO START IF YOU'RE NOT ALREADY [ON SOCIAL MEDIA] OR GETTING COMFORTABLE IN THAT SPACE?

Meag:

If somebody is wanting to get into playing around with digital marketing and really starting to explore things, the hardest part is just getting started and being willing to make mistakes and learn from them as we go along. As long as we have good intentions as we start into these new journeys, it seems like a lot at one time, but if you pick one thing, say, you don't have a Facebook page for your operation, but you'd like to start one, a really great way to get started before you create a page for that, is to be on there personally. Start connecting with your own networks and talking to people and using the platform for what it's really made for. Seeing what kinds of posts your friends like to see, and then kind of replicating that over time.

I think it's really good to just get started and go ahead and create that page for your business. Fill out the profile to the fullest extent with everything. There so many opportunities to learn, just like what we're doing here, trying to educate whoever's listening. They’re looking for this information and using your resource and what is already out there. You can go on YouTube and find all kinds of tutorials to start things or just googling. If you know what your question is about marketing, there's so many resources that I think a lot of times people make it more difficult than it has to be. It's really just a matter of reading a couple articles and saying, “You know what? I'm gonna try it. I'm gonna give it a go.”

Jenny:

SO SAY THEY MAKE THE FACEBOOK PAGE. THEY MAKE THE INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT. MAYBE THEY EVEN HAVE A WEBSITE OR A BLOG, BUT THEY DON'T THINK THEY HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY. WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM?

Meag:

I would tell them to put themselves in their customer’s shoes and think about why their customer is actually coming to them. So, if you operate a farm market on the side of Route 50, that's my favorite example because I drive by so many all the time, put yourself in your customer's shoes and say, “What are they coming to me for?” And once you start thinking about the journey that they're going on, you can start figuring out what kind of content they're looking for. One of my other favorite examples, I love the idea of CSAs or community supported agriculture. When I do research on these things. I see all kinds of interesting vegetables that I would never buy outright. But there's one, kohlrabi I've never tried before. I don't even know if I'm saying it right. Telling people how to cook that because that's not a common staple. You go into the grocery store and you pick up tomatoes and bananas and we know where they come from. And we know how to cook them because they're just classic staples. That's what everybody eats. Really starting with your customer and saying, “what kinds of questions are they going to be asking as they use my product and service? What can I answer for them before they even have to come to me and ask?” So definitely putting out content that educates your customers and even people that aren't your customers yet. They're going to be asking questions, and if you're there to answer it for them, they're going to remember you later when they have to go and buy something. That's a great place to start with content.

And another important piece of that, too, is sharing your story about your business and why you're in that business. How you started and giving people a background and something for them to be a part of and to decide, “ I'm making a good consumer decision.” People have very strong opinions about what kinds of fruits and vegetables they should buy or what kind of meat they should buy. Paint that picture for them and tell that story about how you started and how important it is to you, and let them see themselves in that picture, and see how much they have in common with you and your business.

Jenny:

And my favorite brands are the ones that I feel like I'm a part of. I love that analogy of inviting your consumers into your story, whatever that may be. And everyone's is different. I think we were reading an article not too long ago about how consumers today are bombarded with 4,000 commercial messages a day. How can we differentiate ourselves from those other messages?

Meag

There's always a different reason. I think that's one of my favorite things about agriculture is that there are not two farms that are the same. I mean every one of them is different, and the people that run them are different, and what they believe in is different. And it's a very cool thing to be a part of that story and hearing those stories. I think we're all storytellers.

Jenny:

Yeah, storytelling really is the oldest form of communication. And it's one that definitely compels human action from a strategy perspective, I think that's a really great place to start and going back to your earlier point about providing that value and educating. I just think, as a consumer myself of roadside stands on Rt 50, and farmers markets. You know what? I do Google, And it is things like how to cook kohlrabi or how to make broccoli casserole Exactly those you don't want to know how to do things to best way possible.

Jenny

What are some best practices when telling a story? You mentioned the content, but, aside from content writing,

WHAT ARE SOME OTHER WAYS THAT FARMS CAN TELL THEIR STORY?

Meag:

Today's consumer is not only information driven, but visually driven. Sharing compelling images, even if you don't think it's compelling, it's going to be compelling to somebody who wants to learn more but doesn't know where to start. Just sharing your day to day routine with your customers on your Facebook page or your Instagram, that's a great place to start telling your story. Again, you have to fill out the whole profile: make sure your address is on there, what your hours are. If you're running a farm stand, you should mention if your cash only or if you work with PayPal. You know all those details that people are going to want to know. You want to make sure they understand how to do business with you and how to how to come and buy your product. That’s a good place to start, making sure your information is good and being consistent with sharing the messaging.

A lot of people like are like myself and don't have an agricultural background, but we want to know where our food come from, and really what goes into it. You know, the blood, sweat and tears that have to come from generations of families that are growing it. Sharing whatever feels most comfortable and most authentic to you - snap that picture and post it and say what's happening today. Ask, “What do you guys think?” or “what is your biggest question?” Asking questions is always a great place to start too - telling a part of the story and then saying, “What do you think about this?” People will always interact;  they want they want that that excuse to have a conversation, especially about their food.

Jenny:

And going back to the community point you made earlier. You know, it's a great way to engage with your consumers out there and give them that immediate feedback and ongoing conversation.

Meag:

Exactly. And other people will see that too, and see how responsive you are. Seeing how you really care about having conversations with your customers and that just puts a good taste in people's mouth. It's It's really just a good place to start.

Jenny:

One thing I think we do a good job of, just to brag a bit, and one thing that drives me crazy with brands I follow, is them not being responsive.

Meag:

That’s one of the worst things you can do. Social media and digital channels were made to be interacted with, Facebook was made so that we could connect with people. I feel like the world has gotten so much smaller because of social media, but it's such a good thing because it's connecting people that wouldn't typically meet or have the opportunity to talk. That's all part of the information age. But it's also super important that if you're going to be there, that you need to engage with people and find different ways. to make a conversation. That's what people are there for. So that's what you want to give them, right? Nobody likes to say hello to somebody and then hear crickets. Nobody wants to be ignored if they're trying to engage. Responsiveness is important when [the feedback] is great and responsiveness is even more important when [the feedback is] not good. That's something that I think drives me nuts, is when I see other brands getting comments from people that that might disagree with something that they do or have had a bad experience and writing a bad review and nobody acknowledges it. And it's like, well, you're not giving them an opportunity to explain themselves and you're not opening it up for a conversation.

Jenny:

WHAT DO YOU ADVOCATE FOR IN AGRICULTURE?

Meag:

This is my favorite question, I've been waiting for and I don't want to get on my soap box too much. I think, for us working in marketing at MidAtlantic, it's very important that we appeal to all kinds of agriculture. It doesn't matter what you believe. We want to support agriculture and rural America. And I think the most important part of agriculture is that there is an option for everybody.

No matter what you believe in as a consumer, you have a choice. If you don't want to eat meat, you don't have to eat meat. If you don't want to eat leaves, you don't have to eat leaves. You should, because I think it's good for you, but my point is that everybody has a choice. I think that a more educated consumer is really a good trend for agriculture because we all have choices, and agriculture gives us that choice of how to support them. We really are able to show that through the products that we buy and the farms that we that we get our food from. I advocate for an educated consumer and being able to make your own choice when it comes to food.

LISTEN TO Jim's EPISODE HERE OR FIND US ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST LISTENING APP!

 

Summary

On this episode of the Farm Credit AgVocates podcast, Jenny Kreisher interviews Jim Brown, the Assistant Manager of Creamery Operations at Penn State University’s Berkey Creamery. You’ll learn about the Creamery’s start, how it’s evolved over the years, and it’s place in Penn State’s culture today. And, for all you wondering, the most popular flavor is not Peachy Paterno!

Jenny Kreisher:

Welcome back to the Farm Credit AgVocates podcast. I'm your host Jenny Kreisher, Director of Communications at Horizon Farm Credit. I'm excited about our guest today for a few reasons. One of which is because I'm a proud Penn State Alum and if you were to ask me what one of my favorite parts of Penn State was and still is, today's guest’s sure plays a critical role in my answer.

Jim Brown is the Assistant Manager of Operations at Penn State's Berkey Creamery, home of what I truly do believe is the best ice cream on the planet. Jim has a 33 year career in sales and the dairy industry and started at the Creamery in 2005.

Today, Jim oversees the retail, wholesale and e-commerce aspects of the Creamery, as well as the media and public relations, product development and packaging, and marketing and advertising of the Creamery and its products. Without further ado, let's dive right in and get the scoop. Welcome to the podcast Jim, thanks for joining me today.

Jim Brown:

You're welcome. Thank you for having me Jenny.

Jenny Kreisher:

Could you tell our audience a little bit about yourself and maybe just walk us through your resume a little bit?

Jim Brown:

Sure. Well, you already presented some of the present things on my resume. Let’s start with I was born and raised in central Pennsylvania, so very close to Penn State. I've been a country boy all my life and have always been involved with hunting, fishing, agriculture, and the landscape around beautiful Pennsylvania.

I went to college here locally, studied business management and spent the first part of my career as an officer in the military. Then, as you said, I've worked the last 30 years in the retail and dairy business focusing on sales, marketing, customer relations and customer service. I've been doing that most of my life.

WHAT LED JIM TO THE CREAMERY

Jenny Kreisher:

That's fascinating that you were in the military and came back and started working there.

What was it that brought you to the Creamery and how did you find out about that position? What made you pursue that career path when you returned?

Jim Brown:

I would have to say that when working in the local dairy industry, I worked in close partnership with the Creamery on many occasions supplying supplemental cream and other products. Over the years, I got to know the people here at the Creamery and at Penn State.

When the position came open, it was something that I've always thought about.  I knew the creamer for many years and got to learn specifically what they wanted and how they wanted to drive forward and move the Creamery forward. It definitely looked like a possibility that would fit me perfectly.

THE CREAMERY'S HISTORY

Jenny Kreisher:

That's awesome.

For those who might be listening that haven't been to Penn State or is not an Alumni of Penn State, could you give us a little bit of background on the Creamery and the role it plays on campus today?

Jim Brown:

Sure. The Creamery is more than 156 years old. It started in 1865 out of a barn where present-day Old Main is. It wasn't until 1889 that they built this first standalone Creamery.  In 1901, they moved to the Patterson building and in 1931 moved to Borland and the store was on the second floor. It wasn't until 1961 that we built a first floor store.

In 2006, we moved into what I still call the new Food Science building, even though it's 15 years old and that's where we have been ever since. We operate what everybody knows the Creamery as a store, but we also provide wholesale delivery all across campus to all of the Penn State eateries and the dining halls. We support athletics here on campus, and we're just a staple in the community.

Jenny Kreisher:

That's for sure. I remember the move, I remember the smaller building you were in and the line would be wrapped around with students and faculty waiting to get their scoop. That’s a beautiful new building that you mentioned is not so new, but it's a beautiful building.

Jim Brown:

Well thank you. You remember Borland, the store itself was 1700 square feet. Now our building that we have right now is 3,700 square feet, so it's two and a half times the size of what it used to be in. As you said, because of the excitement and the amount of people that came around so often, we had to have a larger location to accommodate everybody.

THE CREAMERY AND COLLEGE OF AG

Jenny Kreisher:

Oh yeah that line still wraps around. If it’s a football weekend, you’ll be waiting there for a while. Many people actually don't know that Penn State's a very prominent agriculture school. It actually was founded as the Farmers College.

How does the Creamery work with the College of Ag Science today?

Jim Brown:

Well, the creamery actually works directly with the Food Science department and the College of Ag. We do that by supporting the teaching research and outreach programs of both units by assisting in short courses and student classroom projects.

We help out with the pasteurization and sanitation workshops they have. They also have the Ice Cream Short course and the Frozen Dessert course. All of the courses that they offer at Penn State from an outreach standpoint for people that come from the industry, our location and our employees assist with them.

PENN STATE'S FOOD SCIENCE PROGRAM

Jenny Kreisher:

That’s something I wish I knew when I was a student. That’s a class that I definitely wish I was able to take when I was there.

Would you mind elaborating a little bit on the Food Science program at Penn State? I know that they've been involved in several innovative projects over the years. If you could give our audience a little insight on the impact that they're making on the campus and even beyond that?

Jim Brown:

Oh, it's tremendous what the Food Science department educates students for. It promotes food safety and food quality for positions in labs, development, education, training, safety and quality. They basically work to promote and improve the food safety and food quality in our society. They do this not only through the developmental programs in the graduate and undergraduate programs, but also through outreach programs and short courses by training the industry.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT IN THE CREAMERY

Jenny Kreisher:

That's great.

Switching gears a little bit, one part of your job description that I have to ask you about is product development. I'm sure you get this question a lot with the Creamery having a ton of staple ice cream flavors and I know you’re always innovating and trying new combinations. The grilled stickies is one of my favorites.

How do you and your team go about exploring these flavors and what's that process like?

Jim Brown:

Well Jenny, we used to have 152 ice cream flavors. Over the years a lot of things have changed at the Creamery and a lot of things have changed in product development.

In the early years, it seemed like the Creamery was looking for new products and new flavors to develop. However, since we already have so many products and we've noticed that as we grew in popularity, our space is very limited, so our recent product development focuses more on the product we currently have and how to continually develop them into a higher quality product.

I think we've spent the last four years looking at our processes, ingredients and our procedures to improve the quality of the products that we currently make. However, when we are looking at making new flavors of ice cream, I think it comes from two different ways; someone comes to us with a name or a flavor idea.

If either of those are appealing or unique, then we look into that with our product development team. A lot of times our product development team involves graduate or undergraduate students that are studying in the Food Science department. We have a team that we put together and we start evaluating potential flavors or potential ingredients that would go into those.

Jenny Kreisher:

What's the most popular flavor at the creamery?

Jim Brown:

Well I would say from a sales standpoint, it is Death by Chocolate. It's a chocolate ice cream, we call the triple chocolate.

Over the last five years, we've had a flavor madness contest trying to mirror the March Madness basketball tournament and in every year Death by Chocolate has won. Not only is it the most popular flavor by the amount of sales, but also the most popular vote online.

CREAMERY CHEESES

Jenny Kreisher:

Oh, wow. That's fun that you guys do that.  Aside from ice cream, the Creamery is also known for its cheese. Actually my coworker Johanna fell in love with the Nittany Cheddar.

When was this added to the creamery's product list?

Jim Brown:

Well, ironically cheddar cheese has been here as long as I can remember. I've been here 16 years and way before my time the cheddar cheese has been around.

However, recently in the last few years we've worked pretty diligently in the industry by asking many professionals to run our cheese through multiple tests to continue to improve the quality. We began closely evaluating the salt levels, moisture contents, and the aging process to try to obtain a more premium type of cheddar.

I think that these improvements have really changed our cheddar cheese and it's developed into a premium product and because of that, it was worth renaming. Actually just in the recent year and a half, we renamed our cheddar cheeses into the Nittany Cheddar line for a catchier name that correlates not only to the creamery, but to Penn State as well.

Jenny Kreisher:

I love that and it makes a great holiday gift.

Are all the products made on campus?

Jim Brown:

All Creamery products are made on campus. When you talk about dairy products from our cheddar cheeses, cultured products to the fluid milk in fluid juices and teas, and of course our ice cream, yes, they're all made here at our facility

FACING COVID-19 CHALLENGES

Jenny Kreisher:

Pre COVID, did you all offer tours to students and the public?

Jim Brown:

Yes, pre-COVID as we call it, and hopefully it will return to normal after COVID, physical tours were conducted. The crazy part is that our success has been measured in the amount of people that have come and visited here, and that has become our biggest challenge during COVID.

All those face-to-face customer relations and customer service interactions that we're very proud of, we've had to eliminate that. However, during COVID we found that we could adjust.

I think our biggest challenge was that if we can't do things face-to-face, then how can we bring the Creamery to the customers instead of the customers coming to us? That is what we ended up doing with the podcasts, webinars, and virtual speaking programs. With Zoom, anything's possible so we've transitioned lot of our physical tours into virtual tours.

MUST KNOW ABOUT THE CREAMERY

Jenny Kreisher:

That's great. That's a great way to pivot, for lack of a better term, to meet that need.

I know the Creamery is out very prominently in the State College community, what are the most important aspects of the Creamery story that you want to make sure are told? What is it that you want people to know?

Jim Brown:

Well, I think that the Creamery is much more than a store, we're a diversified operation and we have a full manufacturing plant. We distribute our products on campus, we're a wholesaler, and we operate an e-commerce site. We provide academic support to the Food Science department of the College of Ag.

We do all of this while probably being one of the most iconic stops on campus. I think just over the years, we've become more than a store, we've become a meeting place for many generations. It's kind of crazy that I've been here long enough that students that used to work for me are now bringing their children here.

We've become a stop between classes, a study location, and a vacation destination. We've become a visitation spot to impress business colleagues if you work here. We have a little bit of everything that anybody could enjoy.

STAYING INVOLVED IN THE PENN STATE COMMUNITY

Jenny Kreisher:

I can attest to that.

How do you all interact with those around the State College community? What kind of events do you partake in throughout the year? Do you work with students at State College High School? What kind of events and community outreach do you do?

Jim Brown:

I'll tell you that the Art Fest has always been tremendous and we missed it last year and this year, but we've done Arts Fest for many years. We provided a tent down there for the entire community.

I think our partnership begins with the many businesses on and off campus. You know how Penn State says “We are,” well here at the Creamery we believe that we all are Penn State. Not only the surrounding community and State College, but the businesses on campus too.

We try to partner with them and help them sell their products too. We sell eggs from on-campus, meats from the meats lab, honey and bagels from local businesses, and the popular State College grilled stickies. We sell items that are made from the Penn State bakery. We try to promote local businesses and local growing by partnering with them and getting everybody to know not only the Creamery, but all the businesses around the community.

Jenny Kreisher:

Absolutely. You recently added the ability to purchase creamery ice cream at Beaver Stadium, which was fantastic news.

Where are you guys headed next?

Jim Brown:

It's not that we are heading anywhere next, but that we've already planted ourselves and put roots down in a lot of locations. We now provide ice cream to the local Commonwealth Campuses too.

Not only can you get creamery ice cream and products at University Park, but you can at the majority of the Penn State Community Commonwealth campuses and at the Bryce Jordan Center. When events come to the Bryce Jordan Center, you can get our ice cream.

Now we partner with the College of Agricultural Sciences Meats Lab. They have a store where they sell meat and other products that they developed and smoke. They now also sell our cheeses and in turn we sell their meats here on campus. We continue to expand on a lot of different Penn State entities.

CREAMERY E-COMMERCE

Jenny Kreisher:

That's great. I had no idea that you were in the satellite campuses now. That's fantastic. It's kind of along those same lines that Penn State does have Alumni all over the world. I believe at one time, if it's not still the largest alumni network in the country. As I mentioned before, on any given weekend, especially football weekends, that line is just out the door and around the building.

How much do you sell online? Where’s the furthest that you've shipped Creamery products?

Jim Brown:

Well, our e-commerce site services and ships to the 48 continental United States. We do not ship to Hawaii and Alaska. We have attempted to do so and we've done it successfully in the past. What we found is that since we have to rely on FedEx to get the shipments, we have to utilize dry ice. It is a hazardous material, and there's only so much dry ice that you can put in a shipment if we're using an airplane through FedEx rules, so we keep it to the 48 States.

The furthest we normally ship would be California. When you ask about our e-commerce business, since the pandemic it has increased threefold. We probably ship 20,000 to 50,000 half gallons a year and of course we ship a lot of other products.

We ship pints of ice cream, small minis, cheeses, coffees and a lot of different memorabilia items. We do e-cards and gift cards and soon to come, our famous ice cream cookie sandwiches where the cookies come from the bakery. We're partnering with them, so we'll be doing that pretty soon.

QUICK FIRE ROUND

Jenny Kreisher:

Oh, that's great. I'll definitely keep an eye out for those, they sound delicious.

Jim, I have a couple of quick fire questions for you before we get to our final one today.

Out of these three, which do you prefer, a milkshake, cup or a cone?

Jim Brown:

A cone.

Jenny Kreisher:

Okay. What’s your go-to flavor?

Jim Brown:

Death by Chocolate of course.

Jenny Kreisher:

Of course, you talked about that flavor before.

Do you have any new flavors or products on the horizon that you're willing to spill on this episode today?

Jim Brown:

We do not have any ice cream flavors, but we are looking at a different type of cheese curd. We have a cheddar cheese curd and we're looking at trying to develop a buffalo cheddar cheese curd.

We are looking into a non-dairy ice cream flavor to develop because we do have customers that are intolerant and can't actually consume dairy. We've been doing a lot of work with the natural ingredients to see if we can come up with a non-dairy option to satisfy those customers.

WHAT DO YOU ADVOCATE FOR IN AG?

Jenny Kreisher:

That's great. Well, Jim, I really appreciate your time today.

The final question that we ask every guest that we have on this podcast, is what is it that you advocate for in agriculture?

Jim Brown:

I think one of the most important things is that being that I'm a country boy from Pennsylvania, everybody needs to realize what we have around us. We need to take care of our surroundings for generations and generations to come, to be able to enjoy the same thing, not only from the dairy aspect, but overall how beautiful everything is. I think I advocate to that fact and just have everybody enjoy their surroundings and keep everything natural.

Jenny Kreisher:

I like that. Thank you so much Jim for your time today.

Thanks to everyone for tuning in. Please rate, review, subscribe and share this podcast episode with a friend and head on over to mafc.com/podcast for all of the show notes and to subscribe for email alerts for future episodes. If you have any guests or topics suggestions, please email us at podcast@mafc.com. Thanks everyone so much and we'll see you next time.

2021 was a unique year in many aspects. Despite all of the obstacles that popped up over the last 12 months, it turned out to be a memorable one for most grain farmers in the Mid-Atlantic region. Many areas experienced relatively high yields while commodity prices approached levels that had not been seen in nearly a decade, leading to a profitable year for many growers. Now that 2021 is behind us, it is time to focus on 2022.

As many row crop farmers are aware, direct input costs have increased across the board since last year. While some inputs such as lime and seed have only gone up slightly, commercial fertilizer and some chemicals have seen more substantial price increases.

As of December 2021, commercial fertilizer prices on primary nutrients (N, P, and K) have doubled or even tripled from what they were this time last year. Prices could go even higher in season as fertilizer demand increases.  

The same can be said for some of the more widely used herbicides. Glyphosate price increases lead the way, currently being nearly triple what they were a year ago. Prices on paraquat (Gramoxone), glufosinate (Liberty), and atrazine have nearly doubled while 2, 4-D is up close to 25 percent over last year.

Along with the price increases are concerns about product availability, especially surrounding glyphosate and atrazine. With the current supply constraints, it may be beneficial to reach out to your ag retailer to develop a herbicide program for 2022. Having solutions in place now can help alleviate some of the pressure in season and provide peace of mind knowing that you will have the tools available to keep your fields clean.

One possible solution could be using pre-mixed herbicides rather than more traditional programs where individual chemicals are used. Another alternative might be replacing a glyphosate trip across the field with a different mode of action in your burn down.

Another key to having a profitable grain farming year in 2022 is to remain focused on grain marketing. Commodity prices fluctuated significantly in 2021 and could continue to do so through the coming months. Watching the markets daily (including during planting season) can help ensure getting the best price possible for the grain that is harvested. This can in part offset the input price increases that are being experienced.

The answer may be different for each farmer, but your crop advisor will be able to guide you through the process and help you make the decisions that will make 2022 a successful year.

Here at Farm Credit, we understand the challenges facing all farmers. It is our mission to stand beside our members and the entire agriculture community during good, bad, and uncertain times.

Jenny Kreisher:

I'm beyond excited to introduce today's guest, Marji Alaniz, the founder of FarmHer, a content and media community supporting female advocates across the country. What started with a dream and a camera has grown into quite the empire, including a podcast, TV show on RFD-TV, radio show, and even apparel. In addition, Marji has expanded the community even further by hosting conferences, geared toward women of all ages being a source of inspiration for aspiring female ag leaders. It is truly a pleasure to have you on the pod today. Marji, thank you for agreeing for agreeing to speak with me today.

Marji Alaniz:

Thank you for having me. I'm glad to be here.

Jenny:

Growing up in Iowa, I'm sure ag has been a huge part of your life ever since then.

DO YOU MIND JUST KICKING IT OFF BY GIVING EVERYONE A LITTLE GLIMPSE INTO YOUR BACKGROUND?

Marji:

Yeah, for sure. You can't throw a rock and not hit something ag related here in Iowa. That's just the way it is. My parents were not farmers, but my grandparents did farm, but I grew up in the country, but my parents didn't rely on farming as their income and no part of agriculture was their income. I always say there were cows there, on the property, but they weren't ours. Right. I can't claim any sort of responsibility for having to take care of them or knowledge about them. In fact, I just ignored them. I didn’t even think about it. So it was kind of something that was just always there, but it wasn't a thought process of mine, you know? And I definitely wasn't one of those kids who was, I'm going to go get an ag degree.  I didn't even know people did that. It was just always kind of around. Today my uncle and cousins still farm. I'm excited to say that my cousin's daughters both are back at the farm helping him. So that's exciting in, in the extended family farm, but I can't claim a lot.  I was in 4-H as a kid as well. Here's something funny, I showed my cat. All these awesome farm kids, they show horses, they show goats, cattle, chickens, you know, all the things. And I showed my cat.

Jenny:

Well, that's interesting. You also went to college in Iowa, Grand View University.

WHAT WAS YOUR INTENDED CAREER PATH WHEN YOU WERE GRADUATING COLLEGE?

Marji:

My undergraduate degree was graphic design, journalism and photography. I loved photography. And when I was in college, I think I thought that I was going to be a wedding photographer or something. I photographed weddings through college and quickly realized that that was not my calling. There are people much better suited to do that than me. So I wasn't really sure where it was going to go out of college. But I landed in a job. I just needed a job and in the communications department at a crop insurance company. So I've landed in the agriculture industry through my, graphic design, journalism and photography degree. It’s kind of a roundabout way to land in this industry for sure.

Jenny:

You were in the communications department.

WHAT WAS YOUR ROLE THERE AND WHAT WERE SOME THINGS THAT YOU LEARNED DURING YOUR TIME WITH THAT CROP INSURANCE COMPANY?

Marji:

It was good. First of all, I spent 11 years at Rain and Hail, one of the larger crop insurance companies in this country and a really, really important piece of the farm safety net. I came to learn over that, a little over a decade spent there. I came into the company in a communications role. So I worked in the marketing department and you know, I did the things that an entry level person in the marketing department would do, you know, I put together brochures and helped write articles.

Sometimes they would go take pictures. It was pretty basic stuff I would say in the beginning, but it was, it was good. And I learned a lot about how farms work, what the visibility of them was. I learned a lot about the crop insurance industry, which is a very unique part of, of insurance in general and just how it works with the public private partnership with the federal government. So I can say that risk management still today, I know it's such an important thing and it's near and dear to my heart. But you know, it, it's not what I do anymore, but while I started in the marketing department, I was on this path to climb the ladder there. I over the course of those 11 years, I had five different positions.

I moved into more of operational stuff during those years, I got an MBA. I went back to Drake University which is right here in Des Moines, Iowa, and got a master’s in business and kept moving my way up. And I eventually landed into a role where I, my title was long. So I'll just tell you that I was the risk manager, I dealt with re-insurance, which is insurance that insurance companies have to have as a backstop. And the contract that we as an insurance company had with the federal government to implement the crop insurance program. So I learned so much about the inner workings of all of that and how a company, you know, might, right, let's say $2 billion in premium a year, you know from farmers and how they deal with that risk.

And you said, it's, it's so important when I still go to farmers today. I still always asking about how they manage their risk if they have crop insurance, especially if they're fault small farms. I always think it's interesting to understand how they're managing that, but it just, towards the end of my time there, I just kind of found myself going, okay, , you've reached this position that you wanted to be at. And, you know, maybe there's more, maybe there's not here, but I don't feel  I'm doing the best thing I could be doing,  for myself and for something else, you know? So it, it kind of became obvious to me that it was time to move on and figure out what was next

Jenny:

What inspired you to leave a company that you kind of grew up through in 11 years’ time?

WAS THERE A MOMENT OR WAS THERE KIND OF AN “AHA” MOMENT THAT HIT YOU THAT KIND OF INSPIRED YOU TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP WITH YOUR CAREER?

Marji:

There was a number of things. If I look back, I mean, I still am, what was I crazy? , what was I doing? I walked away from some serious stability and a pretty great paycheck to jump into the deep end. But it was a number of things I at the time I left, my kids were one and three and it was , I could see my life flashing before my eyes,  the speed of everything was feeling really fast. You know, I was in my early thirties. And I blinked and I'm here. And if I blink again, 30 more years will go by, and I won't feel  I put something out into this world that I really could  excel at, you know, but I didn't know what that was.

And during that time the company was sold while I was kind of going through that, introspective, look at myself. And so, you know, a number of things when that happens, it just made it kind of easier to move on. And I have the most supportive husband on the face of the earth. And so when I came up with this idea,  I think I need to step back from this and take a few months and figure out what I'm going to do next, because I felt  as long as I was in it, I couldn't figure it out. I had stability, I had comfort. I had it was somewhat in control of my own world there. And as long as you have that, it's really hard to push yourself to do something different.

While it’s a crazy idea, and I don't know that I would tell anybody else to do it, but for me I had to kind of push myself off that cliff. And that's just how I work. So I left there without knowing what I was going to do. It wasn’t I was leaving to start FarmHer. I was leaving to do something else and just didn't know what that was. So the last day of my job, there was February 1st, 2013. And I remember thinking after I left, Oh my gosh, what did I do?

Jenny:

That is a leap. And it is also great that you had a supportive husband and family behind you to take that jump that you were waiting to do.

DID YOU TAKE A FEW MONTHS OFF? HOW DID FARMHER GET STARTED? WAS IT A FEW MONTHS AFTER THAT, OR DID IT KIND OF HAPPEN SUDDENLY?

Marji:

Yeah, it was pretty quick. So the weekend, right after I quit my job, the Super Bowl was on. I was sitting here in the basement again, thinking, “What did I do?”  I worked a lot, I traveled a lot for my job. And we had a nanny that would come into our house and, you know, there was no need for her anymore, so we'd let her go. And so I thought, what did I do? There's a wonderful three-year-old here, sitting here in the basement, we watched the Super Bowl and a commercial was on a Ram truck commercial set to a speech by Paul Harvey called God, made a farmer and it was beautiful and I loved it. And I'm sure anybody listening can remember that if they're associated with agriculture at all. It was so powerful because of strong words and really great pictures. And that's all it was, it was, it wasn't really video commercial. If you remember, it was just beautiful images and having a background in photography. I think, that's what made me think, this is beautiful. I loved it. But honestly, I didn't think anything of it when I watched it other than, than how much I thought, how beautiful I thought it was. But I read an article a couple of days later that pointed out. Yeah, that was beautiful, but where were the women? And not just in this commercial, it’s not just, you know, that commercial's problem. It's anywhere in agriculture. We just don't see what women do yet. At that time, they made up 30% of the producers in this country, which is a lot. And I read the article and it did not sit well with me, I guess and woke up in the middle of the night and the next night. I had this idea that instead of being frustrated, I thought maybe I could start a photo project and show what some of these women do. So, yeah, it literally was only a few weeks after I left my job, to give you a timeline. And my husband's always, I'm going to take a while off six months and just figure it out. And he’s like, I didn't give you six months. In my brain, I knew that within six weeks you'd be running at something else. April 17th, 2013 to give you a timeline was the first farm that I visited. I reached out to some people in that article and they said, yeah, you can come photograph at our farm. I didn't have the name FarmHer. , I mean, I had the name, it was just a project, but you know what I mean? I didn’t have anything to show them.  they trusted me to come take their pictures when I didn't even know what I'd do with it. That’s kind of how FarmHer was born.

Jenny:

That’s amazing. You started with a story, an interview and some pictures.

HOW DID YOU GROW THAT? HOW DID YOU GROW YOUR PLATFORM?  WAS IT ALL WORD OF MOUTH? DID YOU GET ON SOCIAL MEDIA RIGHT AWAY?  

Marji:

I mean, looking back today, we do a lot, but it didn't start that way for sure. So my grand goal is to change how people see women in this industry. And I was going to start with seven or eight women that I would photograph that summer. And so I did that and I waited until I had those pictures to launch a website. So in July of 2013, I put up a super basic website.  Literally it was just a blog with photos bait. I mean, there was no business to it whatsoever and launched a social media pages in July of 2013 also. And those are what got the ball rolling.  I still remember, just feeling exhilarated and frightened and overwhelmed and excited all at the same time, because it was almost instantaneous when I put it, put it out there that it started gaining really quick traction.

And I was, oh, I care about this, but clearly the women in this industry care about this too. And they just didn't know that they needed something to get behind. So yeah, very quickly we started getting some national press.  Within three months, we we were in Huffington Post. We were in something called Upworthy. We were in Fast Company, Smithsonian magazine. It just spread, and it was bizarre. I decided that fall, okay, now you need to figure this out.  This isn't just a fun project anymore. You need to figure out something sustainable and, and how we're going to march into the future with this, because it needs to stay.

Jenny:

You definitely scratched an itch and found a voice for people who didn't have one before. And that's, that's pretty incredible to hear that it took off that quickly. Over the past seven years now, since you've launched 2013, you've had the opportunity to travel all over the country and, and beyond, and meet some pretty incredible women in the industry. Do you have - I'm sure this is pretty difficult cause you've met with so many - but

IS THERE ONE STORY THAT'S REALLY KIND OF MADE AN IMPACT ON YOU THROUGHOUT THE PAST SEVEN YEARS OR MAYBE ONE THAT YOU REALLY ENJOYED GETTING OUT INTO THE WORLD?

Marji:

Yeah, there's so many and I always say that the last person that I visited. There’s a couple that I get this question a lot and there's a couple people that I usually share with this answer, but I'm going to share a different one with you because it truly is the last person that I visited that sticks with me. And I really love to be able to tell her story and it's not out in the world yet, but it will be soon. Her name is Maggie Holup and she actually works for Farm Credit here in the middle of the country. I had the opportunity to visit her at her farm just last week in Nebraska. She’s awesome, just so cool. But long story short, her dad got brain cancer a number of years ago, and that's about a series of events that led to her mother basically you know, splitting the farm into two pieces for her and her sister.

And so Maggie had to figure out, how I am going to do this as, you know, a single person, as a young woman who was only a few years into a career. She didn't have huge assets to figure out how to come back and do this with, but she did. And I feel, I don’t know if scrappy is the right word, but she figured it out. And she did on her own, whether it was YouTube videos or whatever it was. She had help of neighbors and friends and stuff too, of course. But when I look at all that she's done and built and kept going and in not the easiest of situations. You’re exactly what a FarmHer is. You know, you're, you're going to push forward at any cost to figure this out because it matters to you and it matters to your family and it matters to your legacy and it's the right thing to do.

On top of that, she really cares about being healthy and bringing healthy activities to rural communities. So she has this mobile workout trailer that she takes to these small towns in Nebraska that don't have any other workout options. People can come and pay a couple dollars and do a workout, maybe once a week. And I worked out and she puts on a good workout. So I did it with her right there on the farm. And so to wrap all that up because I'm sure a lot of people go, well, she sounds  this person that I know or that person that I know, she’s not really that different.  And that's the thing of it is the people that I meet, she embodies that, they're, they work so hard. They're so passionate. She balances the full time job at Farm Credit and she makes it work on the weekends. She it's just, you know, it's just so good. And so down to earth, and just one of those people. She was truly the last person that I visited. And so that one's sticking with me right now.

Jenny:

That's fantastic. I can't wait to see it and read about her. So in addition to the past seven years, getting to meet a bunch of different people, we kind of touched on it earlier, but you've also expanded into so many different channels way beyond the blog that you started with.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO STORY TELL TODAY AND WHY IS IT STILL THROUGH A BLOG OR ARE YOU MORE INTO THE PODCAST? WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE GO TO NOW?

Marji:

That's a good question. I do love to talk. Podcasts is pretty fun. My very favorite thing to do is to tell the story of somebody that probably wouldn't know otherwise. And Maggie, who is awesome, but you may not get all pieces of her story otherwise. I would say that my favorite medium is still a photo because when, when that moment in time is stopped and you can capture it in a beautiful, strong, way that somebody else can have a feeling when they look at it, that's still probably my personal favorite to go all the way back to the beginning. You know, video has allowed us to tell a richer story, right?  In the TV show or on our YouTube channel, you can better experience who these people are, what their farms are or learn something about how they do what they do through video. So it's a richer experience, but I think I'd have to go back to, to, you know, being on a farm, following a person in a pretty non-intrusive way and taking a picture when you see,  when I see what she's doing, I guarantee it's different than how she sees what she's doing. And so the ability to kind of stop that moment and put a mirror up almost is really cool, so I would go back to, but I said, I do love to talk.

Jenny:

You described the use of photography very eloquently because it's true. It does capture a single moment. You don't really think about it at the time, but then when you reflect back, that doesn't mean a lot to a lot of people.

Another way you've diversified is your retail. I personally am a huge fan of your apparel. I've purchased a few things from your store.

WHAT MADE YOU GET INTO [APPAREL SALES]? AND WHAT WAS THAT PROCESS FOR YOU ALL?

Marji:

Yeah, I don't mean to be the person who is a story of accidental things that we got into, but I would say it's kind of that open your arms really wide and figure out what to run at to make this sustainable. So the second farm that I visited, it was a goat. They had it was a goat micro dairy. So she made small batches of really wonderful goat cheese. And her name was Lois. And she had an employee there working with her and the employee asked can I get a shirt that says FarmHer? And I thought why does she want a shirt that says the name of my photo projects? And I think that situation made me realize, oh, it's the name of my project, but I came up with a word that can identify who you are to the rest of the world as well. You wear that as badge of honor, this is who I am. And, and so that's been a really fun thing with the name FarmHer and with the clothes. I have fun with it and I still do the designs, most of them, myself. We've got a couple of people who help submit some of them sometimes, but mostly it's just, I design things that I want to wear, you know, and that has worked out really great. It's always fun to me to put a good message out into the world and to help people be proud of who they are. And like I said, wear that on their chest, and allow them to show the world that. And so that's a really fun thing about the merchandise. I never set out to me a tee shirt company, but it's really fun. It's a fun piece of the puzzle. So we, you know, we have the media side of what we do, whether that's digital or TV or podcasts. And then the merchandise is another piece and we used to have a third arm, which was events, but we've changed that a little bit.

Jenny:

I didn't know you did most of the design of those. You and I have a very similar personality then, because I love a pun. And I love seeing what you all come up with for your canned koozies and tee shirts. We love it, my team and I are big fans.

Marji:

Oh, thank you. Yeah, I know. We might as well be lighthearted about it. We don't have to be super heavy all the time. There's plenty of heaviness in this industry. Shirts, there's one that we just had this summer called “winging it “and I love that. I feel like everyone is winging it at some point.

Jenny:

I know you've hosted “Grow by FarmHer”, conferences geared toward high school and college aged girls. Actually, we had an intern with us for a couple of years who attended one of your events at West Virginia University, not too long ago. She spoke very highly of that opportunity.

WHAT PROMPTED THAT DECISION TO HOST FARMHER CONFERENCES AND WHERE ARE THEY HEADED?

Marji:

Well naturally, events are changing right now, but I'll walk you back through, how does it change for us? So let's see, I started this in 2013, by the end of that year, we organize it into an actual business. And I then worked really hard to fill up my calendar in 2014. So anyone who would, let me put up photos or come talk at their event or anything I could do to just get it out there in the world. And towards the end of 2014, I met a young woman at one of those events that I had filled up my calendar with. And she said, I want to intern for you. I thought, you know, I could use some help. You're right. I need an intern. And so we opened up an intern program and it actually she started the following spring.

So in 2015 and on her first day of work, her name is Lexi Merrick. And on her first day of work, she said I kind of already committed us to creating events for women in agriculture. And I said well okay as long as we don't lose money, because we don't have any to lose. We can run forward at this, but by the way, she wanted to create just a dinner. And I said I've been going to this event that's fabulous, but they're not going to expand it out of Illinois. It’s an Illinois group that does it, but it's wonderful. And it's for young women and I think it needs to be everywhere. And so we kind of crashed those ideas together and came up with “Grow”. We had our first one in 2015 that fall. And that was her internship to play on that. And it was fabulous. We sold out 250 tickets. We had young women, upper high school through college age, young women were our focused. And you know, we put awesome women up on the stage to tell their stories and in different ways, some producers and professionals. And our goal was to connect young women to all of the things that are out there in this industry that they can go do or be in. I'm a pretty big believer, if you can see it, you can do it. So why not show them some really cool women who are doing great things? So we did that for five years. We ran it that we had our 20th “Grow” event last November. And as you said, we had one in West Virginia, we had them all over the country. And they were wonderful. Last year at the same time, leading up to our 20th event, we actually had nine events all around the country last year, whether they were “Grow” or other ones that we had for all ages. And between the TV, the podcast, the Sirius XM, the merchandise, everything, you know, we were running really hard at it, all of this. And I can tell you that I hit a pretty big wall last spring at the same time that it was going through a class called Goldman Sachs 10,000 small businesses. And it was kind of just a perfect storm of taking a step back and looking at everything that we were doing and what was getting us the most traction and how we could reach the most people with the limited resources that we do have.

And so through that, I came to the decision that we were spending most of our time, probably about 80- 85% of our staff time and it was a staff of seven people pulling off those events. They are wonderful and fabulous and they filled all of our cup. I mean, emptied our cups big time and then they filled them up. It's a lot to put on and came to the realization that we were lucky if we were breaking even because it's just an expensive thing to do. And you got to have people to be able to pull that off, you know and we were reaching around 1500 people a year, maybe 2000 between all these events. And while we loved them, the reality was it wasn't a sustainable thing for us to keep doing.

So I made the decision that she had, that we were going to kind of refocus on our media and our ability to tell these stories and how we're telling them and who we're telling them to, and to keep broadening out that circle and to have less of a focus on events. So we did a big staff readjustment last year and we actually had no events planned for 2020, no in person events.

Jenny:

That's ironic.

Marji:

Yeah. I know, right. I don't know that I'd call it lucky, but it was a solid decision despite not having a crystal ball.  I mean, honestly I just got off the phone with someone, telling him that that it was those changes that we made last year allowed us to not feel  we were sinking when everything started shutting down and changing drastically this year. And in backing away from those events, you know, I knew we needed to adjust and refocus the investment that we were putting in those events, we needed to shift that over to our media somehow. And so we brought on a new digital team and kind of revamped how we're looking at digital, so that we aren't just doing the same things so that we're looking at again, doing the same thing and doing it better and reaching more people more consistently a broader message, and just doing an even better job of connecting with people in that world. So again, that's turned out to be a great thing for this year because everybody's living in a digital world more than we could have ever imagined.

That team has been fabulous. They're experts. They're wonderful. They've brought so much to us. So we've kind of re-did our style and our look. We have a new website, that by the time this podcast is out, it'll be launched. Just a refresh look, same FarmHer, but better way to be able to find all of our stories. So if you go to our website and you want to meet one of those farmers, you can see her pictures, you can read the story, you can listen to a podcast, if there is one. You can see the YouTube video of if there is one or you can connect over to the story on RFD TV, if there is one. So we're just giving you a better way to connect in the way that we think that people might want to absorb these stories.

So it's been I would say over a full year of solid change for us, and I feel we're finally certain to level off and understanding where we're at and how we're going to push forward with all of it.

Jenny:

That's exciting to hear though. That’s lot of change happening, but all exciting change. I'm excited to check out the new website when it launches. Speaking of the pandemic, I'd be remiss not to bring it up the toll it's taking on the industry.

HOW HAS A FARMHER ADAPTED DURING [THE PANDEMIC]? HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MESSAGING STRATEGY AT ALL SINCE THIS HIT?

Marji:

I would say we were already in the middle of changing our messaging strategy, to be a little more focused and more consistently they're showing up. And so that's been a really good thing for us. We've seen growth. I think a lot of people have seen growth digitally through this, but it's been good for us to have more focus as we've gone through it. Me personally one of the things that early on you know, I feel  we all were in this situation, whether you're a business owner, whether you work for a company, no matter who you are,  I think we all went through this “oh my gosh. Now what?” The way that my personality is, I was like I have to do something.  And so I started thinking about things I could show that were good. And I mean, if you look at what we share with FarmHer, I mean every once in a while there stories that are tough, right? There's a story where you're probably going to tear up if you hear Maggie, talk about how she lost her dad, you know, or how Barbara's husband died. There is inevitable because it's life. But overall, I think we put really positive, good stuff out in the world and I kind of made it my job to keep focusing on good stuff that we could share. We, and personally, when everything started shutting down, that was my busiest time of year for speaking, being keynote at events and stuff like that. And so I have 12 plane tickets that are sitting there waiting to be used. It’s a bit of an adjustment because I was used to go, go, go, go, and go. But it's been a really good adjustment and I tell you what, for the first time in probably about five years, I kind of was forced home and was around my family more. And of course I love them, but I just realized how much chaos there is in our lives in general. And so I need to slow down even a little bit more and how can I make them a part of my world even more? So we launched this YouTube on the road show where I am, as many trips as I can, I'm going to try to take my family with me, whether it's all of them or one of them and make them a part of it. So we're showing you the behind the scenes. Of course you're going to meet the farmer, you know, that we have other stories that are on YouTube, that you can meet those people, but there’s this whole life that happens in order to be able to tell those stories. And I want them to be able to see it and experience it too.

So that’s been a big shift, really big shift, but a good one again. And you know, business wise, it's a challenge for many businesses. I mean we're blessed, we're, and we’re doing okay. You know, it's not without its challenges in, in reduction of income, whether it's, you know, merchandise sales or speaking engagements or whatnot, but you know we're going to be okay. And, and we've got our health. We sometimes have our sanity.  Again, keeping my family closer to me and spreading a message of even more good. I think those are the things that messaging wise have become even more important.

Jenny:

How have you seen your FarmHer community pull together throughout this time? I know we've seen a lot of farmers in our area changing their business operations to do more outreach and be more out in the public eye and provide local food to people who aren't able to get out of their homes.

ARE THERE ANY SORT OF STORIES THAT YOU'VE SEEN THROUGHOUT YOUR FARMHER COMMUNITY SIMILAR TO THAT, PULL TOGETHER DURING THIS TIME TO HELP THEIR COMMUNITIES OUT?

Marji:

Oh yes, so many of them. And we have tried to share a lot of those, because I think we're all in the same boat where we have to figure out how we're going to pivot whether, we have a business, whether we have a farm, no matter what your life structure is, we all have had to pivot. And so we really, throughout the summer have been focusing on stories of how people are changing. You know we talked to a young woman who was getting ready to have a baby. She runs marketing for her family farm, which has Gunther Family Farms and they're out of Indiana and they sold lots of pastured poultry to really high end restaurants in Indianapolis and Chicago. And so you can imagine that their business just keep it whole and change. And then they had to shift really fast. And then she was getting ready to have a baby the weekend I talked to her. And I thought, oh my gosh, how many more things can be thrown at you? But I think that's where we do come together because well, she had her challenges. We all have them, you know, and we all can relate to those stories in some way or another. And I think sharing those matters because, it, it doesn't all just happen in a bubble. So we've been really focusing on those. So, you know, we talk to another small produce farm who really had to pivot and create an online sales platform really quickly. Because they had food in the field that needed to be harvested and get to their customers and, and you know, they're thriving through it. We’ve talked about how risk management is near and dear to my heart. When your business changes a lot of things structurally change too. And you know, how we're all keeping up with that, if we are. Because that matters too, you’ve got to deal with the risk that comes along with your business changing. From a community standpoint, we've just really been trying to put out those stories and people really do connect with those really well. It's, it's great to see people have that kind of comradery of knowing that they all can, can relate to this in some way.

Jenny:

I couldn't agree more. Going back to the main mission of FarmHer which is sharing stories of women in ag and giving them a voice. The there's definitely a growing number of women in ag at all levels. According to the 2018 Ag Census, 36% of U.S. farmers are female and 56% of all farms have at least one female decision maker. I'd love to hear from your perspective

WHY IT IS SO CRUCIAL THAT WE CONTINUE TO SHARE THEIR STORIES AND HOW BEST WE CAN DO THIS?

Marji:

It is crucial to continue to share their stories. I mean, I think I said it earlier that if you can see it, you can do it. And whether you, you know, that you are an inspiration to somebody else or not, I guarantee that you are. Somebody’s probably looking up to you and that's anybody out there listening too. And so continuing to share your story and put that out there, even when it's really hard, it's important. It matters. I have a Google alert set up about the words, “women” and “agriculture”  and I can't even tell you,  when I first started it was a couple of times a week, maybe there was something and I get 20 or 30 a day now, you know, there's just so much more visibility around women. I think they’re standing up there saying, “Hey, I'm a part of this farm.” It's not like people are flocking into agriculture right now, but they're kind of coming into their own with their roles, you know, and, and how they're being counted with those number increases. And so it does matter if not to you, but to those other people, looking at you that you, take ownership in who you are and what you do and, and find whatever way you can to share your story.  We all don't have to jump in front of a camera to tell it, you know? I mean, there's, there's so many ways that you can, you can do that. So but it's important. It matters, everybody has to do their little part in this industry. Because it's not people are flooding into it at record pace.

Jenny:

That’s my next question actually -

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR ANY WOMAN WHO MIGHT BE OUT THERE RIGHT NOW LISTENING, THAT WANTS TO HAVE A CAREER IN AGRICULTURE OR MIGHT WANT TO START A BUSINESS LIKE YOU?

What advice do you have or what do you wish you knew that you’d impart on them?

Marji:

Great question. Well, for starters, if you think you want to have a career in this industry, I would say that you absolutely can do it. If there is an inkling in you that, “Hey, I might be good at this”, or “Hey, I might want to run after this” then run after it, with everything you've got and don't take no for an answer and be the best at it. You have the ability to do that. And so I would say that if, if you are wondering if you could go and do something, maybe start putting your feelers out, find someone that could mentor you, find somebody that is doing what you think you might want to do and watch them, reach out to them, ask them how they do it.  I've had so many times where I’ve reached out to somebody and connect did just because I was this is cool, this is really great, you know? And it can make a world of difference. That networking piece is so, so, so important.

 I think you asked also if somebody was looking to start something I do. I had a young woman come up to me at the end of one of our “Grower” events and she said  I'm going to do what you do, but I can't even figure out where to be again, because it feels  so much. And I was, here's the thing? Start with one thing. That's what I did. You know, I started where, I mean, there were words, but the really the main thing was those images. And then it turned into a snowball and over time I was able to a team that could help make that happen. You know, it doesn't all happen with one person. So start with one thing, don’t worry about all 20 things that you think you should be doing. Just one thing you just have to get started. Maybe it's just an Instagram account. Maybe it's, you know, just one, one way of doing it. But that’s, that's where I started, you know, the ball has rolled and changed.

So and I think if I could give myself one piece of advice, looking back, it would be, take a breath. It's all going to be okay. You don't have to run at break neck speed all the time.  Pay attention to all the good things around you. As we're doing this on the road piece, it made me realize how much travel I really have done over the last seven years and what cool things I've seen. And I haven't really taken enough time to enjoy those and experience those. So take a breath. It's all going to be okay, you'll get it all done, you know, and, and just keep moving forward.

Jenny:

That's great advice. One more piece of advice I would like from you: if there are women out there who want to connect with their community or a community like yours out in their neck of the woods, where would they start?

WHERE DO YOU SUGGEST WOMEN IN AG START TO FIND THEIR NETWORK AND CONNECT WITH OTHERS?

Marji:

First off, social media is a great place because you can do it from the comfort of your own home and you can do it at your pace or your comfort, your level. I can think of many, many of the women who I've met along the years, who've started to put themselves out there on social media and now have really big followings and they've become really great friends with each other. They bounce ideas off of each other. They support each other. I see the comments that they're throwing out to each other on a daily basis. And it's awesome. Get on Instagram, start looking at hashtags, that'll help you follow the right people that are the community that you think you want to be a part of, you know, check out the FarmHer hashtag. You definitely can find your own place on social media, but I think the other really important thing is you know, you can go to a local meeting and, you know, join up with people who maybe are like-minded. Maybe it's a Farm Bureau media, maybe there's a women in Ag group. And those always seem intimidating when you haven't been a part of those before, but you know, it wouldn't be a group if it wasn't reliant on all kinds of people coming in and joining and giving their thoughts. And that's always a great place to connect with other people. And I, I'm a big believer that when you put yourself out there a little bit good things, what goes around comes around and, and so it will build, it will grow. It will push you forward when you do that. So you know, those, those local groups are good. And even if it’s not an Ag focus group. Joining a group of other business owners, even though you think they're a million times different than you are, because the farm is nothing else. I mean, most businesses have to go through all the same hoops. You know, you have to have marketing, you have to have sales, you have to have the labor, and you have to pay taxes.  you have all the same things. So sometimes it's just figuring out where you want to find your community. And then again, just putting yourself out there, which is probably the toughest part, but I can do it. So I know you can do.

Jenny:

I love that. Once you find that group, you know, when you find your tribe or however you choose to word it, it’s pretty amazing what can come of it. It is always so inspiring, as one woman in ag to another, to see each other to see others lift each other up, especially in times today where we definitely need it the most.

I have one more question for you Marji, before we wrap up today. It's a question we ask everyone, and that would be,

WHAT DO YOU ADVOCATE FOR IN AGRICULTURE?

Marji:

I think the thing that I advocate for the most would be to connect with other people. I think that's where the growth happens. To piggyback off of that last answer, when you put yourself out there and you meet other people and maybe you gain more perspective about a certain situation, you know, that's where growth starts happening for all of us. And I think the biggest thing that we all can do for ourselves is to keep growing and to keep evolving as a human being and getting better, broadening our horizons. And that's going to make this industry win in the long run to have people who are looking to do that all the time. And so, yeah, I think that's it.

Jenny:

WHERE CAN OUR LISTENERS FIND YOU AND FARMHER ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

Marji:

Our website is the easiest place to find us. It’s FARMHer.com. You can get to any of our social media channels of course, they're there, and you can read the stories. You can watch the YouTube videos. The YouTube is a new fun thing. So I would also say, definitely go check us out on YouTube, its Youtube.com/FarmHer. And any other social channels, you can find us at the @FarmHer1. So we're everywhere. We try to be everywhere on social, but YouTube is a fun, new thing. So if, if your listeners are in that, they can definitely do it there, but you can find it all on our website.

LISTEN TO Holly's EPISODE HERE OR FIND US ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST LISTENING APP!

 

Summary

In this episode of the Farm Credit AgVocates podcast, we interview Holly Porter, the executive director of the Delmarva Chicken Association to learn about their new branding and Littr mobile app. You’ll learn where Holly got her start in the agriculture industry and how the organization’s name transitioned from Delmarva Poultry Industry to the Delmarva Chicken Association.

Check out the Delmarva Chicken Association at dcachicken.com and the Littr app at littr.io.

Katie Ward:

Welcome to the Farm Credit AgVocates podcast. I'm your host, Katie Ward, a Marketing Specialist here at Horizon Farm Credit. I'm thrilled to introduce our guest on the podcast today. Holly Porter, the Executive Director for the Delmarva Chicken Association. I've had the pleasure of working with Holly the past few years on partnerships in the agriculture industry in the Horizon region. Holly is also a familiar face at Farm Credit, as she was previously a Marketing Specialist here for 12 years. She also has served as a Marketing Specialist and as the Deputy Principal Assistant at the Delaware Department of Agriculture prior to joining the Delmarva Chicken Association. Recently in her role as Executive Director, Holly led the Delmarva Chicken Association, or as we'll often refer to it today as DCA, through a rebranding and rollout complete with a new name and logo. I'm honored to have Holly hang out with us for a little bit today to talk about the rebranding process and the poultry industry on Delmarva.

As a fellow marketer, I'm sure we're going to have a lot of exciting things to talk about. So without further ado, welcome to the podcast, Holly.

Holly Porter

Thanks, Katie. I really appreciate being here and really excited to be back working with Farm Credit. I had the pleasure of sitting in your role so many years ago and enjoyed every minute of it. Farm Credit is a wonderful organization. I have many, many friends still with Farm Credit.

Katie Ward:

SO ASIDE FROM THE BRIEF INTRO THAT I GAVE, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU WANT TO TELL OUR LISTENERS ABOUT YOURSELF BEFORE WE DIVE INTO THE BIG DISCUSSION?

Holly Porter:

As said, I worked at Horizon Farm Credit for 12 years and I think that it's fitting when we talk about advocates because when I started at Farm Credit, I'm not sure that I really recognized my love and my passion for Ag as much as I do now. All of that really starts because at the end of the day, I'm a farmer's daughter. My dad is still a part-time grain farmer here in Caroline County, where I was born and raised. I think that to be an advocate, sometimes having that background and that passion is really what has been so important to me in my role and the different roles that I've had as well.  I've enjoyed many of the leadership opportunities that I've had, many of them starting when I was at Farm Credit and my opportunity to partake in the LEAD Maryland program, which was really career changing for me in a lot of ways. Then when I was at the Delaware Department of Agriculture, I was actually able to lead their LEAD Delaware program. I was a participant in Maryland and one of the Assistant Directors at LEAD Delaware, so there's definitely a lot of synergy and a lot of back and forth when you work within the Ag community, especially here on Delmarva. Those have been really career changing opportunities for me I think.

Katie Ward:

We've interviewed quite a few people on the podcast so far who have participated in either LEAD Maryland, LEAD Delaware or the VALOR Program down in Virginia and everyone has had the same thing to say that the program really kind of launched their career path as well as their passion for Ag. As a current LEAD Maryland fellow, I have to agree.

DO YOU WANT TO TELL US A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT YOUR ROLE AT DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BEFORE YOU WENT TO DCA?

Holly Porter:

Sure, so I started at the Delaware Department of Ag as a Marketing Specialist and I was working on a mix of projects. At that time the concept of urban agriculture was really starting to take off. We were doing a lot of work in the Wilmington area, and we were also doing a lot of work and trying to connect the population in Delaware, which again is primarily within the Wilmington area with the farmers and the agricultural products that farmers have in the Kent and Sussex areas. One of my most exciting things that I worked on once I moved into the Deputy Principal Assistant role, which is really just a long title to say that I did a lot of policy work. I worked with the legislature and some other policy work as well.  One of the exciting things that I got the opportunity to work on was a Farm and Food policy. It was a lot of fun, not only because of the work that came out of it, but even more so with who I worked with. I partnered with Allison Karpyn, an expert in public health and public policy. I guess I was sort of the leader or the expert in agricultural policy. The two of us partnered together and interviewed 30 to 40 people all across the state, those who were involved in agriculture; those who were involved in public health and nutrition in urban agriculture and everything in between. I think we came up with a really good white paper with steps that we thought needed to happen in order to really connect those who are looking for food. Whether it's within food deserts or whether it's restaurants or other businesses with the farmers that are providing to that.

That was really fun. It did not necessarily tie in with chicken, but I think it gave me a broader perspective of all of agriculture in the state and a lot more digging into policy work, whether that's legislative regulatory, or just creating opportunities, marketing opportunities within to connect those.

Katie Ward:

I do think that you can't really have agriculture in Delaware without chickens. Although you weren't directly working in the poultry industry, I'm sure that was still a big part of your conversations that you were having with both farmers and consumers in the state.

Holly Porter:

We really did and we included the chicken industry in several of those interviews and those conversations because as you said, we produce a lot of chickens here on Delmarva and we want to make sure that it's a healthy, good, nutritious protein. It was really important to make sure that. Oftentimes when there's discussions of food policies, a lot of the focus is on fruits and vegetables, which again are very important, obviously for good nutrition and health; but chicken is also a great protein and a great part of anyone's diet as well. It was important to make sure that the chicken community was part of those discussions as well, especially with being right here in the state.

Katie Ward:

So that really launched you into the policy side of agriculture and your career.

HOW DID YOU THEN END UP WITH DELMARVA CHICKEN ASSOCIATION?

Holly Porter:

There's a combination of things that really sort of led me to DCA. First of all, starting with some of the networks and the folks that we had met.  It really started back at Farm Credit, when I became the Marketing Specialist in the Delmarva area. That's obviously where I got to know Bill Satterfield and what was formally known as the Delmarva Poultry Industry. I got to know several folks from either chicken companies or chicken growers, and working under a Secretary Ed Kee, who was of course very involved with the chicken community. He introduced me to a number of other folks within the industry, several of which were board members of the Delmarva Poultry Industry. So when they were looking for what was originally the Assistant Executive Director position, which was just a transition position, knowing that Bill Satterfield was going to plan to retire, I had a couple of people that suggested my name knowing that I had both marketing and policy backgrounds, which is so important and such a big part of what DCA does. There was a couple of people that suggested that it might be a position that may interest me. Then on the other side, I think there was some folks that had talked and put my name sort of out there to the board members of then DPI. It worked out well and I think having some of those connections first, as well as really truly understanding the chicken industry, especially once I moved into the policy role at DCA, because of course chicken is about 75% of Delaware's Ag farm income. So that's very big business in Delaware. It's big amongst all of Delmarva, but definitely very big business in Delaware.

Katie Ward:

All of your previous jobs kind of set you up for this position with DCA, which as you mentioned, was formerly Delmarva Poultry Industry.

CAN YOU GIVE A BIT OF BACKGROUND ON DPI AND FOR THOSE LISTENERS WHO AREN'T FAMILIAR, WHAT THE ORGANIZATION IS?

Holly Porter:

So DCA or formerly DPI, and I will admit, for so many years it was DPI, so every once in a while, it's still hard for DCA to roll off the tongue. Our mission is to be the advocates, to be the voice of our chicken community here on Delmarva. When I talk about the chicken community, I'm talking about our chicken growers. There's about 1,300 family farmers that raise chickens here on the Delmarva Peninsula. This also includes the chicken companies, which is what we call our Integrator Companies. We have five of those companies here on Delmarva from Allen Harim, Amick, Mountaire, Perdue Farms, and Tyson Foods. Then the third piece of our chicken community is what we call our allied businesses. Those are businesses that the chicken community has an impact on, whether it's folks like Farm Credit, it’s lenders, its insurance, its construction, and the truck drivers. It’s the folks that are providing them with maintenance service, it's the businesses like nutrition, pharmaceutical and all of those businesses in between, which are also important. It’s because of the chicken community, that's what drives many of their businesses.  We have somewhere between 1,600 and 1,700 members in those three categories.

We are run by a Board of Directors. We are a nonprofit 501 C (6), so we're not a not-for-profit or a charity, but we are a nonprofit that does advocacy work. That's really the 501-6 piece of it. We are lobbyists in the state of Delaware and in the state of Maryland and we do a lot of legislative advocacy work in Annapolis, Richmond and Dover, as well as on the local level too, because local county planning and zoning are so important as well. We’re really trying to be the voice for those farmers, those allied businesses and those companies that are not able to attend hearings in Annapolis regularly. Their job is to be out in the chicken houses, raising the birds, or in the buildings processing and so forth. So that's really a big part of our role.

We also want to make sure that we're educating our growers and making them the most efficient and the best that they can be. We've done workshops, we have a large national meeting every year that is focused on poultry health, on processing and on live production. We bring in speakers from all across the country and actually this year worldwide, educating our members on everything from different poultry diseases to different tactics within, processing centers, or robotics which definitely more automation is coming down the road. Those are really our main goals and mission is just to be that voice, to be the advocates and to help in education and to really just strengthen and make sure that folks know the importance of our chicken community here on Delmarva.

Katie Ward:

I'm just blown away at the size of your membership. I don't think I realized that you had almost 1,700 members.  That’s large, especially for the size of Delmarva. It's not geographically a big area, but that just goes to show how many players are in the game for the poultry industry and specifically chicken on Delmarva.

Holly Porter:

Absolutely. We have the five companies that themselves employ over 20,000 people. That's a significant number of jobs here in our very rural Delmarva area. When we talk about economics and we talk about numbers, we talk about a $3.5 billion dollar value. What it boils down to is jobs. When you have over 20,000 just tied to the companies, you have 1,300 family farmers and you have hundreds and hundreds of others in our allied business. Its lot of jobs, it's a lot of people that are tied to the chicken community. I often joke that when I was younger, there was the seven degrees of Kevin Bacon in tying together and I say on Delmarva, I really think there's probably only about two degrees of separation from anybody that lives or was raised on the Delmarva Peninsula to the chicken community in some form or fashion.

Katie Ward:

I think you're right about that. I grew up on the Eastern shore of Maryland as well. And although I wasn't raised on a poultry farm, there was one right across from my house. I luckily understood the workings of a poultry farm, but I think it's important that you all advocate for the industry in those state capitals and cities where people aren't as familiar with the industry.

GOING A LITTLE DEEPER INTO THAT, CAN YOU EXPLAIN YOUR SPECIFIC ROLE WITHIN THE LEGISLATURE? I KNOW THIS IS ACTUALLY QUITE A BUSY TIME FOR YOU AS MARYLAND GENERAL SESSION IS JUST BEGINNING THIS MONTH.

Holly Porter:

It's extremely busy and, and actually not just Maryland, all three of our States are starting session. Delaware has a short three week session in January and they break for their Joint Finance Committee hearings. They will pick back up in the March - April timeframe and will run until the end of June. Virginia actually started last week as well, and they’re on their short 30 day session. They have a long session on even number years and a shorter session on odd number of years. Then of course, Maryland has a 90 day session that started last week as well. It is hot and heavy and of course everything this year looks completely different than in the past, everything is virtual. Quite honestly in a normal year, you probably would not have caught me at home. I would have probably been in Annapolis preparing for hearings later this afternoon. Everything is a virtual and it's definitely a little more challenging. We don't have quite the access to our legislators that we've had in the past, but we're making do. Really our job is to follow all three of the legislatures, to follow the bills and to see what bills may have direct impact on the chicken community. Also, to keep an eye out on bills that maybe not impact us directly, but may have impacts on our partners and others within agriculture. The Delmarva economy is based on a three legged stool, and that really is the chicken growers, the chicken companies and our grain farmers. Our grain farmers are the ones that provide the feed for the chicken in our areas.  Agriculture on Delmarva is very much linked and tied together. Of course being within the Chesapeake Bay region, it often makes things a little bit more exciting in all three of our states with some of the different rules and policies. Colleagues of mine in other state associations, and there are a number of other state associations similar to ours in other states, that have chicken and they may not have some of or see some of the bills that we see here in our area. It's definitely a busy time and it's an important time because again, farmers are there on their farms or in their chicken houses, they're raising what will eventually be my dinner at some point. They don't have the time to engage, to pay attention, to see all of the bills, to understand what the impacts may be. That’s where it's important for associations like us to be there and to make sure that we're paying attention to those things because eventually those impacts could hurt the farmer when they're out on their farm or in their chicken house.

Katie Ward:

I know I’ve seen many of your testimonies in the past, with my previous job at Farm Bureau, and then now at Farm Credit and really you and all of DCA do such a great job of sharing the stories of your growers and your integrators and allied partners. Most of the members who sit in on the state legislature don't fully understand how poultry farms work and it is their job to protect the Chesapeake Bay and to also protect the industry of agriculture in their state. It’s a very fine line that they want to make sure that all of the environmental procedures are being followed, but then also that the farmers are able to grow safe and reliable products, whether that's poultry or any other grain or commodity that we have in our three states on Delmarva. You do such a great job of sharing those true stories and allowing the legislature to see the full picture of how poultry is raised and produced.

Holly Porter:

You really hit the nail on the head. I mean, we know that less than 2% of the United States population, are farmers or agriculture and we've seen as the years go on, more and more people that are removed from it. Folks who may have been 50 years ago that your grandfather or great-grandfather was involved, but that is getting wider and wider away. It’s so important for people to understand first and foremost, farmers are feeding us, they are putting food on our tables, so that for those of us who don't want to be farmers, we can pursue other occupations. I think that’s important for anyone to understand, but especially our legislatures. When you have more urban areas and you have more legislators from those urban areas, that disconnect is just so strong and they don't necessarily understand that farmers are people, farmers are small businesses, and farmers are very diverse.

It’s just important to not only talk about numbers, economics and jobs, but to also talk about the people and about how these folks are raising birds. What it is they do every day, their day to day care for animal welfare, all the way up to the companies and the work that they do for taking care, for the veterinary animal welfare. Then, even how these companies are working with their employees, those 20,000 employees. What they are doing as good businesses to make sure their employees are happy or healthy, and taken care of as well. At the end of the day, it all comes down to people and it comes down to food.  That's really what agriculture is all about. It’s just as important to share that as best as we can. This year, I was really pleased to be able to partner with the Grain Producers Association of Maryland to offer a virtual farm tour. Of course, we really love to get folks out on farms, but it's a little trickier with our chicken farms because of biosecurity measures. The biosecurity really have nothing to do with the humans. It's biosecurity to make sure that our chickens are protected and that they don't have any illnesses, but it was a little bit more difficult to do that this year. We did a virtual farm tour that we shared with the Maryland House, Environmental and Transportation Committee. I think that was a different perspective and a great opportunity. Every time that we can bring in the people to talk about what folks do, I think it helps for legislators who have to make some really important decisions to understand the truth and what is and isn't going on.

Katie Ward:

I know that's much appreciated by everyone, not even just the legislature, but the other stakeholders who are involved in those tours, whether they're in-person or virtual, they still can learn something and take something away that will help them in making those future decisions.

THAT LEADS ME INTO THE NEXT THING I WANTED TO BRIEFLY DISCUSS IS THE APP THAT DCA RECENTLY LAUNCHED, CONNECTING POULTRY, GROWERS, AND GRAIN FARMERS WITH LITTER. DO YOU WANT TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT?

Holly Porter:

The littr. app was really fun for me. I think this was because it's sort of bringing back my marketing roots in a lot of ways. I do so much work with advocacy, policy and legislature that it was really fun to work on this app and to work with a team of app designers who know nothing at all about the chicken industry or litter. We had a lot of fun, as you can only imagine when you are creating a matching tool, a match.com for litter essentially, which is what it is. We definitely had a lot of fun, but really the reason behind this is we've worked quite a bit in Maryland over the past six, seven years now on the Phosphorous Management Tool Regulations (PMT) regulations, which once they go into full effect will impact those farms who may be in the past, have been able to utilize litter and commercial fertilizer on their fields. Once they get over a certain phosphorus level, they will no longer be able to add litter or phosphorous at all, but add litter in particular, they will have to switch to commercial nitrogen use. What we were hearing was that we have farms that are looking for litter because they recognize that this is not a waste, litter is not a waste. I can't emphasize that enough. It is a valuable fertilizer, it is a slow release, organic, locally produced fertilizer that has so many benefits to soil health. We kept hearing a number of farmers saying, I'm looking for litter and I can't find it. We heard chicken growers saying I have litter and I don't know what to do with it and where to go with it. Somewhere there seemed to be a disconnect and we could never could quite understand where the disconnect was going and what was causing that. We in the state of Maryland have a couple of hotlines and they had a couple of options that people could call in, but we said, you know, there should be an easy way to do this. That’s when we started talking about developing some type of app with the concept of either a match.com or a Zillow or realtor.com because of the listing idea. We had a lot of discussions within one of the groups that we belong within the Delmarva Land and Litter Collaborative, and they really felt this was a great idea. They encouraged us to apply for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant, which we did in April and we were pleased to receive that grant. I really started working on it probably about the June - July timeframe. One of the key things that we did with this app is we made sure we had stakeholder input. I do not have litter and my little 0.02 acres does not utilize litter. While I had a general understanding about what was needed, I'm not the stakeholder, I'm not going to end up being the user. Very early on we developed surveys that went out to both chicken growers and to grain farmers, just to get a better idea of what would be needed and what would be important. We also pulled several of those grain farmers, growers, and then some of the third-party providers, custom applicators, and brokers together as part of a focus group to again, to make sure we were asking for the right fields, that we were getting the right information in the app that would be needed in order to make these connections. We worked with those stakeholders and again, we worked on the app throughout the summer and well into the fall. We then brought many of those stakeholders back together and we asked them to help us do the beta testing. We had something designed and we wanted them to use it, to make sure that the functionalities were working and that it made sense. We gathered even more feedback and then I was pleased to see that we could officially roll it out on both Google Play and the Apple store by the end of December, which was our target goal, knowing that many farmers right now are already thinking about planting season. I saw someone said the other day, we're only nine weeks away from spring planting, so we're really tickled with it.

I will say again that the fun part for me personally is it's not only building the app, but now we have to market it. We have to let people know the app is available. We've been doing a lot of work again with a lot of partnerships and I really appreciate all the partnerships from the Farm Bureaus to our State Departments of Agriculture, to grain producers, soybean boards, and Farm Credit. It’s just really a lot of people sharing this information, getting the word out and within just a couple of weeks of having it up and running, we have well over a hundred registered users. As of yesterday, I think we had about 10 to 11 different listings out there as well. The listings are grain farmers that might be looking for litter. They are growers that may have litter available and then they are also those brokers, haulers, and those third-party custom applicators that are really important. We recognize there are many grain farmers that while they know the value and see the value in litter, they may not have the equipment that they need in order to spread the litter onto the field. Working with somebody that has that equipment is going to be an important piece of it as well. We’re really pleased to see the rollout and see it doing so well so far.

Katie Ward:

That's such a great tool to bridge the gap between all of the different stakeholders and users of the litter, so I applaud you all on that app. I know when you presented it to our Delmarva Farm Credit staff last week, a lot of them were anxious to tell their members because they have had, whether it be grain farmers or poultry growers, reach out to them even asking where they could get or sell litter. It is such a great tool for growing on Delmarva and since we've already got it, why not use it? That app is definitely going to help a lot of growers and producers in the future.

NOW DIVING INTO THE REBRANDING DISCUSSION, DO YOU WANT TO FIRST START OFF WITH A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE OLD BRAND AND LOGO DELMARVA POULTRY INDUSTRY, AND EXPLAIN THE LOOK AND THE NAME AND THEN WHY YOUR ORGANIZATION AND BOARD WANTED TO CHANGE THAT?

Holly Porter:

Sure, so the Delmarva Poultry Association or I'm sorry, the Delmarva Poultry Industry, I'm confusing myself now. We started in 1948 and we were not DPI then either. We were actually the Delmarva Chicken Festival and that's really was our history and how we got started. Our role back then in the 1940s is when A&P Supermarket was trying to find an award-winning breed of chicken that would be good for chicken dinner. Keep in mind, it's really hard to imagine, but in the early 1900’s, people did not eat chicken like we do now. Chickens were really raised for eggs and when the chickens got old and they could no longer be used for eggs, they went into a pot and usually became chicken soup, but those birds were old, they were chewy, it wasn't like the chicken that we have today. They really didn't have chicken nuggets back then either. A&P was really trying to do a contest to try to produce a good, young chicken that would have a good taste. It was actually a part of the University of Delaware, they were really featured in doing some of that research. A group of folks wanted to have a festival to highlight this and to highlight the chicken cooking contest as well. That’s really how we got started so many years ago. Several years after that they did change the name to the Delmarva Poultry Industry and the logo that we used to have is very reminiscent of that cooking contest of that festival. We had the cute little bird that had the chef's hat on its head, because that was really how we got started. That was the work that we did. At that time, a big part of our mission was to promote eat more chicken. It was a big part of our mission. We wanted more folks to start eating chicken on a more regular basis and that was a lot of the work that we did. We didn't do nearly the legislative work. We didn't have quite the same in the education piece or the consumer piece for that matter. Our consumer work was just encouraging people to eat chicken.

Katie Ward:

IT WAS MORE ASSOCIATED WITH THE FOOD AND THE PREP AND THE COOKING?

Holly Porter:

Correct. Years and years went by, things have changed over the years and our chicken festival ended. The last one was actually, I believe in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. It ended a number of years ago. It was hard to find enough locations and volunteers to really make this two - three day festival occur. We also had a retirement within DPI. Connie Parvis, who had been the head of this festival for so many years. The timing sort of worked, and I think the other important piece is people are eating chicken.  We’re up to the point where the average consumer will eat 90 pounds of chicken a year.  So I think we could check the box that we definitely helped encouraging the promotion of eating chicken.

In 2018, while our former Executive Director was still here and we were transitioning, the Board of Directors decided to do strategic planning. They really wanted to take a look at DPI, both now and looking at in the future. We went back to many strategic plans, which we asked for input. We got some survey work and asked for input from our membership. We asked for input from other stakeholders as well. We formed a focus group of members to really dig into where are we and where do we want to go? Part of that strategic plan was a big discussion about rebranding and not just necessarily a new logo or a new name, but just the whole scope that goes behind rebranding the voice, the look, the recognition. Part of that rebranding was again, to make sure that we were reaching our target audiences, whether that was internally for new growers coming on or externally for people within the public. Now we're starting to talk more to consumers again, not necessarily about eating food, but how we're raising food and what we're doing, especially on the environmental side.

Katie Ward:

The education aspect of it has certainly grown.

Holly Porter:

Right, absolutely.

The Board of Directors approved the strategic plan in 2018 and we started to get to work. One of the first action items was to have a discussion on rebranding. We hired an outside consulting group who are experts in public relations, marketing and rebranding. As much as that is my background as the Executive Director, it's certainly is not where my focus can be at this point in time. We knew we needed some outside help to take a look at this. We also formed an internal committee of other marketers, other folks in public relations, communications to help us in try to define what is our brand and what should our brand be and where should we be going? I believe you may have participated in a few of those meetings as well and was very much appreciated that.

Katie Ward:

Yes, I loved being on that committee. It kind of was a mastermind group of industry creatives, and it's always good to bounce ideas off of other people and kind of open your eyes to new perspectives.

Holly Porter:

I think it's difficult when you've been in a silo or been in one direction for so long to be able to think outside of the box. That was an important piece of making sure that we got some additional stakeholder feedback. Of course the first thing that we needed to do was as we started to get feedback. We did some focus group work, both within the industry, as well as outside, trying to pull some of those consumers to get feedback as to what did people think of us? Who did they think of us? What were the things that came to mind?

Katie Ward:

WAS THAT REALLY EYE OPENING TO YOU OR WHERE THE RESULTS KIND OF WHAT YOU EXPECTED?

Holly Porter:

I think for the most part, it was what we expected. I think that internally for those who are within the chicken or Ag community, there's a lot of recognition of who we are, externally maybe not so much. I think the other piece was, and we saw this even from our survey work originally with the strategic plans, oftentimes there is, confusion with the name Delmarva Poultry Industry. That term industry, sometimes confused people. Oftentimes industry is used to be more representative of say our chicken companies. There were people that will say, you're an organization that's only representing the chicken companies here. We were like, no, that’s not the case. Or with the allied businesses, it was like, where do we fit in? Like, you know, again, you're here to represent the chicken companies or the chicken growers?

Some of that feedback I think was, was a little bit eye opening. Early on there was definitely an interest in changing the industry part, what that meant. I think the other important piece is, the discussion of chicken versus poultry. What we have here on the Delmarva is the meat chicken industry. That is what we focus on. We do know there are some other layer operations, which is your table eggs for the most part. There's a couple of those here in the Northern part of the Delmarva. We have one or two small turkey operations, but nothing large by any means. Our concentration here on Delmarva is the meat chicken industry. We wanted to make sure that was really clear to people as to who it is we're talking about, what it is we're talking again, trying to help with some of that confusion, because how we raise our meat chickens is very different than how layer chickens are raised. When we start getting into the discussion of cages and cage-free. Our meat chickens have always been cage-free. They are in a house, they are free to move about the house as much as they want, so some of those things were really important and making sure that we're really defining who it is that we're representing as well.

 Our Board of Directors had two different discussions, two different meetings, and looking at what that name change should be based off of the feedback. The name change was the first thing that was voted on and really helped us in then saying, okay, now we want to take a look at the logo. The old logo was very representative of the chicken festival and the chicken cooking contest of which we don't do it. It really was no surprise that we said we really need to change the logo. We needed to update the look of the logo. Within the chicken community it’s a very iconic logo. Outside of that not too many people recognize it. As a marketer, I will tell you one of the things that often bothered me is that in our old logo, said DPI and that was it. If you didn't know what DPI stood for, you really didn't know who we were. We went back to work with our team, both within the focus groups, as well as within the stakeholder team we have put together, as well as with our outside company in looking at some designs, to really try to  understand what we were looking for.

We had several mock-ups that were put together, and we shared those with several stakeholders. We shared them at Delaware Ag Week. Unfortunately when we shared them was also when the Chicken Day was canceled due to Coronavirus, so go figure. There was a number of other people that participated in Delaware Ag Week, both chicken and grain growers, and others. We shared some of these mock-ups and we got some really good feedback. Some of the feedback was great because some of the colors that were originally used people were quick to say, that’s not good, those colors don’t work, and it was helpful. We then took those back to the Board of Directors and really got their feedback and their input. We tweaked it a little bit and ended up with where we are now. There's a couple points to our new logo that I'm excited about. I am probably a little bit more geeked out over from the marketing perspective than others. A couple of things that were really important to us was to make sure that we were recognizing our heritage, that's really important within the Delmarva chicken community. Folks have been in this business for years, families have been in this business for years. The meat chicken industry got its start right here in Ocean View, Delaware when 500 chicks were sent instead of 50 and they needed to know what to do with that. Our heritage is so important within our Delmarva region and so that was important when we put in there EST 1948, because that's how we got started. We’re the same organization that we've always been, just with a new look and name.

The other important piece, of course, as I just alluded to is to make sure that our name was actually in our logo so that it was clear as to who we are. We use the blue and the yellow that are very traditional colors, going back to our roots. A lot of those stemming around the University of Delaware, but again, very traditional blue and gold colors. We also had a sunrise look. A lot of people see that when it comes to farming and agriculture, the sun is rising, it's optimistic. I think farmers are definitely the eternal optimist, a new day is going to bring new opportunities, so that was sort of the starburst or sunburst. Then of course the chicken, a meat broiling type chicken that we have in the center of our logo and that chicken is facing forward.  That's probably a little thing that there very few people noticed, but it was one that definitely was important to me because, our logo before was sort of facing what I would call backwards or towards the past. We wanted this chicken to be facing forward. Finally, having it in a circle and to me, the circle is really important because that talks about our connection. As an association, we are connecting all members of this association and we're connecting all members of the association with other stakeholders. Whether that’s academics, state and federal agencies, the community, or the Delmarva community overall, we want to make sure that we are connecting and a part of those overall connections. That was the deep dive into the logo that most people may not necessarily appreciate, but I think it was really important. As were hearing the feedback and some of the disconnect about who it is we represent, we really want to make it picks up on our heritage. We really want to make sure that folks recognize the longevity of this association. I think that they did a great job in tying that all together.

Katie Ward:

I agree and I think that a lot of listeners, if they're not directly in marketing, communications and branding, they might not realize exactly how much goes into designing a logo and rebranding. That was a lot of really crucial aspects in the design that when I first looked at the logo, I didn't realize, especially the position of the chicken facing forward. That’s really impactful and it’s something that if you just quickly glance at it, you probably subconsciously pick up on without even realizing it. We'll put the old DPI logo and then the new DCA logo up on our website for the podcast, that way anyone who isn't familiar can take a look. We'll link to DCA website too, because there are other aspects of your brand, not just the name and the logo, but new videos and new website.

DO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE ROLLOUT OF THE BRAND?

Holly Porter:

Sure, and I think that you really hit it. That's so important for many people it was really hard to wrap their heads around what does rebranding mean? A name change, a logo change are are all just pieces of this bigger brand, this bigger look.

A couple of things that have been really important as we've done the rollout is consistency. Making sure we were incorporating those consistent colors, the fonts that look, that feel, that's all part of the brand. It's all part of any time somebody is to read something or look at something and at first glance, if they can connect right away, you know what that's tied to, that's branding. When you think about Coca-Cola, everyone has in their mind, the red and the white and the look of the logo, you know that’s the brand. You know the Nike swoosh, you barely have to glance somewhere and when you see the swoosh, you know that it’s Nike.

Katie:

And everyone also thinks “just do it” when they see the swoosh, putting the whole aspect of what they represent and what they look like together.

Holly Porter:

The important piece too, is what do we want to convey? We’re trying to have a very professional look, but we're also trying to have some of our tone. Even in our newsletters and our writing, trying to be an inclusive feel, trying to connect people. All of those pieces that are often very subtle, we’re trying to, as we continue to move forward and roll outs that even when you look at our newsletter, it just has a little bit more of a distinct, professional look that again matches that consistency. That’s something that as we move forward, we're looking to probably update even more. When you look at some of our videos, presentations and just any of our collateral material or what we print, it has that consistent look, feel and the tone. We are just really trying to identify who we are and what we're here for and get not only internally recognized, but recognized externally as well.

We've received great feedback, which is good. It is always a little nerve wracking when you're making such a significant change. I will share that we officially rolled out the name change and logo in November, but to be honest, we actually had planned to do it in April. So like many things with COVID, we were postponed. We had completed the rebranding work. We had completed the design work. We had completed everything and we're planning to roll all of this out at our big booster banquet event that we usually have in April, where we have over 900 people that attend. We were very excited to be doing the rollout in a much bigger splash than what we were sort of faced to do with COVID. I think everybody out there has had to make adjustments including, DCA as well. It was very important to our Board of Directors since all of the work had been done to still get this out. We know that we’re in the middle of the pandemic. We know that the chicken community has definitely felt that pandemic in different ways. But we also knew it was really important that we move forward. We keep looking forward with the work that we've done. Our Board of Directors, driven by our then President, he's our immediate past president now, Dale Cook, sat down and said, yes, we want to move this forward. We want to roll this out before the end of the year. That’s when we tied it with our annual meeting, which again is a much smaller event.  We moved forward with some e-blast and we did a virtual press conference and we did all that we could promoting and sharing the information as much as we could. We did a video taping of our president, talking a little bit about it. We had some unique opportunities that we may not have done prior to COVID, but we're looking forward to sharing it more as we get back together more in public and start seeing people as well. I think so far our feedback has been good. It is sort of nerve-racking when you're taking a name and a logo that has been around for so many years that just rolls off of the tongue and changing that. The feedback has been really, really good and we couldn't be more pleased and we’re moving along as the new DCA.

Katie Ward:

I think the new name and the logo leave no questions. It's very obvious that you're an association that supports chicken on Delmarva. When I see the colors, I also think of University of Delaware and the heritage is showing through.

I'm sure you almost have a little spiel that you say, especially the last two weeks with the state legislatures opening back up, to introduce that you’re DCA, formerly DPI, new brand, same mission, that sort of thing.

Holly Porter:

Yes, absolutely. That’s what we say, just a new name, new look, but the same organization with the same passion and mission for all of our members.

Katie Ward:

ARE THERE ANY LESSONS THAT YOU OR DCA HAS LEARNED DURING THIS REBRANDING PROCESS? IF SO, DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR THOSE IN THE AG INDUSTRY WHO MAY BE REBRANDING IN THE FUTURE?

Holly Porter:

I think that's a great question. I would say like we did with our littr. app, getting stakeholder engagement is really important and you can't miss that piece. The market research that's done, you can't rush something as big as rebranding. It really should be thought through, making sure the why and that the why fits with doing it because it's “the easy parts.” And I say that with air quotes, because you can’t see that on a podcast. The easy part to some extent was, we've got a logo, we've got a name change, and it’s all of the steps to follow that go with that can be time-consuming. You really want to make sure that when you're making those changes that you've really thought it through, that you've had that stakeholder input, that you've got the buy-in from them and for us, Board of Directors as a nonprofit, but also from our membership. We've shared over the years a little bit about the rebranding, what that meant in our newsletters, even before we were completed, just to make sure that folks can understand it. So I would say that the biggest tips are just making sure to really do that market research, get that stakeholder feedback and listen to that feedback before making any major changes or moves.

Katie Ward:

Those are great tips and I think it is important to really listen to your stakeholders and engage with them because you have direct connections with your members, but those outside of the organization who need to use DCA, whether it be for educational purposes or resources also need to be looped in on that conversation.

ARE THERE ANY EXCITING NEXT STEPS FOR DCA OR FOR YOU, YOURSELF, NOW THAT THE NEW BRAND AND THE LITTR. APP, BOTH COMING OUT AT THE END OF LAST YEAR, IN THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR, BOTH TWO REALLY BIG PARTS TO THE ORGANIZATION AND HAVE A LOT OF MOVING PIECES.

Holly Porter:

I think the most important part of 2021 is to focus on figuring out how to get back to a new normal or a normal. The things that we're really going to be focusing on is just continuing with the rebranding and the rolling out and having more and more people aware of it. We have a number of events that we generally do throughout the year, including our booster banquet, our scholarship golf tournament, and national meeting. I think all of those have to be adjusted. Last year, we had to unfortunately cancel the booster banquet. We are very much looking forward to doing something this year, that something is still being worked out as to what that will be and what that will look like. I think a lot of our focus this year will almost be trying to get back to that normal and probably trying to get back at taking a look at our strategic plan. I think 2020, just like most folks, really blew planning anything out of the water for a lot of things. Our Board President this year, who is also a Farm Credit employee, Jennifer Feindt, she and I have had several conversations about what the goals for DCA this year. I think really a lot of it is just trying to get back to some type of normal. Our board will be so excited the first time they can have an in-person board meeting again.

Katie Ward:

Definitely no doubt.  That's important to really reflect on the new brand and make sure that it is completely rolled out because I know that it, like you said, it's not something that you want to rush. So kind of using the whole year to make sure all of your stakeholders are familiar with the new brand and making sure that the littr. app is marketed and utilized which it already has great success. I do think that's probably most organizations plans for this year is just to put 2020 behind us and move forward and figure out what that will look like.

WE DO HAVE ONE QUESTION THAT WE LIKE TO ASK ALL OF OUR GUESTS ON THE PODCAST BEFORE WE SIGN OFF AND THAT IS WHAT DO YOU ADVOCATE FOR IN AGRICULTURE?

Holly Porter:

What I advocate for is the ability for my father who loves nothing better than to be on the tractor, to have that ability to do so. If that means that my voice in sharing what farmers do and all of the great things that they do to provide us food, but also all great things they do to protect our environment and to protect their livelihoods. I think that's the important piece that is advocacy to me is just making sure that anything that I'm doing in helping to better our agricultural community is also going to make it so that my father can continue being on the tractor for as long as he wants to do so.

Katie Ward:

That’s really nice and I think that most people who grew up on a family farm would agree with you. That's really where they got their love for agriculture, and they want to make sure that the people that they love can continue doing what they love.

Holly Porter:

Absolutely.

Katie Ward:

Well, thank you so much, Holly. We really appreciate you taking time out of the busy legislature season to talk with us and share with our listeners a lot about your career and the Delmarva Chicken Association’s rebranding.

Holly Porter:

Thank you, I really appreciate it. It's been a lot of fun and I appreciate catching up with some Farm Credit colleagues as well too.

Katie Ward:

Thanks again for listening to the AgVocates Podcast.  Remember to rate, review, subscribe, and share this episode with a friend. You can get podcasts notes and subscribe to email alerts at MAFC.com/podcast. You can also email and topics of guest suggestions to podcast@mafc.com.

Farmers are in the business of assessing risk. When you plant your corn in the spring, you are taking a calculated risk. Based on your previous experiences, you have calculated the risk that your crop may get flooded, destroyed by hail, eaten by pests, or choked by weeds as low enough to be worth the initial investment of time and money to put that seed into the ground. Furthermore, you calculate that the risk is tilted in your favor, and that you will ultimately be able to profitably feed or market that corn crop after harvest.

You also assume risks when you borrow money. You assume the risk that your business or health will fail, and you won’t be able to pay back the loan. However, another risk worth considering is the increase or decline in interest rates during the time you have money borrowed.

WHY IS INTEREST RATE A RISK?

Example #1

• You borrow money on a variable interest rate and rates go up above where you could have locked in a five or ten year fixed rate.

Example #2

• You lock in a fixed rate for some period of time and interest rates fall such that you find yourself unable to take advantage of lower interest rates. 

Example #3

• You lock in a fixed rate for a period of time. This favorable fixed rate expires and you find that current rates are a few percentage points higher than what you had been used to paying.

But risk is not a bad thing if it is properly mitigated or managed.

So how do you mitigate the aforementioned possibility that interest rates will fluctuate during the time you have money borrowed? 

When you are calculating your loan payments for a new venture, use a higher interest rate than what you think you can get. For example, you are looking to purchase a farm.

Realistic Scenario

• You borrow $700,000 for 20 years with a short term fixed rate at 5.25% with a monthly payment of $4,750 a month.

Stress Test Scenario

• When figuring if you can afford this $700,000 loan you figure the interest rate at 6.25% which results in a monthly payment of $5,155.

If the thought of paying an extra $405 a month scares you or would cause financial stress for you, then you should reconsider whether or not this is a wise move.

Another option to help mitigate interest rate risk would be to split this $700,000 into two loans. Consider taking a longer term fixed rate on one of the loans and a shorter term fixed rate or variable rate on the other loan. The $700,000 doesn’t have to be split equally. This can also be a nice option if you plan on making extra payments on your loans. You can focus your extra payments on one loan and try to eliminate that payment at an accelerated pace.

At Farm Credit, we also realize the risk in borrowing in money in today’s volatile environment. If you do choose to lock in a fixed rate and rates would happen to fall, we do have the ability to lower that fixed rate for you, down to the going rate, saving you money.

Horizon Farm Credit is reminding area producers that the sales closing date for corn, soybeans, other spring crops, and whole farm revenue protection is March 16. Producers are encouraged to contact their crop insurance agent to discuss changes to their policy, including adjustments to coverage levels, adding or removing a county or crop, additional options available, or cancellations. All policy adjustments must be completed and signed by March 16.

“Crop insurance is an important risk management tool that provides financial security for producers,” says Kathi Levan, Horizon Farm Credit’s crop insurance manager. “In the event a weather-related or natural disaster occurs that can lead to low production, crop insurance will help protect an operation’s bottom line.”

Through partnerships with multiple insurance providers, Farm Credit has access to systems that allow customers to compare several coverage levels to pick the one that best suits their farm operation. “We’re happy to look over current crop insurance policies and talk through the many options available to help producers plan ahead,” adds Levan.

For more information about crop insurance and how Farm Credit can help you protect your business, please visit FarmCreditCropInsurance.com.

Horizon Farm Credit recently announced a free webinar to help poultry growers better understand payment calculations with University of Delaware Extension Agent Georgie Cartanza on September 27.   

“Understanding the poultry grower payment calculations can help producers identify areas of success and opportunity,” says Wayne Richard, Regional Lending Manager at Horizon Farm Credit. “Competition between poultry growers has grown tremendously over the last five years, forcing growers to be more advanced and precise in their decisions on the farm. We’re hoping this webinar will provide growers in our region the knowledge they need to grow their business.”

Participants can plan to learn the following during the one-hour webinar:

• How to read a flock settlement sheet from Delmarva integrators.
• Understand the process of poultry grower payment calculations.
• How to manage competition and  analyze your six flock average comparison.

Once registered, participants will receive all of the materials via email and can join live or watch the replays when convenient. If you have any questions you'd like our presenters to answer during the meetings, please email them to webinar@mafc.com.

Like any other industry, dairy is prone to ups and downs. To gain more insight into issues this industry faces, Farm Credit staff members recently had the opportunity to go behind the scenes of two large dairy operations in Frederick County, Maryland, thanks to loan officers Mary Jane Roop and Kelsey Maslen, who organized the outing. It was a day full of learning about the farmers and their businesses, and a chance to network with Farm Credit colleagues.

The first stop of the day was Rocky Point Creamery in Tuscarora, Maryland, owned by Chuck Fry. From meat sales and their popular creamery, to approximately 3,000 youth tours a year, Rocky Point Creamery has a lot to offer. They run a 150 to 170 head dairy cattle operation, along with raising Angus crosses for their beef meat sales. On their farm, they have 1,500 acres of crop land and a double-nine dairy parlor, meaning they can milk 18 head at a time.

Something Chuck is most proud of is the creameries waste count being zero, meaning none of their products used to make the ice cream gets used in some way. When you visit the creamery around August and September, you will notice two acres of sunflower fields. This year, the profit from the sales of their sunflowers went to St. Jude’s, which totaled $5,000.

The hours of operation for the creamery are 11:30 am to 7:30 pm from Tuesday through Sunday, starting after Labor Day. “I thought it was interesting how Chuck diversified his operation via the creamery, which allows him to support his dairy operation and keep that part of his business going in a difficult market,” says Richard Lawson, a loan underwriter located in the Martinsburg office.

The next stop of the day was Teabow Farms, located in Woodsboro, Maryland, operated by the Stup Family. The operation started in 1965 with just 80 cows and now runs approximately 1,100 cows with a double-24 parlor, milking 48 head at a time. This results in producing three tankers full of milk every two days.

The farm is designed for the animals to have a healthy yet relaxing life. From misting the herd on hot days to a foot bath to help keep their operation clean, Teabow Farms is known for their organization and cleanliness. “I was impressed with the level of care provided to the animals on Teabow Farms. To care for and keep track of over 1,000 animals can be a nightmare, but they made it look easy and it was clear they take great care of their animals,” says Geoff Delamater, a loan officer in the Bel Air office.

Managing manure is another part of living on a large cattle operation. Teabow Farms has an agricultural waste management system called a gravity flow barn that transfers animal manure, wastewater, and contaminated runoff through a reception pit. In addition to this, they have a three million gallon manure storage bin. Teabow Farms also has crop land that they use to satisfy the needs of feed for their cattle.

Both operations had a lot to teach us! They were a nice contrast between a smaller herd and a larger herd, but both showed similarities as to what it takes to own and operate a dairy operation.