In case you haven’t heard or remembered by now, it’s June Dairy Month!
Now I know as people in the industry that it can feel a little over the top and in your face how often we are reminded that it’s June Dairy Month and we should promote it every day — a bust out your pom poms and hire a band kind of hoorah. I love the enthusiasm and I think the dairy industry has done a great job bringing this month to the public in a fun way. We truly do have so much to promote and celebrate with the greatness of dairy. But I also get that we are very busy people, and adding more on top of a busy time of year feels hard.
We should be ambassadors for our industry year-round. Still, it’s nice to have a whole month where dairy is celebrated on the wider market. It makes it easy to find ways to join in the promotion efforts. And here’s the deal, they don’t have to be over the top!
I love that many people in the industry do go all out during the month by sharing a post on social media every single day or opening their farm up for a tour or farm breakfast. That commitment and effort is truly applauded and appreciated. But it can also feel overwhelming for those who just can’t give that type of commitment. Some years we can do more than others; there’s no need to feel like you aren’t promoting June Dairy Month right by not doing something big.
All the little ways we can promote our industry add up just as much. It can be as easy as helping out your neighbor when they do host a farm tour or breakfast. Share the posts on social media; you don’t have to come up with your own. Thank the person in the grocery line ahead of you who has a gallon of milk or ice cream in their cart. Give out dairy snacks at the next sports event you signed up for. If it works better for you, keep it simple.
No matter how you go about it, enjoy celebrating June Dairy Month!
The author is a third-generation dairy farmer from Oregon where she farms in partnership with her husband and parents. As a mother of young sons who round out the family-run operation as micro managers, Darleen blogs about the three generations of her family working together at Guernsey Dairy Mama. Abiqua Acres Mann's Guernsey Dairy is currently home to 90 registered Guernseys and transitioned to a robotic milking system in 2017.
