At the Montana Stockgrowers Association, we are passionate about sharing the family ranching story! And what gets us even more excited is when our members get out their cameras and start clicking away!
As part of the Montana Family Ranching Project, MSGA is hosting the 2nd annual Film Festival at the convention in December. The festival is open to all MSGA members and the entry topics range from cattle to life on the ranch. The convention attendees will vote for their favorite and the winner will be announced at the grand finale dinner on Saturday night.
However, we want you to help select the winner, also! Watch each of the entries embedded below. Then, place a vote for your favorite in the poll at the bottom. The video with the most online votes will receive an extra vote added to their overall score.
It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just around the corner and November will soon be coming to a close. During these next several weeks we will be busy buying gifts for family and friends and wrapping up the chores in a hurry to get to family meals. We have much to be thankful for in the ranching communities in Montana and around the country.
“The campaign aims to bring together everyone in the food system, no matter who you are, how you fit into ag, or your favorite social media channel,” says Jeff VanderWerff, a Michigan farmer and president of the AgChat Foundation. “It’s about forgetting the food fights and taking time to share thanks for safe, abundant food.”
Watch how others are already giving #foodthanks, from farm to table:
Get Involved. Check out the #FoodThanks website where everyone’s posts about #FoodThanks are posted from across several social media platforms.
With social media, giving thanks is easier than ever. Simply show your #foodthanks the best way you know how— a quick pin of a family recipe, an update of holiday plans, or a short-n-sweet tweet saying thanks. Just be sure to use the hashtag #foodthanks to share your thanks with others.
Take a photo of a meal that’s special to you and tell us why.
Share a recipe and tag someone you’ll enjoy it with.
Give your time – whether 10 minutes or an hour, making a meal for a neighbor or volunteering at the food bank or homeless shelter.
Use Instagram or Vine to show a meal that’s special to you and explain why.
Share a recipe and tag someone you’re enjoying it with.
“In addition to saying #foodthanks online, the AgChat Foundation is encouraging participants to give #foodthanks offline this year,” adds VanderWerff. “Consider giving your time—whether 10 minutes or an hour—to make a meal for a neighbor or to volunteer at the food bank or homeless shelter.”
There are many ways to express our gratitude and Thanks here locally in Montana as well. All next week, Lauren Chase will be sharing thoughts from Montana ranchers on why they are Thankful this season. Be sure to check out the posts on the Montana Stockgrowers Foundation Facebook page. You can also leave your #FoodThanks in the comments section of this post.
(Portions of this post from an AgChat Foundation press release)
When I think of the Grammy Award-winning country band Big & Rich, I can’t help but sing-shout: “Save a horse, ride a cowboy!” This song is a feel-good, up-beat tune that is recognizable from when the first “dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-daaaa” is sung. I can even remember it being one of the warm-up songs before my high school basketball game.
While this song is what most people associate with Big and Rich, this week, I got to see the band in a new light.
I was on a flight from Las Vegas to Nashville after Ryan and I presented at the Idaho Cattle Association’s Convention and Trade Show. It was my first experience flying Southwest Airlines and was still getting the hang of picking out your own seat. Naturally, only the middle seats were left when I boarded so I nestled between two guys, both jamming out with their expensive-looking headphones.
The man on my left leaned over and started talking to the man on my right, referencing last night’s concert. Intrigued, I asked: “Are you guys in a band?” The man on my left said, “Well, sort of. I’m the drummer for Big & Rich.”
“Oh, that’s cool,” I replied. We talked for a while about the pressures of being a professional musician and frankly, I now have a new-found respect for the music scene. That night in Nashville, he was supposed to learn an entire set-list of songs for a new country singer so he put his headphones on and started practicing his drumming. I then decided to start editing video from the Idaho Cattle Convention. A man across the aisle wearing bell-bottom jeans, a fitted corduroy jacket, a bandana and trucker’s cap that said “Electro Shine” on it leaned over and asked if those guys were being mean to me. I smiled and said, “No, everyone is getting along just fine. We’re all being creative!” He asked what I was working on and I explained that I work for the beef industry in promotions…thinking he would say some nicety and then turn back to his group. But his reply was shocking: “I LOVE CATTLE!”
That sparked further conversation about how his father runs a cattle farm in Virginia and how he loved growing up on the farm. The drummer whispered to me that this man was Kenny, the “Big” of Big & Rich. I felt dumb, but I was excited that I got to meet him!
As the flight went on, I showed him my coffee table book, Big Sky Boots…and he just loved it! We talked more about the cattle industry and how he does charity livestock auctioneering at the local sale barn. Kenny had questions about grazing, nutrition and profitably. It was really refreshing to see someone who travels to many metropolitan cities and interacts with thousands of people, name off many breeds of cattle and be genuinely interested in learning more about the industry.
We de-planed at BNA and as a favor to cattlemen, he let me record the video below. Help me to thank Kenny (catch him on Twitter @BigKennyTV) for supporting America’s farmers and ranchers!
Why should ranchers be on social media? Lauren and Ryan address that question in their #SocialBeef Workshops.
Last week we had the opportunity to spend a few days working with our neighbor’s to the South at the Idaho Cattle Association’s annual convention. Ryan and Lauren conducted a workshop on the use of social media as a part of our ranches’ business strategies and as an avenue for connecting with consumers who want to learn more about raising beef cattle.
We had a great turn out at the workshops on Monday and Tuesday and took the opportunity to ask a few attendees how they utilize social media to reach out to consumers and engage in conversations about how beef cattle are raised.
On the trip home, Lauren ran into a “BIG” fan of farmers and ranchers. Be sure to check back tomorrow for her exciting story of how easy and rewarding it can be to engage in conversations about agriculture even when it may be outside your comfort zone.
Lauren does a great job during our workshops emphasizing how well imagery works when communicating our messages on social media. Farms and ranches are very visual, so this makes an easy place to get started whether you’re on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest.
Trade shows and conventions are a great networking opportunity to meet with others in the beef cattle community and stay on top of current events.
We’re looking for your stories of utilizing social media to reach out to consumers and promote your business. If you’re online, be sure to connect with Montana Stockgrowers on our many social media channels.
A big thank you to the American Fork Ranch for this Throwback Thursday photo. Be sure to give them a ‘Like’ on Facebook.
Do you have a Throwback Thursday photo for us to share? Send us your photo ([email protected]) and a brief background on the subject and your ranch photo may be featured on our TBT posts!
Learn more about Jed and Annie Evjene and the American Fork Ranch is this Rancher profile.
Social media is an important tool for the beef industry, for marketing cattle, educating consumers and sharing farm & ranch stories. On Oct. 17, 2013, the Tennessee Beef Industry Council invited speakers, Ryan Goodman and Lauren Chase of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, to teach a social media overview and workshop for Tennessee beef producers. These cattlemen and women learned how to utilize Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, Instagram and Pinterest for their farms and ranches. They also heard from Pamela Bartholomew from the TN Dept. of Ag about the “Pick TN Products” program.
Goodman and Chase encouraged participants to use the hashtag “#socialbeef” in their future posts to create a community of beef producers using social media. Feel free to contact them at:
On any ranch, there are countless stories to be told. Get out your video cameras and help tell the story of Montana family ranching to the world. Create a documentary, photo slide shows, or how-to videos. As long as it involves ranching, we’ll take it. The videos will then be published on the MSGA YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Your online vote, along with votes at annual convention, will determine the winner. Don’t worry – you’ll get a prize for your hard work!
Please send your entries to Lauren either on a DVD or by email by NOVEMBER 1. If you need help editing your video or have any questions, please contact Lauren.
Montana Ford dealerships have been a great supporter of Montana ranching families. Thanks to Lauren Chase for putting together this great video.
One lucky MSGA member will win a 2013 Ford F250 Super Duty truck at the annual convention, December 12-14. Keep an eye out for more details. Click here to join MSGA today.
