Oklahoma Agri-Women Newsletter, January 2016

Oklahoma Agri-Women Newsletter | January 2016

– Welcome – Tour Oklahoma Series Recap– “Our Role in Social Media”– Getting Involved: The Benefits of AAW Membership– Annual Meeting Registration

What’s inside?

Oklahoma Agri-Women Newsletter PAGE 1

We are pleased to welcome you to our January 2016 Newsletter. Members of Oklahoma Agri-Women were hard at work in 2015. We are excited to update you on our past activities and the exciting upcoming events! For more information, please visit www.okagriwomen.com.

From Left to Right: Kristi Bishop, President; Katie Powers, Public Relations Coordinator; Jean Lam, Secretary; Abbi Goldenberg, Vice President; Courtney Mitchell, Treasurer (not pictured).

WELCOME

SAVE THE DATEFeb. 13, Stillwater, OK2016 OAW Annual Meeting

March 9-13, Wichita, KSAmerican Agri-Women Mid-Year Meeting

June, Washington, D.C.American Agri-Women Fly-In (dates to be determined upon release of legislative calendar)

Nov. 16-19, Raleigh, NC American Agri-Women National Convention

CONNECT WITH US OAW Facebook: facebook.com/OkAgriWomen

OAW website: www.okagriwomen.com

OAW email: [email protected]

AAW Facebook: facebook.com/AgriWomen

AAW website: americanagriwomen.org


Oklahoma Agri-Women is a state affiliate of American Agri-Women. The purpose of Oklahoma Agri-Women is to unite women in all segments of the Oklahoma food, fiber and agriculture industry having mutual concerns. To keep OAW members informed of legislation that is of concern to Oklahoma’s agriculture industry while remaining nonpartisan. In addition, to educate consumers, elected officials and the public about the importance of agriculture to Oklahoma’s economy and environment.

In 2015, OAW began the Tour Oklahoma Series as an effort to visit the four segments of our state and grasp the diversity of agriculture throughout. The tours were open to women from across the state from all commodity groups.

The first tour was held in southwest Oklahoma. We began in Frederick by touring the Van der Laan Dairy, the second largest dairy in Oklahoma. After a sponsored lunch, attendees traveled to Altus to tour the dam at Lake Altus Lugert. The day closed out with an evening of networking at Quartz Mountain Resort.

The second tour led us to south central Oklahoma. Kicking off the day was a tour of Chapman Ranch, a cow-calf and stocker operation near Tishomingo. After a sponsored lunch, we traveled to Bakers Acres Pecan Farm. Aside from their pecan operation and retail store, they operate a pumpkin patch and corn maze. After shopping around Tishomingo, the tour ended at The Ponderosa with a legislative discussion with State Representative John Pfeiffer. The main topic of discussion was State Question 777, along with other issues impacting Oklahoma’s agricultural industry.

The third, and most recent, leg of the tour was in Pawhuska. The group met at the Prairie Dog for lunch to begin the day. Then the group spent the day touring Liberty Ranch, a backgrounding facility, where they met with owner Jerry Mosley to discuss the cattle industry and the operation more in-depth. Next the group visited the Tallgrass Nature Conservancy, home to the Christina Adams Bison Herd. Conservancy Director, Bob Hamilton, spoke with the group about conservation practices put into place to help maintain the prairie. As the group made their way back to Pawhuska the members enjoyed time exploring the town until it was time to reconvene at the Tallgrass Art Gallery for dinner, provided by Grill 125.

TOUR OKLAHOMA SERIES RECAP

Everyone knows the video… The cute one of the cows opening gates and frolicking, posted by Animals Australia on May 22nd, 2015. Did you see it? Did you look whom originally posted the video? If you are like me, someone tagged you in the post and shared it to your timeline or maybe you even shared it yourself. This video has gone viral, in the truest sense of the word, and as agriculturalists we HAVE to quit sharing videos and posts from organizations like Animals Australia.

In the United States we have Mercy for Animals (MFA), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) breathing fire down our necks. Animals Australia falls into the same category as these activist groups. If you have not heard of these organizations, it is time to do your research because their mission is to put you out of business. They instill fear in the consumer by “exposing” the cruel nature “we treat” our animals, spread lies about our products by preaching that milk contains puss and put massive amounts of pressure on legislators to pass laws detrimental to agriculture.

Agriculture has gotten too comfortable playing defense. We always respond when an undercover video is released or a food borne illness breaks out. But we do not play offense, and it is time to start!

When you, as a producer, share videos or posts from organizations like the ones named above you are helping speed along the demise of our industry. Think about it like this, you have a friend on Facebook or Twitter that is not involved in agriculture and you share a post from MFA. They watch the video and are intrigued to learn more about the organization. This could go two ways, either the person say to themselves “Wow, MFA is crazy” or “Wow, people in agriculture are cruel to their animals, I don’t think I can trust agriculture anymore.” These groups show agriculture at its worst, it is their job to make our industry look bad and you just gave someone an open invitation to check out their page.

If you were one of the people who shared this post, do not beat yourself up about it. For 2016, we should all make a resolution to be more cognizant of the information we share on social media regarding agriculture. Now, more than ever, it is important for us to share OUR stories and OUR farms with consumers. Our consumers have the capabilities to find out whatever they want in a matter of seconds, which means if they are googling where milk comes from we want an accurate representation of our industry rather than a PETA video being the first thing that pops up.

Together we can show the greatness of our industry and the compassion we, as producers, have for our land and cattle.


OUR ROLE IN SOCIAL MEDIA by Abbi Goldenberg, Osage County Extension Ag Educator

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

Founding Sponsor

First National Bank of Sedan

OAW currently has three standing committees for which members can become involved in as an effort to promote the mission of our organization. If you are interested in serving or would like more information please email [email protected].

Fundraising Committee (Chairwoman will be determined at OAW Annual Meeting)Committee purpose is to obtain sponsorship dollars as well as develop fundraising efforts for OAW. Sponsorship levels have been developed and are posted at okagriwomen.com. Funds will be utilized to further our mission.

Membership Committee (Chaired by OAW Vice President, Abbi Goldenberg) Committee purpose is to encourage women to join OAW and AAW by promoting the organizations. Committee plans statewide industry tours to reach potential members across Oklahoma.

Service Committee (Chairwoman will be determined at OAW Annual Meeting)Committee purpose is to provide OAW with opportunities to contribute to causes that promote agriculture, health and education.

As an OAW member you should also be receiving communication from American Agri-Women. AAW communicates primarily through The Voice (mail and email) and AAW Communique (email). The Voice is produced quarterly while Communique’s are sent as needed and often include legislative call to actions as well as information about AAW upcoming webinars. If you are not receiving this information please notify us at [email protected].

HOW TO BECOME INVOLVED

Membership Dues RenewalPlease watch your mail, OAW will be sending information to members who need to renew their membership dues. Your payment can be mailed or simply brought to our Annual Meeting. Members must be current on their dues in order to cast votes at the OAW Annual Meeting.

American Agri-Women Member Benefits



OAW’s Annual Meeting will be held Saturday, February 13 in Stillwater. We have a great day planned and look forward to having the group together.

9-9:45 a.m. Annual Business Meeting Oklahoma State University, Animal Science Bldg, Rm 125Agenda will include election of Vice President, Treasurer and Public Relations Chair. Additionally we will plan for 2016 service and membership events.

9:45-10:30 a.m. How to be a big deal…on Facebook!Hosted by Katie Powers, Owner of Powerful Dezigns/OAW Public Relations Chair and Abbi Goldenberg, Osage County Extension Agent/OAW Vice PresidentAre you utilizing social media to market your business or yourself? Hashtags, sharing, posting…social media can get complicated. We are here to help! We will review basic tips on how to post a photo with an effective and creative description to capture your audience. Our ultimate goal for the take away? For everyone to tell their ag story and share their expertise with others on social media!

10:30-11:45 a.m. Networking and time to shop Stillwater

11:45-2:45 p.m. Paint and Palette Hideaway Pizza

ANNUAL MEETING

Please RSVP with your attendance for the Annual Meeting by Monday, February 1.Name:

Address:

Phone: Email:

Please check all activities you plan to attend:

Annual Meeting (no charge)

Paint and Palette ($30 includes lunch and painting activity)

Please mail completed RSVP and payment (if necessary) by February 1 to:Oklahoma Agri-Women, 601 S. Washington #202, Stillwater, OK 74074

Documents

Oklahoma Agri-Women Newsletter, January 2016