Last week I got to attend the 2019 Range Beef Cow Symposium. The biannual event presents new research, findings, and market analyses with the commercial producer in mind. It moves around between Wyoming, South Dakota, Colorado, and Nebraska and if you get the opportunity to attend, I’d highly recommend it.
There were many great presentations, but the thing that rattled around in my head the most on my drive home was Under Secretary Greg Ibach’s presentation. In particular, he touched on the popular idea that—despite our differences—producers and consumers share many core values. Though he never used these terms, he suggested producers and consumers are on the same page where it really matters.
“What we have found consumers want to know is that we as farmers share the same values that they have.” At the end of the day, he said, consumers want to know that “if we lived in the same area and our kids ended up on the same playground, that we would both want our kids and their kids to have the same opportunities, and we would be the kind of people they would want to hang out with. And I think that we very much are those kind of people.”
While that’s a very feel-good message, I can’t help but think it misses the mark and ask if we really are on the same page with consumers.
Like you, I know the market research that says consumers want to (feel like they) have a connection to the people who grow their food. And many in ag have had great success with outreach efforts that show consumers that, yes, ranchers are real, normal people just like them! But when I hear or read about non-ag consumers’ concerns about animal ag and meat, they’re not asking if the rancher who raised their burger is someone they’d like to get a beer with. In my experience—and as both Ibach and many others at the symposium brought up—they are asking about food safety issues, they’re worried about the sustainability of beef, and they are very concerned about animal welfare.
But, I hear you say, ranchers are very concerned about those things too! Both consumers and producers agree that food should be safe, agriculture should be sustainable, and that animals should be well cared for. So that means we’re all on the same page, right?
I increasingly doubt it.
As Pete can attest, one of my favorite—and probably annoying—new lines of questioning these days is “What do you mean by X?” The more I ask it, the more I suspect that, while producers and consumers might both be on pages with the same titles, we may be reading from very different books.
When producers talk about food safety, you’re meaning quality meat from healthy animals processed according to rigorous inspection standards. When consumers talk about food safety, they seem to worry about “chemicals,” drugs, steroids, and superbug bacteria in their food; want to know and be able to prove that those things are not there (i.e., exacting traceability); and have confidence they and their family won’t get sick.
When producers talk about sustainability in ag, you’re meaning the ability to pass on a profitable multigenerational ranch that’s more productive now than it was when Great-Granddad started it. When consumers talk about sustainability in ag, they seem to be envisioning green rolling hills, picturesquely dotted by belled cows that live in harmony with the neighboring wildlife (including apex predators), produce fewer or no greenhouse gases, and don’t use more natural resources than they deserve.
When producers talk about animal welfare, you’re meaning meeting the physical requirements of cattle so they perform as needed for their roles as livestock raised for food, and doing everything necessitated by the industry in as low-stress, humane, and efficient a way as possible. When consumers talk about animal welfare, they seem to be thinking of the standards of welfare they expect for their beloved pet who is considered a member of the family.
That doesn’t seem like we’re on the same page to me.
Sure, there’s some overlap, but when we talk about top-level concerns with consumers, we need to know for sure we’re talking about the same details rather than assuming we are and talking past one another.
One thing Ibach suggested that I can’t agree with more: We need to be “listening to consumers and spend some time studying and understanding what they’re saying.” — KERRY HALLADAY
