I need your help. The Humane Society of the United States is working to vote Carrie Underwood in as ACMA Entertainer of the Year to launch her as a better spokesperson for their agenda to abolish animal agriculture. I’m challenging everyone to head over to the ACMA website and vote. Read the following excerpt, and tell me you don’t want to stand up for agriculture today! It only takes a minute to register, and I voted for George Strait because he is a great singer, a PRCA member, a team roper and a true friend to agriculture! You should too! Word-of-mouth is definitely agriculture’s best marketing tool, no? Make a difference and cast your vote today!
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the most radical animal “rights” and anti-hunting organization in the country, has been quietly trying to get Carrie Underwood voted Entertainer of the Year via the Academy of Country Music. The problem is, a large percentage of country music fans are also gun owners and hunters who do not like Carrie Underwood’s active support for HSUS. And HSUS knows it.
Underwood and American Idol have already listed HSUS as a beneficiary of the proceeds of one of her songs and now HSUS is enlisting their radical animal rights supporters to vote for her in the Entertainer of the Year contest. But they are trying to keep it quiet. In an e-mail sent out to supporters by Kathy Bauch, the HSUS Senior Director for Corporate Relations & Promotions, she asked people to vote for Underwood, but added, “Feel free to distribute this to friends and family, but please don’t post to lists, twitter, etc.–anything that would identify that HSUS is urging people to vote for her, or it could just breathe life into the opposition.”
Oops, too late! Perhaps someone should tell the folks at HSUS that e-mails are not exactly the most secure way of communicating their “secret” agendas. Country music fans who do not appreciate Underwood’s support for HSUS should go and vote for an entertainer who shares their values and supports America’s hunting heritage. Please share this with every meat-eating, freedom loving American you know and then VOTE!!!
The Country Living Association is now sending out a “Tip of the Week.” The latest one features these little guys and talks about pet care in warm weather. Members also get a free sample of a product to help with the problem of “hot spots.”
It’s just part of how they’re “Making the good life better.”
Say Happy Birthday to the Country Living Association.
The Country Living Association is celebrating its one-year anniversary, according to Courtney Yuskis, director of Country Living Association. “Country Living Association had a great first year. The organization continues to expand and deliver additional value to our members and our sponsors,” Yuskis said. “It’s an exciting time to be involved in the rural lifestyle market and 2008 promises to be a great year for all involved with the association.”
People are passionate about the lifestyle they have chosen. Country Living Association has learned from members that while people are moving to the country for several reasons - their love of pets, space to raise horses, a safe environment to raise children, enjoyment of the great outdoors, etc. - the prevailing reason is that the quality of life they find in the country cannot be matched in a city. The NAFB Rural Lifestyle Report estimates that there are over 69 million people (27 million households) living in the country with the numbers increasing daily.
One of the sources of a lot of information for anyone needing to research the rural lifestyle market is the USDA Census of Agriculture. You might think it’s just about corn, soybeans, hogs and cattle but you’d be wrong.
According to Gene Danekas, Director of Ag Statistics, USDA-Missouri, (pictured on the left in his booth at the Country Living Olympics) there’s valuable information in there. He says you’ll find information right down to the county and zip code level on all sizes of operations. He says the rural lifestyle farms contribute significantly to the overall U. S. economy as well as local economies. All the data is publicly available via their website.
Gene wants rural lifestyle farm owners to know that they are a vital part of agriculture. He says they’ll be doing an update study at the end of this year when they send out 2 1/2 million questionnaires. The new report should then be available around February of 2009.
You can listen to my interview with Gene here:
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In just a few short weeks it’ll be time for the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention. I’ll be blogging the whole event so hopefully you’ll be looking forward to that. NAFB’s Executive Director, Bill O’Neill (pictured on the right) attended the Country Living Outlook Conference. I spoke to him about what he was getting out of it.
Bill says that all of the information he heard contributes to a growing body of knowledge about the rural lifestyle market. He’s one of the people who calls it a diversified market. That’s something I heard a lot. Bill says he’ll take back ideas for future research that NAFB will do to enhance their study from last year (pdf) for the benefit of its members.
We also talked about the upcoming convention. It’s the 63rd NAFB Convention and I’ve been to a lot of them but not that many. Bill says they’ll have a panel of marketers on the program talking about the rural lifestyle market.
You can listen to my interview with Bill here:
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If you’ve ever been down in a hollow on a mid summer day pounding posts then you might wonder why anyone would want to do this for fun. However, at the Country Living Olympics is was cool inside the American Royal building where the Steel Post Driving competition took place.
You can see that we were planting a post garden in the middle of the floor. That was some pretty hard packed dirt floor too.
You can watch the action on YouTube if you’d like:
You can subscribe to my YouTube videos so you’ll automatically know when I’ve added a new one by using this link.
Teresa Hinrichs is a country living cheerleader (pictured on the right). She even says so in an interview I did with her right before the Country Living Olympics.
Teresa works on a lot of projects related to agriculture one of which is the Country Living Association. She says that just about any group of people who have some kind of interest related to rural life or agriculture has an association but there wasn’t one for people that share a passion for country living. She says that besides members, sponsor companies were looking for this. There may be lots of places to advertise but the Association creates member engagement which really builds relationships and a sense of community.
She says that growth has been great here in the first year and they’re on track for where they want to be.
I think you’ll enjoy my interview with Teresa here:
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If you want to know what people who live the country life think then just ask them. That’s what we did at the Country Living Outlook Conference. I can assure you that these folks are passionate about where they live.
Take Alan Brend who was on the panel of rural lifestyle practitioners. He says that he does not view how he lives as a lifestyle but rather a way of life. Alan says that he will live no other way and the country way of life is good for kids. He says that having them raise animals and do chores teaches them self confidence and responsibility.
Alan says that when it comes to buying stuff he does all his research on the internet and then buys local. He thinks the Country Living Association has a great deal of potential, especially if it can provide him with resources on its website that would save him time. When I asked him if he thinks the marketers attending understood his needs he says that he could see the light in their eyes as they would nod like they finally understood.
I think you’ll enjoy my interview with Alan here:
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If you’ve ever had to move a pallet of feed then you have an idea of what it was like to compete in the Country Living Olympics Feed Bag Moving competition.
Imagine having to run with them for a short distance and stack them on another pallet. That’s why we had some worn out competitors. 10 bags and a short run. Whew!
You can see the winning style and form in this video:
At the Country Living Outlook Conference one of the speakers on our program was country lifestyler, Kelly Loganbill. Kelly works in town and makes an 80 plus mile round trip each day from her home.
She wants companies servicing the rural lifestyle market to know that they separate their work and personal lives and that they need information and supplies to complete their home projects. She says that the marketers in attendance at the conference asked a lot of questions about the kind of research they do, how/where/why they make purchases and how they use mail. She says that although she doesn’t have high speed internet access on at their home that she and her husband use it a lot where they can like at work.
Kelly says that she thinks there’s a real need for companies to train their employees to work with rural lifestyle people. She says that often they’ll be trained to work with large scale farmers but her needs are very different.
You can listen to my interview with Kelly here:
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Reaching people who live the country life has been the subject of several articles in Agrimarketing Magazine. That’s why Lynn Henderson, Publisher, was on hand at the Country Living Outlook Conference. Lynn says that the rural lifestyle market presents a significant opportunity for traditional agribusiness companies.
Besides talking about country living we also talked about Agrimarketing Magazine going digital. I read my digital edition of Agrimarketing as soon as I got it and it’s now my preferred way to receive the publication. Lynn says there are 4 main reasons why he chose to go to a digital edition.
He can get the magazine out 2 weeks before it shows up in the mail.
His audience is wired and on high speed internet access and ready for it.
His next generation of readers have grown up with the computer.
Now subscribers who travel can read the magazine while online.
Of course I had to ask if this means he’ll stop printing the magazine. Lynn says his advisory board asked him immediately, “You’re not going to do away with the magazine are you.” So although it would represent a huge cost savings he has no plans to quit printing the magazine.
One of the things the digital edition does according to Lynn is present some new advertising opportunities since it can contain audio and video and links to online content. He says the response has been tremendous so far and he’s noticed that it’s driving more traffic to the Agrimarketing website.
The program concludes this week with music from the Podsafe Music Network. This week’s song is “Coyotes Song - End of Hunting” by the No Plastic Inside. I’m going to be taking a few days off later this week and again in a few weeks to do some hunting so I thought it worked.
You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 142 (18 min MP3)
Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:
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The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes
Water Bucket Filling would not be my favorite chore out on the farm but it’s just one of those things you have to do. I prefer taking pictures of other people doing it for competition.
I can’t even remember the exact details of how this one worked but you had to run back and forth moving water from one tub to another and it was timed event.
You can watch this girl in action on YouTube if you’d like:
By the way, if you want to subscribe to my YouTube videos so you’ll automatically know when I’ve added a new one then use this link. I’ve got 92 videos in my account that have been collectively viewed about 100,000 times so far.
If you know Steve Drake then you know he likes to work in the background. In fact, after taking about 500 pictures at the Country Living Association activities last week none of them have Steve in it.
That doesn’t mean I didn’t get to talk to Steve though. His company, Drake & Company, is an accredited association management firm. Basically they are the staff and headquarters for several national organizations like the National Christmas Tree Association and Alpha Zeta. Of course the Country Living Association is one of those too.
Steve says that everyone is looking at this rural lifestyle market and trying to figure out how to reach it. He said that he saw a need for an organization to bring the community together. So how large is the market? Steve says he hears figures of from 2 to 20 million people. When I asked him how the CLA is marketing itself to reach this market he says that right now they’ve been working with their corporate partners and doing promotions and publicity.
As the CLA grows it’s obvious to me that the organization itself will become a viable way to reach out to the rural lifestyle market. That’s why if you’re not a sponsor now you might want to consider becoming one.
You can listen to my interview with Steve here:
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Not all of the competitors at the Country Living Olympics were big people. Take this competition for example. The Hay Scramble was just that and the dust was flying.
These little dynamos were searching for $1 dollar coins. I think there were a couple hundred dollars worth hidden under the hay pile. They got to keep what they found.
You can watch them in action on YouTube if you’d like:
One of the corporate partners of the Country Living Association is Fastline Publications. On hand at the Country Living Outlook Conference was Matt Coniglio, National Account Manager.
Matt says that he came with two messages. For one thing their current national publication is reaching over 300,000 people who would be considered rural lifestylers.
He also said that next year they’ll be rolling out a whole new concept with a publication aimed much more locally starting with the Louisville market. I know we heard from country living people at the conference that they “buy local.” Sounds like Fastline may be on to something.
You can listen to my interview with Matt here:
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Here’s the winners of the first ever Country Living Olympics.
The competition included:
Cake Baking, sponsored by Nationwide Agribusiness and Allied Insurance. Winner: Amy Murphy, Kansas Feed Bag Moving, sponsored by Land O’Lakes Purina Feed. Winner: Male: Josh, Hope, Kansas, Female: Alicia Rigden, New London, Iowa, 18 contestants Lawn-mower Backing, sponsored by John Deere. Winner: Male: Barry, Clinton, Missouri, Female: Jennifer, Fontanta, Kansas, 12 contestants Pie Baking, sponsored by Living the Country Life. Winner: Kayla, Olathe, Kansas Steel Post Driving, sponsored by Tractor Supply Company. Winner: Male: Josh, Hope, Kansas, Female: Jennifer, Fontana, Kansas, 16 contestants Water Bucket Filling, sponsored by Fastline Publications. Winner: Male: Brandon, Kansas City, Missouri, Female: Alicia, New London, Iowa, 18 contestants Hay Scramble, sponsored by Farm Safety 4 Just Kids.
Congratulations to all the winners and we hope to see them back next year.
The first annual Country Living Olympics took place this afternoon here at the American Royal complex and it was a big success. The competition was fierce.
This guy was actually the winner of the feed bag moving competition. Contestants had to move 10 feed bags from one pallet to another and the person who did it fastest won.
You can see pictures of all the action in the photo album.
Our after hours entertainment at the Country Living Association activities was the PBR Bull Riding Competition in Kemper Arena. It’s hard to get a good stop motion picture from up in a suite but I tried.
These guys are just plain crazy. It’s one thing to be walking through a pasture and get chased by a bull or to be working them in a cattle operation. It’s quite another to get up on top of one on purpose.
It was fun to watch though and I think there’s more tonight. I kept looking around for a Pabst Blue Ribbon but didn’t find any. I guess that’s not part of the branding for the event.
Courtney Yuskis, pictured here on the right of some of the corporate partners of the Country Living Association, gave some closing remarks at the Country Living Outlook Conference that included a summary of the organization’s first year to date.
They started on January 1 and have over 11,000 members. She says that CLA is meant to be a community for like-minded people who share a passion for country living. They’ve held three clinics so far in three states with two more coming up next month. They’re working on developing their website so that it will be the authoritative site for country living information.
Guess how many photos we've got in our archives that are tagged "farm." Let's just say, it's a lot..
Twittering Farmer
Farmers are twittering and then there's The Twittering Farmer.
He's Steve Tucker and my interview in this week's program. Steve and I discuss the story that featured him on CNN today and the feedback he's received which has been kind of overwhelming. He's a great advocate for agriculture who now has more Twitter followers than there are residents in his home town.
I need your help. The Humane Society of the United States is working to vote Carrie Underwood in as ACMA Entertainer of the Year to launch her as a better spokesperson for their agenda to abolish animal agriculture. I’m challenging everyone to head over to the ACMA website and vote. Read the following excerpt, and tell me you don’t want to stand up for agriculture today! It only takes a minute to register, and I voted for George Strait because he is a great singer, a PRCA member, a team roper and a true friend to agriculture! You should too! Word-of-mouth is definitely agriculture’s best marketing tool, no? Make a difference and cast your vote today!
I’d like to congratulate 
The 
Say Happy Birthday to the 
One of the sources of a lot of information for anyone needing to research the rural lifestyle market is the 
In just a few short weeks it’ll be time for the 
If you’ve ever been down in a hollow on a mid summer day pounding posts then you might wonder why anyone would want to do this for fun. However, at the Country Living Olympics is was cool inside the American Royal building where the Steel Post Driving competition took place.
Teresa Hinrichs is a country living cheerleader (pictured on the right). She even says so in an interview I did with her right before the Country Living Olympics.
If you want to know what people who live the country life think then just ask them. That’s what we did at the Country Living Outlook Conference. I can assure you that these folks are passionate about where they live.
At the Country Living Outlook Conference one of the speakers on our program was country lifestyler, Kelly Loganbill. Kelly works in town and makes an 80 plus mile round trip each day from her home.
Reaching people who live the country life has been the subject of several articles in 
Besides talking about country living we also talked about Agrimarketing Magazine going digital. I read my 
Water Bucket Filling would not be my favorite chore out on the farm but it’s just one of those things you have to do. I prefer taking pictures of other people doing it for competition.
If you know Steve Drake then you know he likes to work in the background. In fact, after taking about 500 pictures at the Country Living Association activities last week none of them have Steve in it. 
Not all of the competitors at the Country Living Olympics were big people. Take this competition for example. The Hay Scramble was just that and the dust was flying.
One of the corporate partners of the Country Living Association is 
Here’s the winners of the first ever Country Living Olympics.
The first annual Country Living Olympics took place this afternoon here at the American Royal complex and it was a big success. The competition was fierce.
Our after hours entertainment at the Country Living Association activities was the 
Courtney Yuskis, pictured here on the right of some of the corporate partners of the Country Living Association, gave some closing remarks at the Country Living Outlook Conference that included a summary of the organization’s first year to date.
Farmers are twittering and then there's The Twittering Farmer.
