AFACT: Working Together To Create Solutions
Dairy Profit Weekly editor, Dave Natzke, reported Friday on this week’s second annual summit of the American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology (AFACT) in Minneapolis. AFACT was born two years ago by dairy farmers concerned over the potential loss of rbST as a tool for improved milk production efficiency, Natzke reported, but since then, other related issues have surfaced such as California’s Proposition 2 and similar initiatives in other states that restrict farm animal management practices, as well as a general media and marketing blitz surrounding such things as “green,” “sustainable” and “local,” that generally portray modern agriculture in a negative light and frequently confuse consumers.
The theme for this year’s Summit was Working Together to Create Solutions, Natzke said, as AFACT seeks to reach beyond dairy into other aspects of agriculture. For example, California egg producer Ryan Armstrong and dairy farmer Ray Prock Jr. shared their experiences with California’s Proposition 2; Gary Thome, a Minnesota swine farmer, shared his farm’s experience with PETA; and Len Corzine, Illinois crop farmer, discussed restrictions on technologies used in crop production.
Alex Avery, Director of Research and Education at the Hudson Institute, discussed movements that restrict new technologies in food production, and the implications for future global population growth and food needs; and Washington State University scientist Jude Capper shared her research showing that U.S. dairy cow numbers have dropped from 25 million in 1944 to about 9 million today, indicating dairy’s “carbon footprint” has declined sharply in the past six decades.
The main action items coming out of the conference, according to Natzke, were that farmers must address the emotion of food-buying purchases by directly reaching out to consumers; that farmers must put a “face” back on their product, reminding consumers where food comes from; and farmers must become more active using social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, to reach consumers.