Earned Media End of the Year Reflections
Illinois Farm Bureau remained a top source for Illinois agriculture news in 2022, potentially reaching 3.72 billion people throughout the year through interviews with local, state and national media outlets. Each month, IFB coordinates media coverage on a variety of topics while monitoring mainstream channels for trending themes in agriculture. In 2022, major topics included the impact of the Ukraine-Russian war on U.S. agriculture, rising fertilizer prices, general price inflation, drought conditions and avian influenza. Other highlights included President Joe Biden’s visit to an Illinois farm as gas prices surged, year-round authorization of E-15, the 2022 election and the Illinois Agricultural Legislative Roundtable.
From Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2022, IFB fielded 321 interview requests from print/online, radio broadcast and TV reporters, generating 4,166 news placements and potentially reaching 3.72 billion people, which had a total advertisement value equivalency (AVE) of around $34.3 million. It is important to note that potential audience reach is the sum of audience reach for individual news articles and broadcasts. IFB routinely works with several news outlets, which could expose their audience to IFB messaging multiple times throughout the year.
For comparison, IFB facilitated 300 media interviews in 2021, which yielded 2,613 placements and potentially reached 2.61 billion people, an estimated AVE of $24.2 million.
Interview requests and media exposure were also slightly up for the month of December compared to the previous year, with 57 requests compared to 13 in 2021. This is largely due to changes in how IFB tracked media requests during its annual meeting on Dec. 3.
IFB Debuts Documentary “Sustaining Our Future: A Farm Family Story”
In December, IFB debuted a new documentary on the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy. Illinois Farmers and the agricultural research community joined forces in this hour-long documentary to showcase farmers’ dedication to finding innovative solutions to preserve soil and protect water quality. Since the documentary was first shown to IFB members during its annual meeting in Chicago, IFB has coordinated media coverage to share its message with a broader audience. This included hosting a press conference during annual meeting with President Richard Guebert and farmer Michael Ganschow and University of Illinois researcher Andrew Margenot, who are featured in the documentary.
To date, IFB has coordinated five media interviews with Illinois and national agriculture news outlets. The interviews have generated 75 placements, potentially reaching 2.4 million people, an AVE of $21,950. IFB will continue working with news outlets to share the documentary and its message in addition to paid media placements with TV stations across the state.
In mid-December, Ganschow joined Max Armstrong, cohost of “This Week in Agribusiness,” a national program on RFD-TV. The program is shared with 122 TV stations across the U.S. To view the interview, click here: This Week in Agribusiness December 10, 2022 (farmprogress.com)
End of the Year Top Syndication, Social Echo and Reach
Many articles and broadcasts IFB coordinated interviews generated high audience reach. Potential audience reach refers to the total number of people an individual article or broadcast could be exposed to. Several articles also had high syndication levels, which refers to how many news channels or outlets share the same article or broadcast across platforms. High social echo is another metric IFB monitors. This refers to articles or broadcasts that had high engagement on social media, such as Facebook likes, comments and shares, or tweets/retweets on Twitter.
Illinois Farm Bureau received a wide range of media requests, kicking off the year with questions on Illinois pipeline proposals and rising input costs. Inquiries into renewable energy projects continued into February, but requests shifted dramatically in March with the start of the Russian-Ukraine war. From March through June, media requests were primarily concerned with impacts of the war on U.S. agriculture, fertilizer prices, and authorization of E-15. In May, President Joe Biden visited an Illinois farm in Kankakee, which generated a substantial amount of media coverage, as well as ramping up questions on the Illinois June primary election. With prices rising at historic rates, media coverage also began to focus primarily on input costs and inflation, which continued through the end of the year.
Most Syndicated
- “Drought-stricken Mississippi River creates woes across U.S. region” – As the drought carried on throughout the summer, IFB saw many requests regarding low water levels in the Mississippi River. In October, IFB worked with the Associated Press to coordinate an interview with farmer Adam Thomas and IFB economist Mike Doherty about the issue. The article was picked up by 335 news outlets across the U.S. with a total reach of 598 million people.
Top Social Echo
- “Spreading a little patriotism: Snow flag in Manhattan goes viral” – In February, farmer Dave Kestle went viral in a big way. With winter ushering in a period of downtime, and substantial amounts of snow, Kestle made a roughly 90-foot by 60-foot flag with food coloring on his Manhattan farm. The story went viral on Patch.com, reaching more than 14.3 million people and generating more than 2,300 Facebook interactions (combined posts, likes and comments).
Highest Reach
- “How to watch the Trump rally in Illinois: Time, livestream for GOP event” – The 2022 Illinois primary election in June was closely watched across the state and nation. In the months leading up to the election, there were several events that generated media coverage. This article mentioned ACTIVATOR, IFB’s political action committee, and the candidates the organization endorsed. The individual article from msn.com had the highest audience reach at 204 million people.