U.S. cattle on feed down, but red meat exports looking positive

While the Cattle of Feed report that came out earlier this month showed a decline in cattle on feed for Nebraska and the U.S., there was a positive report on global meat exports from USMEF.

Cattle on Feed Report

Nebraska feedlots, with capacities of 1,000 or more head, contained 2.46 million cattle on feed on February 1, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. This inventory was down 2 percent from last year. Placements during January totaled 490,000 head, down 3 percent from 2015. Fed cattle marketings for the month of January totaled 435,000 head, down 3 percent from last year. Other disappearance during January totaled 15,000 head, unchanged from last year.

Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 10.7 million head on February 1, 2016. The inventory was slightly below February 1, 2015.

Placements in feedlots during January totaled 1.78 million head, 1 percent below 2015. Net placements were 1.72 million head. During January, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 340,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 365,000 head, 700-799 pounds were 494,000 head, and 800 pounds and greater were 580,000 head.

Positive Signs for U.S. Red Meat Emerging Markets 

FAS Regional Counselor Quintin Gray (left) and USDA Undersecretary
Alexis Taylor (right) assist chef Robin Gomes at the Taste of the U.S.A.
culinary demonstration at Gulfood 2016. Photo credit: USMEF

The U.S.Meat Export Federation recently participated in Gulfood 2016 which included a week of face-to-face meetings with potential customers from the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe. The region’s largest food show, which attracted about 90,000 people from 170 countries this year, was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Dan Halstrom, USMEF senior vice president for global marketing, said the atmosphere at Gulfood was upbeat despite economic challenges in the region created by declining oil prices. He described the show as very productive from the U.S. meat industry’s standpoint.

“The interest level from many countries was exciting,” said Halstrom. “Whether we are talking about the UAE, Jordan, Ghana, or South Africa, it was obvious that with the emerging nature of some of these market economies there is excellent potential for imported beef products.”

South Africa in particular was a hot topic of discussion at Gulfood, Halstrom noted. The market recently reopened to U.S. beef for the first time since 2003, and USMEF is planning in-market visits and a buyers’ event in that part of the world later this year. Just this past Friday, it was announced that South Africa has also reopened to U.S. pork.

Toxic Gases - The Hidden Danger

Confined spaces on farms pose a serious suffocation or asphyxiation risk to farmers, employees and family members. Grain bins are just one example of the many potentially dangerous confined spaces on farms. These confined spaces produce toxic, oxygen-deficient atmospheres that can quickly overcome anyone who enters--causing almost-instant death or serious bodily injury.

Grain engulfment is the leading suffocation hazard, but suffocation or asphyxiation also occurs when workers are overcome by toxic gases caused by spoiled or deteriorating grain, machinery in use or near grain bins or other problems. If the grain being held in storage is out-of-condition, the potential for carbon monoxide poisoning is high due to decomposition of the grain. If the grain has visible mold growth or there is a musty smell in the bin, one should not enter the bin.

In the absence of visible grain decay, hazardous carbon monoxide build-up is still possible when out-of-condition grain is hidden underneath good grain. That's why it's important not to rely on "warmer-than-expected temperatures" or "higher levels of moisture" as primary indicators. The best and recommended indicator of the atmospheric condition inside a grain bin is to utilize a personal oxygen monitor that accurately tests air quality and warns you of unsafe oxygen levels.

The best approach for preventing tragic accidents is simple: keep out of confined spaces, unless absolutely necessary. This means performing all work from outside of the confined space, whenever possible. It's essential that the seriousness of these hazards are clearly communicated to all workers and family members. The following include grain bin best practices: maintain proper grain management, use a pole from the outside of the grain bin to break up crusted grain, follow safe bin-entry procedures, and restrict bin-entry to proper trained entrants.

Technology Helps Prevent Grain Bin Accidents

The impact that technology has had on agriculture is no secret.  Nebraska farmers are now producing more food on fewer acres with fewer inputs than ever before!  But what impact has technology made on farm safety?  As one of the most dangerous occupations in America, there are many new and not-so-new technologies out there that help keep our farmers and grain handlers safe when working in and around grain bins. Nationwide recently had a great blog post discussing some of these technologies!  Below are a few that we wanted to highlight…

Remote Grain Augers

A sweep auger is just one of many different grain bin hazards. A person coming into contact with an energized or running sweep auger faces a serious and often times fatal accident. During an accident, the time it takes to shut down a conventional sweep auger can feel like an eternity.

Improved technology now allows for a sweep auger’s power source to be attached to a remote system that is synced to a transmitter attached to a belt and a receiver box located on the auger. If communication between the receiver and transmitter is broken for any reason, the system shuts down the auger immediately.

Communication can be interrupted in several ways — depending on the emergency. For example, a button on the transmitter can be manually pushed if the operator senses danger. The auger will also stop if the transmitter falls off the operator or if the transmitter’s battery fails.

Breaking up Grain Clusters

Even with proper grain management, pockets of out-of-condition or frozen grain can still develop and plug outlets during unloading. When a grain bin is not properly equipped, workers may be forced to enter the bin to break up the crusted material using long pipes or other means. This exposes workers to the risk of grain entrapment or engulfment and other grain bin hazards.

Numerous products are currently on the market that utilize innovative technologies to break up blockages quickly and efficiently, while keeping workers safe.

Some of these products fit over the grate at the bottom of a grain bin and have propeller-like blades that break up clumps of grain, preventing the auger from jamming and keeping the grain flowing. These products can be operated safely from outside the grain bin

Grain Rescue Tubes

If the circumstance does arise that a person gets engulfed in grain, a grain rescue tube is a proven, popular rescue tool with emergency personnel to help extract victims. Trying to simply pull someone out of waist-deep grain is almost impossible and could cause serious bodily injury or death to the victim.

There are numerous grain rescue tubes on the market—most of which come in lightweight, interlocking sections or panels that can be easily carried into a bin and assembled around a victim. Once in place, the tube serves as a barrier by reducing the crushing pressure on the victim and preventing more grain from pushing up against the victim. Emergency personnel then use a portable grain rescue auger, buckets, scoops or other means to remove the grain from inside the tube until the victim can be safely freed.

Spreading the awareness about grain bin safety and organizing grain rescue tube trainings for emergency personnel—helping them understand how to properly use a grain rescue tube—has been a big initiative of Nebraska Corn’s over the last few years.  Click here & here to see photo from various trainings the Nebraska Corn Growers have hosted last year.

Read more about these innovative technologies from Nationwide's blog here.

Children and Grain Handling Don’t Mix

National statistics show that farming is one of the most dangerous occupations in America - this is especially true when farmers are working in and around grain. Grain handling is an extremely hazardous job - even for the most experienced and trained adults.  That’s why we encourage all farmers to keep children (under the age of 18) away from grain-handling work sites.

Children working on the family farm is unavoidable. Many family operations depend on the older children in the family to help out on the farm. However, proper safety procedures need to be followed to insure the safety of those children—particularly when it comes to grain safety. Last year alone, the busy harvest season brought 8 or more grain-related tragic fatalities and close-calls across the US involving children. The statistics of children and grain handling accidents are heartbreaking.  Nearly 1 in 5 entrapments involve youth 11-20 years old. Eighty percent of those entrapments end in death, and this does not include children younger than 11. 

Grain bin accidents can happen in a blink of an eye.  Flowing grain acts like quicksand—and it takes less than five seconds to become helplessly trapped. A child, or any adult for that matter, could find themselves in trouble very quickly and a adult alone cannot simply pull them out of the grain. One cubic foot of grain weighs 50 pounds. Therefore, a 165-pound person buried neck-deep would require 625 pounds of force to pull out. 

Grain entrapment accidents are preventable when the proper safety procedures are followed. The Grain Handling Safety Coalition (GHSC) is a great resource for families that have children working on the farm.  They have many recommendations for youth working with or around grain. GHSC encourages all young people to stand T.A.L.L. (Talk. Ask. Learn. Live) to help keep themselves and others safe while working on the farm. Their goal is to empower young workers by helping them understand jobs or task and by encouraging them to ask questions if they do not understand the task. 

These recommendations and more can be found here.  

Grain Bin Accidents are Preventable

Nebraska Corn is reminding farmers to “Take a Second for Safety” during Grain Bin Safety Week

On-farm grain storage is on the rise—and consequently—so are fatal accidents associated with grain handling and storage. That’s why the Nebraska Corn Board and Nebraska Corn Growers Association are placing special emphasis on grain handling safety during Grain Bin Safety Week, February 21-27, 2016. In observance of the week, Nebraska Corn’s goal is to help prevent grain related accidents by increasing awareness of grain bin safety on farms and commercial grain-handling facilities.

“National statistics show that farming is one of the most dangerous occupations in America,” said David Merrell, farmer from St. Edward, Nebraska and chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board. “With on-farm safety a continual effort at Nebraska Corn, we believe it is always important to remind farmers, grain elevators and other grain handlers to slow down and take a second for safety when working with stored grain. We want both grain handlers and emergency responders to understand how to avoid grain bin accidents—and how to help someone who does end up in trouble in a grain bin.”

Record high yields, combined with an upward trend in on-farm grain storage capacity has experts projecting an increase in grain engulfment accidents. In 2015 alone, there were more than 22 reported grain bin entrapments, resulting in 11 fatalities. Grain engulfment accidents can happen in a blink of an eye, with just one misstep or a moment of distraction, a grain handler could find himself in a grain entrapment emergency. For instance, using a 10-inch auger, it takes a mere 25 seconds for a 6-foot person to be completely buried in grain.

“Grain Bin Safety Week provides a forum for the agricultural community to help prevent these tragic accidents from occurring,” said Morgan Wrich, program director for the Nebraska Corn Growers Association. “With the hectic spring season around the corner, many Nebraska farmers are busy handling their on-farm grain storage—making this annual observance a timely opportunity to remind them and other grain handlers of the hazards of working around grain.”

With the proper safety procedures, grain bin accidents are preventable. That’s why it is important to take the extra second and follow all the safety rules when it comes to working with grain stored in bins. Here are a few grain bin safety tips to keep in mind when you are working with stored grain:

• Use inspection holes or grain level markers to understand what's happening inside the bin. Use a pole from outside the bin to break up grain bridges.
• You should enter a grain bin only if absolutely necessary. If you must get into the bin, use a body harness secured to the outside of the bin. Have at least two people watching over you as you enter and work inside the bin.
• Use hand signals to communicate—and make sure everyone you're working with knows what those signals are.

These safety tips and more will be emphasized throughout Grain Bin Safety Week on the Nebraska Corn Kernels blog!

It takes soil, moisture and sunlight...

"What does it take for a corn plant to grow?"

We ask this many times to student groups who are on "ag day" field trips or school farm tours. 

Often, their responses are: sunlight, dirt (we politely correct them to soil), water, fertilizer..and yes, I've even gotten the response: God. 

Simply, the corn plant just needs sunlight - or solar radiation and the temperature of the environment the plant is in, soil and moisture. Especially important are temperature and moisture. More technically, there could be many answers from farmers on what all they do to make their corn grow. 

Soil

Healthy soil is the basis for a healthy corn crop. Through research and technology, researchers have found out how to use fertilizers to create the perfect soil composition for growing crops to raise healthy food. Corn must have adequate amounts of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) for profitable production.

Profitable and environmentally sensitive corn production requires that N and P be managed in an efficient manner. (That's why farmers never just "dump" fertilizer on their crops). Also, farmers use farming production methods like "no-till", which keeps more nutrients in the soil and decreases erosion, and crop rotation which allows for legumes, like soybeans, to return N back into the soil naturally.

Moisture

In Nebraska, we are blessed with irrigation and usually consistent rainfall, which helps us cover the moisture part. Even then, new technologies with irrigation are making it even more efficient to keep the corn plant hydrated. Even then, we must rely on Mother Nature - or what the student said, God - to water our crops. 
The current weather situation is looking rather unique with how current El Nino weather factors could turn into a La Nina weather event, which could dry up the Midwest, according to the U.S. Grains Council's recent Global Update. This would not affect the planting season, but could affect the growing season into the next year with soil moisture levels lower going into the 2017 crop planting. 

Sunlight

Along with water and nutrients, solar radiation (sunlight) is an essential input for plant growth. Plant leaves absorb sunlight and use it as an energy source in the process of photosynthesis. A crop's ability to collect sunlight is proportional to its leaf surface area per unit of land area occupied, or its "leaf area index (LAI)." At "full canopy" development, a crop's LAI and ability to collect available sunlight are maximized.

From full canopy through the reproductive period, any shortage of sunlight is potentially limiting to corn yield. When stresses such as low light limit photosynthesis during ear fill, corn plants remobilize stalk carbohydrates to the ear. This may result in stalk quality issues and lodging at harvest. The most sensitive periods of crop growth (e.g., flowering and early grain fill) are often the most susceptible to stresses such as insufficient light, water or nutrients.

If you're a farmer, we'd love feedback from your farm on:
"What does it take for a corn plant to grow?"

Nebraskan's Participate in NCGA DuPont New Leaders Program

The 2016 class of the NCGA DuPont New Leaders Program, now entering its third year of helping farming couples and individuals become better communicators, leaders and advocates for agriculture, kicked this week in Des Moines, Iowa.

“We’re pleased to see this important program continue for a third year with DuPont’s generous support,” said Chip Bowling, NCGA president and a corn grower from Maryland. “NCGA has always believed that farmers themselves are the best leaders and spokespersons for agriculture, and this program is designed in particular for those just getting started in visible roles in the ag industry.”

Deb Gangwish of Shelton

“It was a privilege to meet this year’s distinguished class of DuPont New Leaders.  There are many challenges and opportunities facing American agriculture, so I am pleased that we are investing in the next generation of leaders,” said Jeff Nawn, DuPont Pioneer Global Grain Trade Lead.  “We look forward to watching them continue to develop their leadership skills and become stronger advocates for our industry.”

This year, 27 participants representing 16 states are involved in the program. Participants from Nebraska include:  Joel McAfee of Wakefield and Deb Gangwish of Shelton.

On left: Joel McAfee of Wakefield 

The New Leaders Program is implemented in three phases, with two plenary sessions: in Iowa this week and Washington in mid-July. At these sessions, participants will gain knowledge of communications and leadership skills and many of the top issues confronting American corn growers. They also will have the opportunity to see leaders in action in our nation’s capital and visit with their lawmakers. Between these two sessions, participants will be involved in national- and state-level programs supporting American agriculture.

More pictures from the first session of the DuPont New Leaders Program are available here.

Social Soil: Videos

*Welcome to Social Soil - a series of social media posts for farmers. Whether you're a seasoned social media veteran or just trying to start, we want to help farmers with their "ag+advocacy" skills ("AGvocacy") so together we can promote Nebraska corn and agriculture.*

They say a picture is worth a thousand words - so what is a video worth? A lot. Especially when it can be shared on the Internet for millions of people to see.

Some agvocates, like The Peterson Farm Bros., are finding ways using popular culture and a medium the younger generation is familiar with to reach an audience that otherwise may not give where their food comes from a second thought.

Others are simply sharing video they take on their farm or ranch which portrays what they do everyday. By doing this, then sharing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., they are reaching a much bigger audience.

YouTube

The most popular video channel is YouTube. YouTube has even ranked as the second largest Internet search engine behind Google. Don't know how to do something, want to find out what something is supposed to look like, want a recipe, want a laugh....go search on YouTube.

It's simple to publish to YouTube, too. From your phone after you take your video, you can setup a simple account to link to, then "share" your video to YouTube and publish it privately or publicly for the world to see. Or use your computer to upload a video you took from a video camera.

Make sure to check out the great YouTube videos from the Nebraska Corn Board's YouTube Channel.

Also, our interns have created a YouTube channel with funny, educational and entertaining videos called The Cob Squad.

Vimeo

Another popular place to publish videos is through Vimeo. It's a similar platform as YouTube with a slick design and easy to make videos shareable. Many people will publish on Vimeo and share on other platforms from there because of its quality.

Don't have to be an expert videographer

The most important thing to remember is that you don't have to be an expert or trained videographer to publish movies. It's as simple as, 1)shooting a video on your phone; and 2)sharing it online. Simple, raw video is great in agriculture at telling the story of how food is raised. 

Videos within Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.....

So the best way at achieving that simple, raw (aka, easy) video is by taking a video on your phone and sharing it to your favorite, or multiple, social media platform(s). Many like sharing to Instagram because the videos must be 15 seconds or less. The constant replay on Instagram makes these videos fun to watch as well.

Check out @kodak_cowgirl's Valentine's post with her new calf - great, simple video!

Sharing to Facebook or Twitter is simple as well. If you already have an established following on another social media, simply add video when you can to help your followers better understand what it is that you do. 

Exports Highlighted as Key to Cattle Price Recovery

Thousands of cattle producers from across the nation gathered in San Diego the beginning of this month for the Cattle Industry Annual Convention. With producers enduring a sharp decline in cattle prices in the second half of 2015, many of the event’s presentations centered on factors that can help fuel a price recovery – with a rebound in U.S. beef exports topping the list.

“Even during this difficult time for the industry, producer support for expanding global demand for U.S. beef is steadfast, and that is very gratifying to see,” said U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) President and CEO Philip Seng. “Cattle producers also recognize that the United States is in a period of aggressive herd rebuilding, and this presents tremendous opportunities for industry growth. But we can only capitalize on these opportunities if we are equally aggressive about promoting our product and expanding our international customer base.”

Throughout the week, producers visited the USMEF trade show booth to receive information explaining the importance of beef exports to their bottom lines and how the Beef Checkoff Program supports market development activities in key international destinations.

The Checkoff Export Growth Committee met Friday afternoon to weigh industry priorities related to international marketing and discuss how these activities support the goals of the beef industry’s 2016-2020 long range plan. Seng addressed the committee on key market access issues, including animal traceability. He noted that while traceability was once viewed as a non-tariff trade barrier, that outlook has changed due to the number of competitors that are leveraging traceability systems to their advantage when promoting beef internationally.

Dan Halstrom, USMEF senior vice president for marketing, and Greg Hanes, assistant vice president for international marketing and programs, presented the committee with updates on marketing activities and strategies in key markets, with particular focus on Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Halstrom also discussed recent efforts to bolster U.S. beef’s presence in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Also addressing the committee was John Masswohl, director of government and international relations for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. With U.S. beef producers hoping to regain access to the Chinese market in the near future, Masswohl shared his observations on the opportunities on which Canadian beef has capitalized in China, as well as the obstacles Canada still faces.

Following the meeting, Export Growth Committee members enjoyed samples of Korean dishes prepared with U.S. beef – including LA galbi made with bone-in short rib, bulgogi prepared with top blade and a zucchini and beef dish featuring ground chuck roll.

Just as important as feeding corn and its co-products to livestock is developing markets for Nebraska beef and pork overseas. After all, sending corn-fed beef and pork to international customers around the world has a larger economic impact than exporting raw corn and corn co-products. 

This is why the Nebraska Corn Board became one of the first members of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) when USMEF was founded in 1979. Since then, the Board has invested several million dollars into USMEF market promotion activities and supported U.S. beef and pork trade missions around the world.

Learning About Ethanol

There’s no doubt that corn is one of the world’s most a-maize-ing crops!  It has so many uses that benefit people all around the world.  Over the next few weeks, we will feature a new blog series called, “For the Love of Corn”, where we will look at the six different high-value corn product categories and how they are used.

This week, we will take a look at the high-value corn product category, Ethanol!

Henry Ford first suggested running cars on ethanol made from corn in the early 1900’s, but it took the oil shortages of the 1970’s and the environmental problems of the 1980’s to turn ethanol into an important component in the American fuel supply. Now, over the last three decades, ethanol made from corn has become an important fuel in Nebraska and across the country. Biofuels like corn-based ethanol directly replace petroleum-based fuels – and they’re renewable! Ethanol is better for the environment, helps keep fuel dollars here at home and it supports rural communities—because that’s where most ethanol plants are located.

In Nebraska, ethanol plants have a capacity of more than 2.0 billion gallons – making Nebraska the second-largest ethanol producing state in the country. They use about 700 million bushels of corn annually – and directly provide and support thousands of jobs. Since ethanol is made only from the starch in a kernel of corn, these ethanol plants also produce more than 6 million tons of distillers’ grains annually. On a national level, fuel ethanol production capacity has passed 13.0 billion gallons at more than 200 facilities.

Ethanol has been the fuel choice of most drivers in Nebraska – with market share reaching 70 percent beginning in 2007. Although E10 (10 percent ethanol blend) is common throughout Nebraska – and across the country – the use of E85 (a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent regular unleaded gasoline) and other blends, such as E15 & E30, is continuing to grow, thanks to continued sales of flex fuel vehicles.

So how is it made?  Ethanol is made by fermenting sugars produced from corn starch. Many ethanol plants produce both ethanol and other corn products - like starches and sweeteners so that capital and manufacturing costs can be kept as low as possible. While they are making ethanol, ethanol plants also produce valuable coproducts such as corn oil and corn gluten feed.

Below is an infographic that further explains the production process at an ethanol plant!

Animal Advocacy: Articulating Your Story

Today’s livestock producers take what they do very seriously. The legacy and knowledge of raising animals merits a great pride in farmers and ranchers. They are deeply rooted in their values whether that be in their community, the environment or raising a calf crop each year. With the rearing of animals for meat comes the charge to compassionately care for that animal, become accountable for how they provide for their livestock and positively promote what and why they do what they do.

Animal Welfare

Much of the pride that livestock producers have from raising animals comes from responsibility. Today more than ever, cattle ranchers, pork producers, dairy farmers and poultry producers take the responsibility of raising healthy cattle for high-quality, nutritious beef very genuinely. Much of that responsibility is stewardship which leads to following animal welfare guidelines.

Much of the way livestock and poultry are handled is traditionally passed down from generation to generation on family operations, or comes from personal experience and training. Yet, as industry standards change, producers also want to change to make sure they are doing the best to take care of their animals. Practices of production such as de-horning, castration, use of vaccines and antibiotics, etc., all have their purpose in the industry, but the way they are handled can be skewed by the public eye.

Accountability

Farmers and ranchers must be responsible for the way they handle their animals. One form of accountability for beef producers is the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program, a national program that provides guidelines for beef cattle production. This is not new to the industry; cattlemen and women have been practicing stewardship and proper handling for years.

The cattle industry formalized its first quality program in the late 1970s when it was called the “Beef Safety Assurance” program, designed to help cattle farmers and ranchers ensure their production practices were safe and met consumer expectations. The BQA program, the first of its kind in the world, soon followed and was officially established in 1987.

BQA raises consumer confidence through offering proper management techniques and a commitment to quality within every segment of the beef industry. Cattlemen and women have embraced BQA because it is the right thing to do. It is an educating program that has evolved to include best practices around good record keeping and protecting herd health. The pork industry offers similar programs, including Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA Plus) and Transport Quality Assurance (TQA), to support animal well-being and maintain a safe, high-quality supply of pork. Their “We Care” initiative ties everything together to help the public view the pork industry as a self-regulated business that earns the trust of others.

The poultry and dairy industries provide similar quality assurance programs, as well.

Advocacy

Along with programs like BQA and PQA Plus, cattle producers are encouraged to practice advocacy techniques while they are in the public eye. Unfortunately, those that do not understand agriculture have misguided ideas and sometimes share erroneous information, pictures and video about the treatment of food animals. In our country, rural communities have declined and consumers are generally two or more generations removed from having meaningful ties with the people and places where their food is raised. Without those ties to agriculture, consumers don’t know about modern food production. And some might not care. Until a video or picture comes across their Facebook news feed and suddenly they are brought into a social license dilemma.

Social media has drastically changed how agriculture is viewed and how people talk about their food. While it has brought negative views and questions to livestock production, the two-way street allows livestock producers to have a voice as well as a listening audience that is focused on where they intersect and can relate with one another. And that intersection is something we all enjoy: food.

When consumers are concerned about how their food is raised, it gives producers an opportunity to talk about their animal welfare and is a good wake-up call to all livestock producers that others are watching. This is especially true at livestock shows. There is a critical eye watching every move and producers need to be ready to share their story with emphasis on why and how.

Articulate Your Story

Are you prepared to answer critical questions on production practices that come naturally to you? Why do you use clippers on your animal? What are you feeding them? Where do you keep your animals? These questions might be something you’ve never thought about. Our industry needs to take time to stand in our consumers’ shoes and have a good working knowledge of the industry, as well as use terminology that most people will understand.

It’s an especially good reminder to be proactive. Help consumers connect the dots by reaching out to them and asking if they have any questions.