From Michigan Corn Growers Assoc.

As this edition of Farm World goes to press, we in the Michigan Corn office are continuing to evaluate our communications programs and examine the most effective way to get information to you, our growers, as well as the media, legislators and consumers.

The information below will provide you with a quick update, but if you have more questions or need more information, do not hesitate to contact us at 888-323-6601.

As we all continue to navigate through the Communications Age and get bombarded with new technologies and more information, the challenge for us is how to most effectively get our message out to our various audiences. While examining this challenge, we feel it is important to move to electronic information dissemination, so that our information is readily available and has a longer shelf life.

You will see in the future how we are adopting technology, while also being mindful that all of our audience members may not have embraced new technology, so we will still have print pieces readily available. We will also continue to see you at meetings throughout the winter across the state – see our ad for corn update opportunities over the next few months.

The first audience we worked with in this transition was our own board of directors. Our board meetings became paperless in September. All of our board information is available electronically, and our board members are urged to download the information for the board meetings on their laptops and bring those to our meetings. This has worked very well, although there are still things we can do to become more efficient.

We have reviewed our media buys and where we have directed funds for radio programming, print media and television. We have tried to ensure that we hit our various audiences through different media, to reinforce our messages within our limited budget.

Another technological step we have taken to reach an increasing number of growers and general consumers is adding a Quick Response (QR) code for those who carry smart phones. The QR Code is similar to the bar code you find on products at the store, but rather than provide information about a product, the QR Code has multiple uses.

QR Codes can send you to a website, provide contact information, create an email message or supply other details. QR codes can be scanned after downloading a QR reader application to your smart phone. Once scanned, the code will direct you to our website or somewhere else that will provide you with more information about a specific topic.

Scan the code accompanying this column and you will be directed to the Michigan Corn Growers Assoc. (MCGA) homepage, where you can find the latest information about the MCGA. Be sure to look for this new feature in our upcoming publications. You should also be checking our future publications and messages, as we will be rolling out a campaign to secure growers’ email addresses. We will only use your email for dissemination of our information. In our calculations, we can save funds by communicating electronically instead of through printed materials and publications.

As part of this campaign, we will be providing entries into a drawing for growers, as they find and identify our contest logo. We are still finalizing this program, but we plan to have several great gifts for those growers who provide us with their email address. Make sure you watch for more information.

Information will be coming your way the first of the year from the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan (CMPM), the state’s corn checkoff. The CMPM is a legislatively established statewide program that utilizes 1 cent per bushel of Michigan corn sold. Investments are made in the areas of research, education, market development and new uses, in an effort to enhance the economic position of Michigan corn farmers.

We are currently working on our annual research report and our annual report to provide you with an overview of how your checkoff funds were spent the past year.  We are excited to showcase our programs focused on research, new use and market development and education.

An MCGA annual report will also be previewed at the MCGA annual meeting Feb. 7 at Cooley Law School in Lansing. The MCGA is the grassroots organization focused on corn-friendly legislation, policy and regulations. For more information about the MCGA, make sure you read Jody E. Pollok-Newsom’s column next month, as the entire focus will be on the MCGA. As we are talking about communications, we also want to introduce you to our new communications director, Dennis Raymo, who will manage our communications programs and ensure we continually reach our audiences through top-notch publications, ads and communication pieces. Dennis brings more than 25 years of wide-ranging experience to our corn team as a writer and editor, as well as a publications and legislative specialist.

Dennis says his position with Michigan Corn feels like a return to his country roots, growing up in a farming community in upstate New York. He worked at newspapers in mid-Michigan for 15 years, followed by eight years as a press aide for lawmakers in the Michigan House of Representatives. His work has been recognized by his peers, with numerous PACE Awards from the Public Relations Society of America, Mid-Michigan Chapter.