INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Public perception of livestock production can make or break the industry. So it’s back-to-school time for Indiana consumers whose knowledge of livestock farming may not make the grade.

The Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) has partnered with four agricultural organizations by providing grants totaling $175,000 for educational campaigns or projects targeted to consumers and the general public.

“Livestock production is an important part of Indiana agriculture,” said ISDA Director Andy Miller. “Yet there is a gap in public understanding of modern livestock production.”

Miller said the public needs to understand the contribution farmers make to the local economy and to know that farmers are good environmental stewards and caretakers of their animals.

The livestock promotion fund was established several years ago by the state legislature and historically was used for ventures such as livestock shows.

“We decided what better way to help educate the people in the state?” Miller said. “The funds had accumulated a relatively large balance, and we knew that shouldn’t happen. We needed to use them or give them back.”

He said recipients were chosen because of their overarching goals and themes that use a spectrum of media technology to help the public “put a face on” livestock producers.

Grant recipients were:

•Hoosier Ag Today, receiving $50,000 for a series of radio commercials and Internet podcasts that feature stories from individual livestock operations around the state. The website associated with the program will contain information about the industry and its impact and benefits on the state economy.

•Indiana Farm Bureau, receiving $10,000 to educate media personnel about Indiana livestock production, processing and distribution through four statewide regional meetings and on-farm tours.

•Indiana Soybean Board, receiving $75,000 to assist with their statewide Livestock Media Campaign. The campaign places information ads into daily newspapers in 30 targeted counties where livestock expansion is likely to take place or is critical to the county’s economic well-being.

•The Indiana Pork Producers Assoc. (IPPA) received $40,000 to help pay for a 16-page statewide insert in the Indianapolis Star describing various aspects of the pork industry to the general public. The insert will probably be published this summer prior to the state fair.

IPPA Executive Director Mike Platt said the insert will introduce pork producers to the public and let them know they are neighbors who benefit the communities they live in economically as well as by being involved in local affairs.

“Pork is the high profile right now,” he said, “because of the state’s effort to double pork production. That presents a lot of opportunities but also a lot of challenges. The insert fits in well with the image campaigns ISDA is promoting, trying to put a face on the livestock industry across all sectors.”

In trying to reach the public in both urban and rural settings, Platt uses his mother-in-law as an example of a suburban/rural resident who has only a passing interest in agriculture. He hopes the insert will affect such people in a positive way.

“The vast majority of people that live in semi-urban and rural communities don’t touch agriculture in any way, shape or form,” he said. “What I want to do is make Indiana pork production something even my mother-in-law would want to read about, and when she puts the newspaper down it would leave a positive impression.”