Page 82 - Hereford Magazine 2021

David Dodge from Boehringer Ingelheim gave the conference The amphitheatre at Walter Peak was the ideal venue for official
top marks. business before the PGG Wrightson gala dinner.

Laurie Paterson from Waikaka Station, handler Lisa Bonenkamp Mary-Anne Kane, left, and handler Gemma Wark from Scotland,
and NZH president Colin Corney with champion female Waikaka with Wanaka Show champion male Westholm Gallant R61.
Duchess 11090 and her calf.

showed a copy of an article from Good Housekeeping (online) have the same connection with their food.
that rated a Hereford sirloin steak as the best choice for “People have never cared more or known less about how
Valentine’s Day. their food is produced.
“With the continual pressure from the UK media to eat less “It’s about thinking about what’s coming in the future and
meat, we are working towards positioning Hereford beef as a what our consumer is looking for and what they perceive,
high-end product, so if people are going to eat less beef, let’s and if you’re already doing what you class as regenerative,
be sure it’s Hereford.” have you told anyone yet? If you haven’t told anyone, how do
The past two years has seen a 34% increase in followers on they know? People don’t know if you don’t tell them. We need
their Facebook page (up to 9000), and on Twitter, well-known to close that gap and support that knowledge. Part of that is
rugby referee Nigel Owens from West Wales, who is a new actually listening … sometimes we just react.”
member of the UK’s Hereford Cattle Society, is busy showing She urged the audience not to be defensive next time
off his Herefords to his 400,000 followers. someone says something negative against farming, but to ask
Team USA from the Young Breeders Competition presented what they mean by their comments and learn from it.
their winning speech about how to bridge the divide between “Seek to understand before being understood.”
rural and urban communities. One aspect was education to She said there was a lot of confusion, with facts and fiction
ensure the world has informed consumers. They said it wasn’t being “mushed into one”. It was important to know the
enough to grow good food, urban people needed to be taught difference between opinion and fact.
about farmers’ responsible on-farm livestock practices, of “We need more facts out there and the only way we can
beef’s nutritional benefits, and how to prepare it. “Creating do that is by communicating, and the only way we can
a sustainable future by connecting the world to agriculture. communicate that is by focusing on what we can control but
Hands-on food knowledge will help consumers know where trying to understand what we can’t … you don’t have to like it
their food comes from and how sustainable it really is,” they but you should work hard to understand it.
said in the presentation. “Make agriculture great again.” “Grow your thinking and grow your mindset to actually
Rural commentator Julia Jones said urban people no longer understand different ways of thinking, to build your empathy.

80 HEREFORD MAGAZINE Year 2021