This week’s blog is going to be a little different. I just
got back from the Purina Backyard Flock Excellence Conference!
Monday November 6, 2017
I had intended on posting from St. Louis, Missouri where I am
currently at the Backyard Flock Retail Excellence Conference. But as things go, I am a farmer, not a techie
and I can't get my old lap top to hook up to the internet, so you will get this
all in one post when I get home.
First, I want to thank Woodville Ace Hardware and Danny Smith,
our Purina rep, for giving me the opportunity to attend this three day
workshop. I am very excited to be here and I had forgotten how much I love to
travel. My sunrise flight was beautiful, first to Miami then to Missouri, all
red, gold and yellow as the trees are changing. I can't wait to go to "The Farm"
tomorrow.
Tonight in our introduction, the first of three days of class,
The Farm, which is the Purina Animal Nutrition Center is described as the
Disneyland for animal lovers. That would be me!
We started by meeting people from all over the country that sell,
raise and feed chickens. We shared and discussed a range of subjects from using
social media, advertising, events, promotions and learning what others do to
sell and market chickens. I had several people interested in the Woodville Ace
Chicken Blog. It was more a brain storming session and we all had so much to
share with what we did to give our customers the best of our chicken knowledge,
marketing skills to sell chickens, feed and poultry products. I got some great
ideas and information from what others are doing and hopefully share this with
you, our customers and readers.
Our dinner speaker was The Chicken Chick, Kathy Shea Mormino.
She has written a book, which I now have a copy of, Guide to Backyard Chickens.
She shared her story of becoming a backyard chicken owner, her struggles and
successes. Full of chicken knowledge, stories and humor, I very much enjoyed
her talk.
Tuesday November 7, 2017
Breakfast was early and we boarded the buses at 7 am for the
40 minute trip to The Farm. The trees were so beautiful despite that is was a gray
and dreary fall morning, cold but bearable. Entering The Farm through the famous
red painted railroad trestle felt like going into a secret garden. The Farm is
not open to the public and only invited guests are allowed into the facility
for educational programs. One of the coordinators told me they do close to 100
programs a year and they do it right. The facility, the food, the presentations
and the staff were top notch. The work they do on the farm is amazing and has
been in operation and research since the 1920's.
Our program began with nutrition and management of feeding
poultry. I learned not just about feeds,
but what to feed, when to feed and how to feed from Dr. Patrick Biggs. A wealth of knowledge and experience. I now
have the answers to a lot of my own questions about feeding chickens, duck,
geese and turkeys. Yes, I have had some experiences, but this was what I needed
to expand my knowledge base and to pass on to my customers. That in itself was
well worth the trip.
We next learned how to reach new flock owners through social
media. Lots of good information was
provided to get information out to chicken owners about feeds, products, events
and promotions. The market is growing bigger every year and the backyard
chicken owners want answers to their questions. I am not a fan of facebook, but
I enjoy blogging. I learned how to link
up more information and share it with followers.
We boarded buses after lunch and got a tour of the farm. They
took us into the cattle barn and talked about their feeding programs and
research. They raise cattle and have a full dairy with 300 milk cows. They also
took us into the horse barn where they do research on feeding programs to give
horses the best feeds for performance. We just saw a small bit of what they do
there but it was all very impressive. They have over 100 employees and several
residents that live on the farm.
Back in the conference center, we had another Chicken Lady,
Melissa Caughey, author of two more books I now have copies of, Kid's guide to
keeping chickens and How to speak chicken. She was a wealth of knowledge as
well and shared her story of how she got started in chickens and some of her
experiences. She covered much more and drew the connection between gardening
and beekeeping into backyard chicken keeping. You know that chickens are just a
gateway…to your back yard farming. This was right up my alley with my own
experiences as a master gardener, farmer, beekeeper, and permaculture designer.
Next was Dealers Panel. This is where four successful owners,
managers and chicken people shared what they were doing in their stores to help
customers get involved with chickens and poultry. We heard stories from how
they grew their businesses with events and in store programs, to 4H and local
Fair programs for kids, and events they put on year round for chicken
customers. And best of all they were enjoying what they were doing, their final
word was, have fun doing these programs and events. Let's face it chickens can
be fun, they can be a family affair, they can be great pets and a source of
food and entertainment.
So with all that wealth of information our homework is to
build a business plan of how to share our newly learned knowledge with our
customers for the upcoming year. Plan some events and activities and tomorrow
morning classes begin with helping each other come up with ideas.
Wednesday November 8, 2017
Our morning class began at 7:30 am. It was an enthusiastic
morning with John Nohava on using marketing and displays to show Purina
products. I really enjoyed the team work building, displays and show casing
chicken feed and products. I know to the readers this may not sound like fun,
but it was a learning experience. Our team set up our assignment in 15 minutes.
We then went over our business plans for the year and there
was a wonderful feedback and question and answer session before we wrapped up
our three day workshop. I honestly will tell you this has been the very best
work related conference I have ever been to. This morning a word was used in
describing a process I have embraced for years. It is “edutainment” or better
known as educational entertainment. This is pretty much the way I would choose
my life. I can't even remember when the
last time I took a vacation to unwind or relax or just for fun. For me travel
and classes, workshops, learning opportunity either taking or teaching has been
my preference. I had a lot of fun!
I am looking forward to sharing with you what I have learned
over the past few days.
Woodville Ace Chicken lady,
Anice Taylor-Maloy
