8 Things Learned from Living "On The Go" for One Week

In my current role, I am constantly traveling. I am either meeting up with people, attending events, riding along with coworkers or visiting farmers/growers independently. This past week, I primarily visited growers on my own.

I believe one of the best ways I, and many others, learn is by doing. Don't just show me what that means. Teach me; allow me to try it and execute it myself. I retain that information or learn the task much quicker. It has been trying and invigorating, with highs and lows. Nonetheless, it is preparing me for a territory of my own in a few months.

Reflecting on this past week, I have pinpointed eight valuable things learned from living "on the go" for one week. 

1. Plan your schedule ahead of time.
Making appointments with farmers can be difficult. This is their busy time of year. I plan my schedule as much as possible to save on wasted drive time and by meeting with people who are in close proximity on the same day or two. My Outlook calendar has become my best friend by keeping me organized with reminders and addresses for appointments.

2. When your schedule changes, be adaptable.
Since people are very busy, things come up. Schedules change, technology issues occur and not everything goes as planned. I have learned to adapt. Sometimes spending an extra hour at a grower's house trying to resolve an issue with their computer builds an even stronger relationship, no matter how frustrated you might feel when things aren't going smoothly.

3. Never solely rely on a GPS.
Moving from Ohio to Indiana, I figured I would be fine navigating this new state. Surprise! I have gotten lost more times than I can count, even with the use of a GPS. Back country roads and rural landmarks can be more beneficial in finding my way than inputing an address into a computer. Always have a backup way to find your location, whether it is a paper map or by calling the grower and asking for directions.

4. Pack snacks and water to go.
I have been attempting a healthier lifestyle by eating less processed and "fast" foods. Unfortunately, that is even more challenging when staying in hotels and not having fresh groceries. Now, I always carry at least 2 bottles of water with me and pack some granola bars, fresh fruit and veggies in a cooler for a few days. You don't always have to get a meal from a restaurant. Stop at a grocery store for a package of hummus and vegetables, fresh fruit or even a pre-made sandwich. The cost of those foods is comparable, if not less, than purchasing a meal from McDonald's or Wendy's.

5 reasons I love July

This summer, I am embracing the good in life around me. By doing that, I am spending more time on the things I enjoy and that make me happy. July is an absolute favorite. I have narrowed down my top 5 reasons I love this month and why you might too.

5. Warm weather

This year hasn't been the best example of my first point. But, I love the summer sunshine! High temperatures are great for summer fashion, outdoor activities and of course, attaining that golden-bronze tan. One activity I have enjoyed so far is music concerts. Here is a photo (I'm on the left) from Country USA, where I witnessed artists including Billy Currington, Toby Keith and Dierks Bentley. 

4. Fair season begins

Growing up, the Wood County Fair was my summer apex. From showing cattle and goats to experiencing the fair parades, food and demolition derbies, fairs are the culmination of culture in the rural and urban community. This year, I won't make it to my home fair. However, I will be adventuring to the Wisconsin State Fair to see what promise the "Dairyland" holds. The goats on the right are my sisters goats for the fair. While I was home during Independence Day weekend, I helped her continue training them.

Sweet as sugar... or a pluot

I like sweets. A lot. If there is a reasonable amount of sugar in it, odds are, I will enjoy it. One type of food I really love is fruit. On a visit to Kingsburg Orchards in Kingsburg, Calif., I discovered a new favorite: the pluot.

No, I am not making this up. Kingsburg Orchards grows nearly 3,000 varieties of fruits. These include apricots, kiwis, peaches, pears, nectarines, plums and pluots. The pluot is a hybrid of a plum and apricot. There are different variations of this fruit, depending on the parent varieties used. The ones I tasted were incredible! Very sweet and juicy. One thing that intrigued the group was the way they were grown.

Pork promotional video: Shows potential or stuck in a rut?

As an agricultural advocate, it is my job to find new methods to share with consumers the practices and methods used in today's technology-savvy world. With this objective, many commodity groups and organizations are striving to enhance their efforts to promote the industry to society with increased use of social media and videography. One group recently released a video to do just that.

The Ohio Pork Producers Council published a Youtube video on Feb. 11 to depict how hogs are raised and provide different retail products we typically eat. The video titled, "Pork from Farm to Fork: Where'd Ya Get That Pork?", brings an animated side to farming.

Watching this video objectively, I see positives and areas of improvement to its effectiveness (these are my personal opinions). 

Positives:

• The video is fun and presents a down-to-earth feel with the music and cartoon images.
• It places an emphasis on current trends in agriculture. This is show with the modern style of housing for the hogs.
• It is concise and to the point in explaining hog production.

Areas of Improvement:

• Who is the target audience? This seems unclear. The video appears more sophomoric in its presentation.
• Was the selection of music the best way to present current trends in agriculture? The idea of using a version of "Old McDonald" could make the audience think of traditional livestock production methods while this video is promoting the new age in raising animals.
• Including real-life examples of hog farmers that are represented could strengthen the end of the video.

From the standpoint of a general consumer, I feel this video could be improved to better identify hog farming as a reputable career and livelihood of the farming families. It is important to share our stories in the industry and we must find the right techniques to do it successfully.

What are your thoughts on this video? Do you like the presentation of the information or do you feel it could be improved upon? Help me start a discussion about this video or others found in the agricultural industry.

Advocating at Ag Day at the Capital

This spring, I am interning with Ohio Farm Bureau in their public policy department. For this position, I have been able to focus on some event planning projects in the area of agricultural policy.

On Tuesday, we hosted our first event of the year, Ag Day at the Capital. Ag Day at the Capital is an annual event that focuses on bringing farm bureau members to Columbus to learn about updates in policy and regulations that relate to the agricultural industry. These agriculturalists have the opportunity to meet with legislatures during a luncheon and also schedule individual meetings with their congressional districts to discuss pertinent policy topics for their local areas.

I assisted with the pre-event planning and logistics and worked with legislatures and farm bureau employees to help the event come together. During the day, I had a few minor responsibilities like assisting with check-in and seating legislatures in the Statehouse atrium for a luncheon. Because I did not have many ‘big’ tasks, I was able to do one thing I love: tweet.

Twitter has become one of my main resources of information and favorite ways to communicate with people! Not only does it allow me to enhance my creativity by stopping me from using over 140 characters, but I can also follow events and people in a timely way.

For Ag Day, Ohio Farm Bureau created a Storify account to piece together all of the details from the event in a fun, technological way. This helped guests and others who were unable to attend see some of the event from a unique perspective. To the right is the Storify story that was created for Ag Day.

You can visit the farm bureau Storify and see more tweets and posts from Ag Day.

I think the use of a Storify was a very innovative action for farm bureau to take. Not only is it unique, but also it is an easy way to piece together all of the thoughts and activities that were shared during Ag Day. If other companies and organizations begin to implement the use of platforms like Storify, it could help them standout in the public relations realm.

How do you think farm bureau did in their PR for Ag Day? What are your thoughts on Storify and other similar technologies?