After making some small talk about what I do with our new family doctor, she says she hates large corporate farmers like the ones who operate around her office.
Even with a sick child sitting on the bed I couldn’t resist probing, especially since I personally know the farmers she’s referring to. I say, “Oh, really. I don’t know any corporate farmers. What are they like?” She says, “Well, they pull in here, make a lot of noise with two flashy harvesters, three semi-trucks, and then next thing you know they’re gone again.”
I left it alone, but truth be told the large corporate operation she’s referring to is a six-generation family farm that recently received a conservation award recognizing them for 30 years of practicing no-till.
Public perception
I don’t know how or when the consumers disconnected on knowing who farmers are, but it’s a real thing that even applies to my own family doctor, a highly educated medical professional. Illinois surveys show over one-half of consumers believe farms are large corporations, where in fact, 96% of farms are family-owned. This led to an entire campaign called ‘We are the 96’ to educate and increase consumer awareness of who the farmers are that produce their food.
This subject came to light again with a family farm I was assisting with a SWOT analysis – identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. On their list of threats was consumer awareness. They’re concerned that if the public doesn’t like them they’ll stop buying their food.
Corporate farms
For this article, I leaned on artificial intelligence and ChatGPT. My query: What is a large corporate farm?
The answer: “A large-scale agricultural operation that is owned or heavily influenced by corporate entities. However, the term “corporate farm” can be misleading, as many such farms are family-owned and operated. These farms often utilize advanced technology and industrial practices to maximize production. Despite the common perception of corporate farms as giant conglomerates, most are family-run businesses.”
It seems that even AI recognizes a public perception crisis for family farms.
Public awareness
More and more farms I work with now recognize they may need a marketing strategy – not for their grain or livestock, but rather for marketing their farm to the public.
Here are a few ideas to consider for your family farm:
- Organize public events like Farmer’s Consumer Awareness Day, featuring farm tours and interactive activities to connect consumers directly to farmers.
- Leverage social media and digital marketing to share videos, stories and photos of family farms to humanize farmers and showcase their daily lives.
- Collaborate with influencers or bloggers to increase your message and tell your story.
- Create educational campaigns such as the ‘We are the 96’ campaign, which is a collaboration of several agricultural organizations that share common concerns.
- Use farmers markets as venues for direct consumer interaction.
- Partner with local media, magazines or organizations that can promote your cause to larger audiences.
I wish we could go back to the good ol’ days when most farms had hogs, chickens, cattle, crops and huge gardens with all the produce you’d ever want. However, perhaps every generation thinks this as their farming career progresses and technological advances occur.
It’s important we recognize this perception of family farms and accept that change is ok. It’s ok that my perception of family farms is different from my grandparents’ generation and mine is different from my kids’ perception. And my grandchildren’s perception likely will be much different than my kids’.
One thing that hasn’t changed is that a high percentage of farms are family-held businesses who simply want to do what they love and pass it down for the next generation to do the same.
Downey has been consulting with farmers, landowners and their advisors for nearly 25 years. He is a farm business coach and the succession planning lead at UnCommon Farms. Reach Mike at mdowney@uncommonfarms.com.