SD Corn

Corn Comments Podcast with Jim Woster. 

It’s time to get on board and become an active voice in the social media world. With a growing disconnect between consumers and the sources of their food, it has never been more important for folks involved in agriculture to reach out and tell their story. Agriculture is under assault by well organized people with access to a lot of money, what they don’t have  is a truthful voice. Be that voice, stand up for agriculture and America’s family farmers today!

And since you have already found our blog, take a look at South Dakota Corn on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube.

Corn Comments Podcast with Jim Woster.

The world is constantly changing all around us, especially in the way we communicate. South Dakota Corn has embraced that change and is extremely active in the world of social media. We would like to encourage and challenge both farmers and consumers to connect with us through these mediums as we continue to provide news and updates about agriculture, South Dakota’s number one industry. Agriculture employs tens of thousands of South Dakotans making the information we provide through social media more than just public interest. Whether it’s a video update from a corn field by Chester, a piece of legislation in D.C. or information about increased ethanol efficiency we’ve got you covered.

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Corn Comments Podcast with Jim Woster.

South Dakota Farmers and Ranchers who feed the world each and every day are the True Environmentalists.

Win $5 worth of ethanol just for becoming a fan of South Dakota Corn on Facebook  and a follower on Twitter: @SDcorn.

Send in your 2011 Proposed South Dakota Corn Resolutions  to the office by December 23, 2010.

It was a long day, but it was a good day. Last Friday, Cause Matter Corp, #AGCHAT founder and social media professional, Michelle Payn-Knoper, stood in front of a classroom full of South Dakota Corn Board directors with one goal in mind…teaching them the importance of #Agvocacy and how to use Facebook and Twitter to tell their story.

“Are you concerned about how the media is portraying agriculture?” Payn-Knoper asked.

There was an obvious consensus in the room as several slides showing examples of anti-agriculture agendas flew across the projector screen.

“…Because the conversation is happening, whether you are there or not.”

Payn-Knoper pointed out the large following that anti-agriculture activist groups like the Humane Society of the United States and PETA have.

 “Do you want the HSUS President, Wayne Pacelle, telling people your story for you? Because he is.”

It didn’t take long for Payn-Knoper to gain everyone’s attention. As board members, they are well aware that modern agriculture is under attack, but many of them haven’t been exposed to specific examples found via social media sites. It was clear the group realized the importance of the task at hand.

With a majority of the group having a diverse farming operation, the board directors, just like other producers, are very busy and don’t have a lot excess time during their day.

 “All I’m asking for is 15 minutes a day,” Payn-Knoper went on to say. “You will get out of agvocacy what you put into it.”

Farmers Jump on the Social Media Band Wagon…

When the day started, only four of the board members were on Facebook and zero on Twitter. By the end of the day all 22 members present were up and running on both.

“Farmers have always been good at adapting to new technology, only this time it’s not to protect our land, but our livelihood,” said South Dakota Corn Utilization Council President, David Fremark, a farmer and rancher from St. Lawrence, SD.

The high point of the day was during the afternoon session when the group started understanding how to use Twitter and witnessed its power. Within minutes of going live, the board directors had a number of followers waiting to hear their message. The group’s enthusiasm did a “180” as they started sending out their own Tweets. There was a definite sense of accomplishment in the room, but their efforts have only just begun.

I would like to ask all of you to follow and welcome the group to the Twitterverse and online ag community. You can find the South Dakota Corn folks listed under @sdcorn/teamcorn

Twitter has been lit up all week with tweets about High Fructose Corn Syrup. A recent Princeton study released on Monday came with a headline saying HFCS causes rats to gain more weight than table sugar. So let’s dig a little deeper into the study.

The first study included 10 males in each group for total of 8 weeks. One group was fed HFCS with food for 12 hours a day and another was fed table sugar with food for 12 hours a day. This resulted in the HFCS group weighing more.

 But a similar study had the sweeteners with food available 24 hours a day and ended with the table sugar group weighing more.

An additional study with an unknown number of female rats over a period of seven months also provided both sweeteners with food to different groups 12 hours per day resulted in the table sugar group weighing more.

A major problem with these studies is the excessive amounts of sweeteners given to the rats. Comparing it to human consumption would equal a single person drinking 20 12oz cans of pop per day.

So what do these studies tell us? Not much, but a catchy headline like, “High Fructose Corn Syrup’s Big Fat Secret” is all it takes for the Twittervesre to go crazy over something so popular to be against.

Here are some things to remember…

“Consumers should not be misled by exaggerated studies that feed astronomical amounts of one ingredient to the study subjects, in this case rats. The medical community has long dismissed results from rat dietary studies as being inapplicable to human beings,” stated Audrae Erickson, president, Corn Refiners Association.

“Consumers should rest assured that high fructose corn syrup is safe. The American Medical Association concluded that high fructose corn syrup does not appear to contribute more to obesity than sugar. The American Dietetic Association stated that these two sweeteners are indistinguishable to the human body and are metabolized equivalently,” Erickson noted.

For more information on High Fructose Corn Syrup be sure to check out SweetSurprise.com

Would you care to see the power of social media? Go ahead and check out the Facebook Page for Yellow Tail Wine. If that doesn’t impress you, do a search for Yellow Tail on Twitter. A recent donation of $100k to the Humane Society of the United States has fans in a serious uproar.  

The recent donation has turned into a public relations mess that will be no easy fix with the masses speaking their mind through social media, sharing their story with thousands of people per tweet.

Why are these people upset?

Many people don’t realize what the Humane Society is all about. Let’s see what is HSUS against..? Hunting, fishing and livestock production…HSUS is not the fuzzy puppy in the animal shelter group that people picture them as. Only $450,000 of the $89 million they raised last year went to animal shelters. The rest went to fundraising, lobbying and salaries.  This “non-profit” group gets people like you and I to donate money during times of crisis like Hurricane Katrina to provide food and shelter for displaced pets.

Many have fallen to the lure of HSUS.

“This wine maker has fallen into the same trap as other companies who donate money to HSUS,” said Bud Pidgeon, president of the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance. “They believe they are helping animals in shelters when in fact they are funding an agenda from an animal rights group that is largely divergent from the vast majority of Americans.”

How powerful is social media? Yellow Tail will soon figure that out by how by the costs of repairing a well-known brand and image.

To see some examples of agriculture groups taking social media action on this topic, I have linked the following blog sites:

Advocates for Agriculture

Corn Commentary

The Grain Board

Nebraska Corn Kernals