in the Sandhills
Traveling through the Sandhills of Nebraska to reach longtime client Farmers Ranchers Cooperative is a pleasure. The
drive to the co-op’s headquarters in Ainsworth, NE, takes
you through undulating hills of mixed-grass prairie growing
atop sand dunes. Yucca plants greet you, with old-fashioned
windmills filling the cattle watering holes fed by the aquifer
below. As you near Ainsworth, you find yourself in the midst of
irrigated fields of corn and soybeans—a place where farming
meets ranching and the sky seems to extend forever.
It’s a unique and beautiful place. It’s also very real, with people
who greet you warmly and quickly offer a firm handshake; a
place where community extends miles beyond a town’s official
border.
Few clients capture that sense of “real” in their print newsletter
better than Farmers Ranchers Co-op. It’s not that the
newsletter, called Trailhead, doesn’t include promotional
articles. Open up any issue of this four-page quarterly and,
depending on the season, you’ll find details about cattle
minerals, tire specials, or seed discounts.
DRAWING THE READER IN
What distinguishes this newsletter are the treasures that draw
the reader in: stories about real people and places unique to the
territory served by this mid-size cooperative. According to the
co-op’s president and CEO, the newsletter is about building
relationships—not just selling product and services.
“A relationship is the most important thing in any business
association,” says Kent Taylor. “Money doesn’t last but people
do, and the people we’re dealing with are farmers and ranchers
who have been here for two, three, maybe four generations or
more. These are people you go to ball games with and sit beside
in church. In a big city you might expect traffic to just walk in
off the street. Here they come because they have a relationship
with you.”
That’s why telling stories that relate to their customers’
lives makes a difference. “We definitely want to showcase our
company in the newsletter,” explains Taylor. “Our cooperative
exists to make their business run better, and we want to let
them know about the products and services we offer. But if a
newsletter is nothing more than a sales tactic, we haven’t done
our job. We like to include a story or two that has a larger
meaning.”
Stories include Treasures in Our Backyard, chronicling
three premier golf courses in the area and a rancher’s
prize-winning vineyard; Where Would We Be Without
Water, the story of how the local irrigation district has
impacted the region; or What a Difference FFA Makes,
about an award-winning high school FFA program. The
list goes on, including stories that bring directors and
employees to life for the reader.
UNCOVERING THE REAL STORIES
Story ideas primarily originate from Taylor or the
administrative programs coordinator, Matt Sheehan,
and assistant Bryce Hasenohr. “We keep our ears open
as to what’s going on in the area and what would be a
good feature article,” says Taylor. “The ideas are then fed
to VistaComm journalist Connie Smith, who takes it
from there, conducting interviews, taking photographs
that help tell the story graphically, and then bringing
that story to life.”
The most recent issue of Trailhead highlighted Bridging
the Ag Gap With Kids, a story about co-op member and
rancher Anita Keys’ involvement with the Ag in the
Classroom pen pal program. Keys brought that story idea
to Kent, knowing that the co-op’s newsletter devotes
space to articles that can make a difference to members,
the community, and agriculture, as a whole.
“I get a lot of newsletters but Farmers Ranchers is the
one I read,” says Keys. “I like the fact that it isn’t all
commercial. It’s not just about the co-op’s profitability,
but about agriculture and personal development, stories
about improving our ability to compete in the world
market and contribute back to the community.” She says
she also appreciates the features about people. “It makes
the newsletter more personal, more real,” says Keys.
There’s that relationship factor again. “If we don’t strive
to find a connection with our potential readers I think
our newsletter runs the risk of becoming irrelevant in
today’s over-saturated media market,” says Taylor. “We
have to have information about what we’re doing for our
patrons, but also stories that nobody else is writing—
stories that connect. We’re trying to tell real stories
about where we live and the people who live here. It’s all
about people, and I think our readers notice.”
The term “Reality TV” is a misnomer. There is
nothing real about pitting people against one
another in an unrealistic setting concocted to
create drama. So-called reality shows like Survivor,
The Bachelor, or The Real Housewives of Orange )