Posted on Fri, Dec. 04, 2009

e-mail	print	RSS	reprint
AIM	Digg it	del.icio.us	Facebook

Livestock leaders: Fight back with social media

BY DAN VOORHIS

The Wichita Eagle

The nation's ranchers are coming increasingly under attack from animal rights activists, leaders of the Kansas Livestock Association told their members at their convention Thursday.

And one of the main ways to fight back?

Blogging, tweeting and writing on Facebook.

It may not have been welcome news for many in the room.

"You may not think you're cut out for that," KLA vice president Todd Domer told them, "but you better get cut out for it. It's the future of the business."

He and other industry leaders see the industry and the rancher lifestyle as under attack from Internet-savvy activists who are playing on the public's ignorance with biased or incorrect information.

Fighting back means getting the message out that ranchers produce beef and other meats in a safe and humane fashion.

Ranchers start with a big advantage: more than 97 percent of Americans eat meat and prefer beef, said Dan Thompson, director of Kansas State University's Beef Cattle Institute.

"We're the home team," he said.

But questions have been raised in the minds of many Americans by animal rights activists. People wonder whether the food is safe and

the animals are well treated.

"Draw the line," Thompson said. "I am ready to fight. I am ready to go on offense. I'm tired of playing defense."

Part of the problem, Domer said, is that farmers and ranchers tend to live in the heartland, and the consumers live on the coasts.

Consumers have become disconnected from the people who grow their food and how that food is grown. That makes them vulnerable to propaganda, he said.

One of the big threats has come in states where the voters can change the state constitution with a simple vote, he said.

It can mean major changes could be forced upon ranchers and farmers simply by majority vote.

The solution, said the speakers:

* Coordinate the lobbying efforts among the many meat-producing groups.

* Use the natural authenticity of ranchers and farmers to build trust with the public and counteract what the meat industry sees as misinformation.

That's where the social media comes in.

Writing a letter to the local newspaper or talking on the local radio station doesn't reach that coastal audience.

Several Kansas ranchers have been recruited to blog and tweet about their daily lives.

Jody Donohue of Fredonia writes about her life and opinions on her Agropinion blog.

She said it can be done between chores on the ranch.

"Farmers and ranchers are incredibly humble," she said. "They don't like to call attention to themselves."

But, said another blogger, Kim Harms of Lincolnville, it must be done.

"Blogging and twittering," she said, "will help us communicate what we really do and how we do it."

Reach Dan Voorhis at 316-268-6577 or dvoorhis@wichitaeagle.com.