For agriculture advocate – or agvocate – Adrienne Ivey, it was growing up near Tisdale that set off her interest in explaining agriculture to those off of the farm.
It was during that time that Ivey, the daughter of Dianne and Lionel Wallington, had to explain just what the town’s Land of Rape and Honey slogan actually meant and the importance of canola and honeybee production meant to the area.
“I would say that growing up in Tisdale and that slogan opened up the door for me to be an agvocate from a really early age.”
Now, Ivey lives just outside Ituna with her husband, the author of a popular agriculture blog, View from the Ranch Porch.
The writer/rancher had her start on social media like Facebook and Twitter, frustrated with the misinformation about the industry that was shared.
“It really gave me the desire to be able to tell the truth and share the reality of farming, not the sensationalized bad news stories that may or may not even be true, but just to share with everyone what really happens on a daily basis on the ranch.”
Around two years ago, Ivey felt she didn’t have enough room to fully explain what really happens on a ranch, so she started her blog, found at viewfromtheranchporch.com.
She found the blogs became a really cool opportunity to connect with fellow farmers, people she had never met before and even the mainstream media.
“People that really don’t know me are interested to know what does happen on our farm and what is the truth on how our food is produced.”
During her time writing the blog, some pieces have gone viral. One of the more famous ones was a video of a beaver herding her cattle.
“Not only was it cool to see it travel literally all around the world but it really opened a lot of doors for me as far as giving me an opportunity to talk about how our cattle are out on grassland and that they share the land with wildlife and nature,” she said. “That’s been a part of what I see as my success, is that I’ve been able to take moments like those that maybe just would be a cool experience and tie that right back to agriculture and to the good news stories of what is happening on ranches across Canada.”
Yet often the pieces that have gone viral aren’t necessarily the ones that are closest to Ivey’s heart. One of her favourite pieces, Highest of Highs and the Lowest of Lows on the Ranch, highlights the joy of helping a cow give birth, the sadness of realizing the calf was unlikely to live and the anger of realizing that if she had done a check, that life could have been saved.
For this year’s agriculture month, Ivey is working with the provincial government to help tell the stories of farmers in Saskatchewan. She said she jumped at the chance.
“I was excited to spread the word and use some of their platforms to amplify the voice of what farmers are doing in Saskatchewan.”
During the month, she’s posting an item each day written by guest authors about their connection to food. Those authors range from farmers, researchers and agriculture communications people to moms that explain how they feed their kids and grow a garden.
“It’s been a really interesting month so far in the stories that people have shared with me.”
For those interested in becoming an agvocate, Ivey said most farmers realize that if they want consumers to better understand and to trust them, they have to share our story. She suggests taking stock of your strengths and weaknesses – she likes to write – and go from there. Being an agvocate could be as simple as sharing items on social media or striking up a conversation at places like a hockey game.
“I don’t think there’s any one right way to be an agvocate,” she said. “It’s really about making a conscious effort to not only share your story of your farm but also when you come across misinformation, when you come across things that you know aren’t true for Saskatchewan agriculture, that you take a moment to counter that and speak the truth of what really happens.”
