Earlier this week, the Illinois Corn Marketing Board sponsored communications training for farmers. The training followed the Illinois Farm Families program and communications model. IL Corn invests your corn checkoff dollars with other farm groups in the Illinois Farm Families coalition. The training provides the research driven “translation process” for having a dialogue with consumers.

Illinois Corn Marketing Board has been part of the Illinois Farm Families coalition since its inception some four years ago. The program has evolved to include the “Field Moms” effort which brings influential Chicago moms out of the city and to Illinois farm to visit with “real Illinois farmers.”

The training program component teaches farmers a research-driven communication model to achieve the best results with having a dialogue with consumers. The key message? Listen more, talk less. Ask questions, validate the concerns, become a trusted peer, and then provide your experience and factual evidence.

To learn more about Illinois Farm Families visit www.watchusgrow.org If you’d like to sign-up to become involved in the program, visit the online sign-up page at www.watchusgrow.org/farmer.