COMMITTEE REPORTS C O M M U N I C AT I O N S C O M M I T T E E
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aintaining an open line of communication with our members, consumers, the media and government remained a focus of Manitoba Beef Producers in 2014. Our drive to engage the many people that comprise this terrific industry was carried out in a variety of ways as MBP used a number of avenues to inform and advocate for our members in the past year. Tradeshows and other forms of public outreach were a major component of MBP’s communications strategy as our directors and staff members attended many events. Among these were Manitoba Ag Days, the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, Red River Ex, Manitoba Livestock Expo and the Prairie Livestock Expo. Attending events such as these remains a worthwhile venture for MBP as many of them are attended by members and the general public. This provides us with an excellent opportunity to speak with the membership and hear about their comments about how MBP can better represent them. We plan to be active again in 2015. Public outreach, particularly to the next generation of producers and consumers also remains very important to MBP. Our staff and directors attended events such as the Amazing Ag Adventure which was held at the Bruce Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre south of Winnipeg as well as MooMania and the Amazing Rangeland Adventure which were both held in conjunction with the Manitoba Livestock Expo in Brandon. All three events were aimed at students in either elementary school or high school and placed a focus on educating them about the beef industry and the importance of agriculture in Manitoba. MBP also continued its involvement with the important Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) program and will again be part of the AITC programming in 2015. The communications portfolio also saw a change in staff in 2014 as Chad Saxon was hired to replace Kristen Lucyshyn as Communications Coordinator in September. Saxon’s background in the media has been helpful to MBP as we partner with the media to advocate for members and to promote issues and events. During a very busy 2014 this positive relationship was important as we provided members with updates on flooding and programs and funding available to them. Other issues MBP spokespersons were interviewed on included Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) legislation, flood programming, feed shortages, livestock predation, the current state of the industry and the opening of more markets to Canadian beef. We are pleased to say our positive relationship with the media has made MBP an important source for comments and information when it comes to articles and research related to the beef industry and provincial government policies.
Social media also continues to be important tool for MBP to circulate its message to the masses. MBP has developed a strong following on both Facebook and Twitter and both sites have provided us with the opportunity to reach a large audience for little to no cost. MBP currently has more than 1,600 followers on Twitter, many of whom have taken notice of our posts. For example, in December alone, MBP’s Tweets received 24,700 impressions in a 31 day period. On Facebook, MBP has well over 700 connections (page likes and friends) giving us a very strong reach. Now in its 16th year of publication, Cattle Country remains important to the operations of MBP as a means of communicating with members and keeping them up to date on industry news and happenings. Extension has also become an important component of Cattle Country with those columns serving as a useful tool to producers. We have received a number of positive comments on the articles and columns in Cattle Country and welcome any suggestions from our members. In 2014 Cattle Country also underwent some small changes to improve the overall look and readability of the newspaper. We have been pleased with the response to the changes and plan to make further changes in 2015 to keep the product current and fresh for our readers.
MBP remained involved with the Great Tastes of Manitoba in 2014. The popular show aired on CTV throughout the spring and fall and included two episodes that placed a spotlight on Manitoba beef. Our food expert Adrianna Barros continues to do a terrific job of creating recipes featuring our product and we look forward to continuing our involvement with Great Tastes in 2015. As we look to the upcoming year, MBP will work on new ways to get our message out to the public at large. A focus of 2015 will be increasing our consumer outreach throughout the province. Today’s consumer is much more informed than in the past and has shown a significant interest in how their food is grown and where it comes from. Properly educating consumers and highlighting why beef should be a part of their diet will be an important job for MBP in 2015. Respectfully submitted, TED ARTZ Communications Committee Chair Cheryl McPherson, Vice-Chair Dianne Riding Stan Foster MA N I TO B A B E E F P R O D U C E R S
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