South Dakota farmers learned how to engage with consumers about farming and food production at this week’s South Dakota Soybean Developing Consumer Trust Workshops. The session was led by Donna Moenning with the Center for Food Integrity. She trained farmers on how to have a conversation with consumers about farming and shared results of their annual consumer research.
Salem farmer Dawn Scheier is a South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council director. She says the workshop is important for farmers to learn how to tell their story and engage with consumers about what they do on their farms.
Pork producer Karen Hofer of Canistota says the training was valuable and reinforced how consumers want farmers to be transparent about how they produce food on their farm. She learned food is personal and she wants consumer to know that she cares about the safety of the pork raised on her farm because her family is eating it too.
Jared Questad is a grain and beef producer from Baltic. He says he was surprised to learn that sharing the science behind what he does on his farm is not the best way to bridge the disconnect between farmers and consumers.
South Dakota Soybean held the training as part of their Hungry for Truth Initiative.
