Food & Farm Influencer Tour. How-to Booklet

Transcription

1 Food & Farm Influencer Tour How-to Booklet

2 So you re considering organizing an influencer tour for farms and ranches? We d like to say congratulations and go for it! They aren t easy, they aren t cheap, but man they are worth it. The connections built and conversations had cannot be replicated. Kansas Soybean Commission and Kansas Farm Bureau have partnered since 2014 to bring influencers to Kansas farms and ranches. We take a deep dive, and spend three days (yep, three days) on a bus (yep, on a bus) learning about the diverse footprint that is Kansas agriculture. Farm stops have included hydroponic herbs, a niche pork farm, conventional crops including soybeans, milo (food grade and animal grade), corn and a cattle ranch. Spending three days together provides ample time for discussions. Common hot topics include GMOs, animal care, water, pesticides and the various types of farming. To continue the conversations and opportunities, we offer a level two the following year in the spring. This tour is again three days and includes stops at Elanco, Monsanto and a small processing facility. Twenty bloggers and a handful of dietitians have attended at least one of the farm food tours. This booklet is meant to provide a quick overview of our experiences. If you have specific questions, please reach out to us. And if you decide to dive in, let us know. We want to celebrate with you! Meagan Cramer Kansas Farm Bureau cramerm@kfb.org Jancey Hall Kansas Soybeans hall@kansassoybeans.org 2

3 Table of Contents Itinerary Sample-Across Kansas Tour... 4 Budget... 5 Application sample... 6 Pre-Tour Evaluation Survey... 8 Post-Tour Evaluation Survey Survey Summary Best Practices Research

4 Itinerary Sample-Across Kansas Tour Wednesday TIME LOCATION 7:45 a.m. 15 min Load the bus at Wyandotte County Farm Bureau 8 a.m. 2 hr. 15 min. Travel to Olsburg 10: 15 a.m. 2 hr Good Pork 12:15 45 min Lunch at the Goods 1 p.m. 1.5 hrs Delphos, Stacey Forshee, farm tour 2:30 p.m 1 hr Stacey Forshee farm tour 3:30 p.m. 1.5 hrs Drive to McPherson 5 p.m. 1 hr. Sawyer Farm 6 p.m. Hotel check in 7 p.m. Dinner Thursday 7 a.m. Breakfast at hotel 8 a.m. 3 hrs Travel to Cimarron 11 a.m. 2 hrs Forget Me Not Dairy 1 p.m. 30 min Drive to Garden City 3:30 p.m. 2 hrs Reeve Cattle Company 5:30 p.m. Hotel check in 7:30 p.m. Dinner Friday 7 a.m. Breakfast at hotel 8:30 a.m. 30 min Travel to Scott City 9 a.m. 2.5 hrs Lunch and Tour at Nu-Life Noon 4.5 hrs Travel to Delphos/drop Stacey off 6:45 1 hr, 15 min Winsor Family Farms 8 p.m. 1 hr Travel to KC 4

5 9 p.m. Arrive at Wyandotte County Farm Bureau Budget On average, it costs approximately $900 per person for each tour. This includes fees for busing, food, hotel rooms, CEUs for registered dietitians and payments to bloggers. When budgeting, plan for: o Bus: $4,500 (max) o Hotel: $130/person/night o Food: $300/person total o Snacks: $100 o CEU Credits: $150 o Blogger payment: $300/each If you have specific budget questions, contact Jancey at hall@kansassoybeans.org. 5

6 Application sample Sept , 2016 #farmfoodtour Our #farmfoodtour is a hit and we look forward to having another exciting 3-day food and farm tour this year. Not only do attendees visit a host of Kansas farms, enjoy good food and drink, and have loads of time to network and brainstorm, they also receive payment! Attendees will receive $100 per day for a total of $300 along with all expenses covered including travel, hotels and food. In return, the following items will be provided from the bloggers: See what happened last year and feel free to contact any of last year s participants: Moms Good Eats Making of a Mom The Hungry Family Skip to My Lou Kids Cows & Grass One blog post over the trip posted by Mon., Oct. 31 An Instagram post everyday (total of 3) during the trip A Facebook post everyday (total of 3) during the trip A Twitter post everyday (total of 3) during the trip At least 4 posts on your platform of choice above the ones already mentioned by Mon., Oct. 31 * We are flexible on what platforms you utilize for these requirements if you have a different preferred platform (i.e. Snapchat, Periscope, etc). If you d like to be one of 10 folks who join us on the next fantastic #farmfoodtour, complete the following application by July 1. 6

7 Name Click here to enter text. Click here to enter text. Phone number Click here to enter text. Blog name and URL Click here to enter text. Social media links and handles Click here to enter text. Provide a short description of your blog, readers and metrics Click here to enter text. Why do you want to participate in the #farmfoodtour? Click here to enter text. Why are you a good fit for the #farmfoodtour? Click here to enter text. What are three questions you have about today s farm or farmer? Click here to enter text. Why would your followers be interested in reading about the #farmfoodtour? Click here to enter text. Are you available Sept ? Choose an item. 7

8 Pre-Tour Evaluation Survey 8

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10 Post-Tour Evaluation Survey We utilize the same survey, but make changes to the short answer as listed: o What words come to mind when you think of farming? o What questions do you still have about food? o What questions do you have about farming? o What was your favorite part about this trip? o What major takeaways did you have? o How could we improve this trip? o Any other questions/concerns? 10

11 Survey Summary To see how the needle moved and where we may need improvement, we convert their answers to a 5-point scale to see change. See example below: 11

12 Best Practices Here are some tips we ve learned along the way: Include farmers on the tour. It provides a great connection point for the influencers, and the farmers gain a great experience. Be selective on your farm stops. Some people are very comfortable sharing about the ins and outs of farm life, and do a great job talking to consumers about it. Make sure you pick these folks. You want to build a sincere connection with influencers and farmers. Communicate with your farms and visits ahead of time so they know who is coming. Let me them know what types of questions might arise so they can be prepared. Mifis or a way to limit the attendee s usage of their own data means you make them super happy and they can blog and post to social media while on the trip. Lots and lots of chargers and plug-ins mean they can always stay charged up to catch those great photos and videos. You don t want to be on the road and need an emergency contact. Collect them before the trip begins and have them on board as well as leave them with someone in your office Don t forget the snacks. We ask ahead of time if there are any special requests. Jerky, fruit and water seem to be favorites for our attendees. Surveys help to prove the value of the tour and for sell back to boards. Create a hashtag. If you don t already do this for events, this is a great opportunity to start. It helps you track the conversations, photos and reach you get from the tour. We use #farmfoodtour. 12

13 Research These tours ALWAYS move the needle on opinions. Below is a snapshot of how much they can impact concerns on issues like antibiotics, hormones and GMOs. TRIP 1 Rate your concerns about use of antibiotics to keep animals healthy. Not at all Minimally Somewhat Moderately Very Post tour (1.78) Pre tour (3) Rate your concerns about use of growth promoting technologies (hormones) to raise animals Not at all Minimally Somewhat Moderately Very Post tour (2.9) Pre tour (4.7) Rate your concerns about genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) Not at all Minimally Somewhat Moderately Very Post tour (2.9) Pre tour (3.9) 13

14 TRIP 2 Rate your concerns about use of antibiotics to keep animals healthy. Not at all Minimally Somewhat Moderately Very Post tour (2.3) Pre tour (3.4) Rate your concerns about use of growth promoting technologies (hormones) to raise animals Not at all Minimally Somewhat Moderately Very Post tour (3.1) Pre tour (4.1) Rate your concerns about genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) Not at all Minimally Somewhat Moderately Pre tour (3.3) Very Post tour (2.6) 14