Agriculture's consumer outreach.

AG IN THE CLASSROOM

by P. Gregory Smith

Acting National Program Leader and

G. Lindell Williams

USDA, Washington, D.C.

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In 1981, USDA implemented the Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) program, an initiative for K-12 teachers to advance agricultural literacy by helping students in the classroom learn how food is produced, and what steps it takes for food to get from the farm gate to the dinner plate.

Through its mission of increasing agricultural and science literacy, AITC provides resources for teachers and students to gain a greater awareness of the role of agriculture in the economy and society.

Over the years, the program's activities have focused on incorporating agriculture into core classroom curricula and on educating teachers about the effectiveness of agriculture's use as a teaching tool. Our AITC network comprises national and state program staffs who annually reach approximately 120,000 teachers, other educators and volunteers.

This primary audience and AITC program staff, in turn, reach approximately five million students each year. This outreach is a critical first step in developing the necessary awareness of agriculture's role in society. By educating about agricultural related careers, the program also helps address the declining workforce in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

A premier product of AITC effort is the National Resource Directory (http://www.agclassroom.org/directory/) a nationally reviewed repository containing hundreds of classroom resources for teachers. This database of lesson plans, web quests, DVDs, virtual tours, kits, books, maps, posters, and more supports any K-12 teacher in any subject area.

Other resources provided by AITC fund more regional or state-focused projects. One example is a project entitled "Agricultural Literacy--Missouri."

This web-based agricultural learning project provides teacher developed agricultural literacy materials, available to thousands of teachers through the internet. The learning resources are designed to be upgraded to meet national learning standards. This project also includes a state-of-the-art model community learning center for learning about agriculture.

Another regional project builds upon the educational use of USDA's new food guide pyramid. In this effort, North Carolina AITC staff developed classroom lessons that connect agricultural awareness with science and healthful living instructional standards.

In this "Farmer Grows a Rainbow" project, an $80,000 grant from Agriculture in the Classroom supports the distribution of sets of lesson plans (one per grade level, PreK-5), several teaching "props" to be used for designated grade levels, and song lyrics that outline the colored segments of the food guide pyramid. Lessons have been demonstrated at several teacher and professional development workshops throughout the country.

To learn more about these and other exciting initiatives underway through AITC, please visit our web site at: http://www.agclassroom.org.

AMERICA'S HEARTLAND

by Jason Shoultz

America's Heartland, Sacramento, CA

As we ride across the swampy Florida pastureland, the eyes of our host light up. He's tended to the cattle on this land for 72 years, and now rancher Alto "Bud" Adams is sharing his passion with America's Heartland.

We stop and look at the cattle breed he helped develop. We explore the preserved thickets of brush and trees--bursting with wildlife. And as Adams takes out his digital SLR camera to capture photos of the scene, it occurs to me: This is exactly what the program is about--A rancher whose love of the land has preserved his family business and the environment for generations to come.

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For five seasons, it has been sharing the story of American agriculture with a non-farming TV audience.

America's Heartland has visited all 50 states to share the stories of the hard-working men and women providing our food, fuel and fiber. We've even visited China, Taiwan, Egypt and Morocco to explore overseas trade opportunities.

Produced by KVIE public television in Sacramento, CA, the high-definition program got its origins in 2005. After eight years of producing the California Heartland series focusing on California agriculture, the team knew there were stories all across the U.S. worth sharing. With funding support from Monsanto and the American Farm Bureau Federation, America's Heartland was born.

Today the program reaches one million viewers each week on public television affiliates and on cable and satellite through RFD-TV. Each broadcast tells their stories with compelling and personal insights on life in the heartland.

This season we've got a new, faster-paced format and a larger reporting staff. We're also reaching a non-farming audience through new features like "Off the Shelf," giving viewers information on the food they buy every week; "Harvesting Knowledge," taking a look at the historical background of your favorite foods, and "Working the Land," taking urban viewers to America's farm fields to look at the jobs of people working in agriculture.

We know the program is reaching an urban and suburban audience that is increasingly interested in knowing about their food sources. A recent research study found it had a positive impact on viewers' thoughts about American agriculture.

To reach new audiences, America's Heartland has also dramatically expanded its social networking outreach with new online features at: www.americasheartland.org, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

CAR OF THE HEARTLAND

by Pat Driscoll

Car of the Heartland

Denver, CO

Ancient Rome may have been our first lesson in how to use the love of the crowd to foster social change. Today, employing similar tactics, industry critics have mastered control of agriculture's future by using perceived realities, entertainment, passion and emotion. The Car of the Heartland (COH) program acknowledges what works when touching American consumers while delivering significant, measurable results for those who are writing its check.

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Let's go back to school and re-learn the three R's ... Racing, Retail and Relationships.

Racing: 33% of U.S. adults describe themselves as a NASCAR fan, following the sport weekly. 72% will change a purchase or attitude because an organization participates in the sport. Of that, 90% will use their new loyalty to influence others. We will engage these fans with humorous, entertaining, carefully crafted dialogue in new and creative ways.

Our driver will participate in "dirty jobs" activities every week, on farms local to that track. The car will be painted to reflect types of production from the area. Trackside, over 5 million race attendees will be given an opportunity to buy locally grown food stuff and personally experience a day in the life of a farmer/rancher.

Retail: 335 stores. 26 states. Weekly foot traffic of 50,000 people. Websites with more than 100,000 unique visits per month. 250,000 credit statements mailed every 30 days. Several hundred delivery trucks exposed to millions of eyes. National advertising touching 26% of U.S. consumers. From life size cutouts of local producers at every entry point to every store, to a featured position in 120 million newspaper inserts, every element of Furniture Row's consumer presence will reinforce the Car of the Heartland message.

Relationships: This is where the value for agribusiness resides. Over two dozen state and national groups representing over one million producers have already joined us as communication partners. More join each week.

In addition to organizational endorsements and communication, we have assembled a massive paid program that utilizes agriculture's most recognized communicators, parks a race program at every major farm show and puts a new program on rural satellite TV focusing on 21st century agriculture (and our agribusiness partners), hosted by the COH driver.

It is our goal to be fully funded by December 1, ready to debut the "Farmers Car" February 14 at the Daytona 500.

FFA/RFD-TV

by Raquel Gottsch

RFD-TV

Nashville, TN

"You see, something is going to happen. Something wonderful ..."

Those are the famous lines and underlying theme from the classic, science fiction movie "2010: The Year We Make Contact."

How appropriate that on the morning of January 1, 2010, it will be the National FFA Organization making contact with an estimated 42 million people in the U.S. and over 100 million people worldwide, through participation in the 121st Tournament of Roses Parade.

Television viewers settled in to watch this New Year's Day tradition will witness history being made, as the National FFA Officer Team, National FFA Advisor Dr. Larry Case, the four winners from the Stars Over America competition, along with the invited FFA presidents from every U.S. state, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands will be on, and surround, the first-ever FFA float in the Rose Parade.

The float, entitled "FFA Today on RFD-TV," is one of the largest floats in the parade at 75 feet long, 30 feet tall and 18 feet wide. It features three gigantic sculptures depicting FFA members engaging in agricultural, educational and planning/ development activities. The float will further be highlighted by several elements from the FFA emblem, contrasting with the rural features to display the scope of FFA and agricultural education. In addition to more than 10,000 flowers, the float will be decorated by FFA members with commodities grown by the American farmer, including corn, wheat, soybeans, and cotton.

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All of the float costs and expenses realized by the FFA are being underwritten entirely by RFD-TV and the sponsors/ advertisers associated with RFD-TV's "live" broadcast of the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade and Equestfest television coverage. The float also ties in with FFA programming featured prominently on the RFD-TV television network.

"When we first learned of the 2010 Rose Parade theme 'A Cut Above The Rest' we immediately thought of the FFA," says Patrick Gottsch, Founder & President of RFD-TV. "We saw this as an opportunity to not only pay tribute to the world's premier youth organization, but at the same time to also showcase FFA activities on a world stage in this continuing effort to connect and educate the urban world about the positive aspects of rural America."

"This is a tremendous opportunity to communicate the FFA message to the world," adds Bill Stagg, Communications Director for the National FFA Organization. "The float is beautiful, and it will be a beacon of pride for anyone ever associated with the FFA."

The Tournament of Roses Parade is simultaneously carried "live" or on tape delay by six national or cable television networks in the U.S. (ABC, NBC, HGTV, Univision, RFD-TV/RFD HD, KTLA) and begins at 11 a.m. (eastern time), plus it will be distributed in over 110 countries around the world.

NATIONAL AG DAY

by Linda Tank

CHS

Inver Grove Heights, MN

In a cute scene from a recent episode of "Mad Men," Don is preparing to scramble eggs while his daughter Sally eagerly conveys what she has learned about eggs on a classroom trip to a farm.

"But those eggs can never become chickens, even though they come from chickens," she concludes.

"Why's that?" Don asks.

"Because those eggs come from the store," Sally knowingly explains.

I laughed.

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At the same time I was struck by how accurately this reflects the myths and misunderstandings about agriculture that gave rise to National Ag Day in the first place. As our population has become more urban, the direct connection with food and fiber has been lost.

In the early 1970s, leaders in the agricultural, food and fiber community came together to determine how to increase the public's awareness and appreciation of agriculture's role in modern society. These industry advocates formed the Agriculture Council of America (ACA) and charged it with a nationwide effort to educate all Americans, but particularly young people, about the importance of American agriculture.

One of the earliest ACA efforts was to establish Ag Day, which they designated as the first day of spring in 1973. ACA then set about to establish various educational and public relations programs and activities that could be implemented at the local level in the weeks leading up to Ag Day.

In the years since, the scope of those activities has grown, thanks in large part to generous partners such as John Deere and ADM. A key component is an essay contest for seventh- to 12th-grade students across the country, sponsored by CHS Inc.

In addition, lesson plans are prepared and made available to teachers, along with information about careers in agriculture and related reading materials. Materials for Ag Day related events and activities are made available to community-based groups, both for youth and adults.

Ag Day is celebrated during National Ag Week. Over the course of this week, a number of high-profile events are held in Washington, D.C., including a high-profile "Celebration of Agriculture Dinner" traditionally attended by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

ACA also fully sponsors 50 outstanding student representatives from across the country to participate in Ag Day activities. The students from FFA, 4-H and AFA put a face on the future of agriculture and help personally spread a message of awareness to lawmakers and other national leaders.

I hope you'll join us in helping to learn more about Ag Day. For more information, go to: agday.org, or call ACA at 816/491-1895.

Editor's note: We invited some of the ag industry's organizations with projects aimed at educating the consumer about modern agriculture to share their thoughts about their programs. For more background, see "For Openers" on page 6.