The information below has been supplied by dairy marketers and other industry organizations. It has not been edited, verified or endorsed by Hoard’s Dairyman.

Dairy farmers and industry advocates are invited to attend a Driving Dairy Discussions workshop at no cost to help develop confidence in sharing dairy messaging with consumers.

The workshop will be held Tuesday, May 8, at the Mercer County Extension Office, 463 N. Perry Highway, Mercer, with registration and a light breakfast at 9 a.m., and training from 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Lunch will be provided.

Driving Dairy Discussions is an ADA North East program that helps farmers prepare for face-to-face conversations with consumers, by providing the tools to answer questions using a variety of communications techniques and practice scenarios.

“Consumer research shows that nearly 50 percent of adults would ask a dairy farmer about their farming practices, if given the opportunity,” said ADA North East CEO Rick Naczi. “Driving Dairy Discussions prepares our farmers for conversations about general and hot-button issues to help build consumer confidence in dairy.”

“If you’re a dairy farmer and want to support the dairy industry, please consider attending this meeting,” said Jessica Peters, of Spruce Row Farm, Meadville, Pa. “I participated in a training a year ago and learned how to answer people’s questions about what we do. You not only learn what to say, but how to say what you want them to know.”

For more information about Driving Dairy Discussions, or to RSVP by May 7, for the event, contact Amy Leslie at aleslie@milk4u.org, or by cell at 267.6233127.

About American Dairy Association North East

American Dairy Association North East (ADA North East) is the dairy farmer-directed organization funded by participating dairy farmer’s checkoff investment to build demand and sales for milk and dairy foods throughout the local region. Representing nearly 12,000 dairy farm families in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New York, New Jersey and northern Virginia, ADA North East develops and implements local programs to drive milk and dairy sales at retail outlets and in schools. The organization also conducts consumer education about dairy through events, traditional and social media, and in collaboration with health professionals through National Dairy Council®. ADA North East works closely with Dairy Management Inc.™, the national dairy checkoff organization, to support nutrition research, national partnerships and developing export markets for dairy to bring a fully integrated promotion program to the region. For more information, visit www.americandairy.com.