Five area soybean farmers are among a group of 21 named to the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) Communications Squad. Marty Danzer and Tarin Tiefenthaler of Carroll, James Hepp and Paige Hepp of Rockwell City and Jeff Frank of Auburn have volunteered to communicate the importance of modern soybean production and agriculture to the media, consumers, civic groups and classrooms. They will also represent the ISA at special events. “It’s great training for learning ‘how’ to tell the story of farming and to learn the skills to apply to those business, media or personal conversations,” Tiefenthaler says. This group meets five times per year for comprehensive training sessions, industry updates and personal outreach projects. “Farmer communication is the most powerful way I can think of to connect with consumers about what farmers do,” says second-year participant, Pat Murken of Story City. “The Communications Squad has helped me go beyond my comfort zone and become more familiar with social media and other technologies we can use to reach non-ag audiences.” The participants selected one of three areas of focus and training: social media, writing and spokesperson (media). Danzer, Frank and James Hepp are on the Spokesperson Task Force. Paige Hepp and Tarin Tiefenthaler are on the Social Media Task Force. Outreach projects range from launching Instagram accounts and YouTube channels to authoring children’s books and hosting farm tours.
