Published 6:45 am Thursday, January 25, 2024
Almost every student has a smart phone and follows some form of social media these days.
A presentation to Washington FFA members during the Spokane Ag Show will show them how to turn that into a career.
A panel, entitled “From Field to Feed: Today’s Jobs in Ag Communications (bots need not apply),” will highlight agricultural communications jobs.
“We’re really trying to showcase how many awesome jobs there are in agriculture that don’t require you to be a farmer,” said Kara Rowe, a Spokane Ag Show board member, who will emcee the panel discussion. “It’s those jobs that the industry desperately needs to fill right now.”
Rowe is founder and CEO of KR Creative Strategies in Medical Lake, Wash., and producer on the “Washington Grown” TV show.
Agricultural communications can include policy outreach, compiling social media clips or producing 60-minute documentaries.
“Anything that helps spread the story of life on farms would be considered ag communication,” Rowe said. “Any type of work that shares the good stories happening out in the land, really, that’s communications work. It’s trying to improve the industry through storytelling.
Ideally, the best way to show people life on a farm would be to load them on a bus or car and take them to a farm, Rowe said.
“But sadly, we can’t do that with every non-farm person in the state or nation,” she said. “Using every tool we have available to us is the next best thing — whether it’s through the TV, through the iPhone or iPad screen, that’s the next best way to connect with people.
“We have to build those connections, we have to learn how to speak the language of our non-farm friends, so they understand,” Rowe continued. “People make assumptions about the farm, not because they’re anti-farm, but because they simply don’t know.”
Rowe thinks current efforts are making a dent in the information gap. She points to “Washington Grown” as an example. The show typically attracts 4.5 million viewers each year.
“The amount of feedback, questions and interactions we’re having with people who don’t live on a farm is increasing,” she said. “Which tells me people are genuinely interested and we’re actually making an impact on how they think about things. We definitely are doing a better job, we just need to continue building those connections with as many people as we can.”
Rowe hopes FFA members walk away after the panel firm in the knowledge that there’s a place for them in the industry.
“If you have a love for food or for animals, you don’t just have to be a farmer, or a vet, or a professor at WSU to have an impact,” she said. “You can have an impact in any kind of role you play in agriculture.”
Panelists include current Washington State University seniors and recent college graduates.
KR Creative Strategies
KR Creative Strategies
https://www.krcreativestrategies.com/
