Earned Media Update: Drought continues dominating news cycle through July
Each month, Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) facilitates media interviews with mainstream news channels on a variety of agricultural topics. Subsequent interviews are monitored and measured based on the number of media placements, potential audience reach, and advertisement value equivalency (AVE) to provide insight into the volume and reach of IFB’s messaging as a top news source for Illinois agriculture. Continuing past month trends, IFB maintained a steady pace of media requests in July. Major topics in July included drought, weather, and climate change. Other trending news topics agriculture conservation, wheat harvest, and crop insurance.
From July 1 through July 31, 2023, IFB fielded 23 interview requests from print/online publications, radio and TV news outlets, generating 363 news placements and potentially reaching 363.6 million people, which had an advertisement value equivalency (AVE) of around $3.36 million.
For comparison, in July 2022, IFB facilitated 16 media interviews, which yielded 272 placements and potentially reached around 54.5 million people, an estimated AVE of $504,952.
IFB remains a top source for agriculture news. We continue to work with national, state and local news outlets on a variety of topics. To keep up with the latest news media coverage featuring IFB farm members, visit IFB’s “In the News” webpage. The webpage can be accessed under the “Resources” tab at www.ilfb.org. To check out the latest media coverage, visit: www.ilfb.org/in-the-news/.
Several Illinois Farmers were featured recently in a variety of print, TV, radio, and podcast interviews on drought and climate coverage. IFB launched the ‘In the News’ webpage to highlight recent media coverage and thank farmers who take time out of their busy schedules to speak with members of the news media.
Recently, Illinois farmers attending the recent Piatt, Macon & DeWitt County Nutrient Stewardship Field Day spoke on balancing conservation practices and profitability with WBEZ-Chicago (NPR). The article was published on both the WBEZ-Chicago and Chicago Sun Times website, potentially reaching a large audience of both urban and rural stakeholders.
More importantly, the articles uplifted farmers’ voices to highlight the ongoing volunteer efforts to protect soil health and improve water quality.
Participating farmers were Michelle Carr, Macon County; Jake Lieb, Piatt County; Jared Gregg, Piatt County; IFB Director Robert Klemm, DeWitt County; and IFB Director Larry Dallas, Douglas County.
“Anything we can do to keep the soil from washing away, or blowing away, and keep our nutrients in the field rather than going downstream we’re wanting to do because fertilizer is very expensive, and you can’t replace the soil,” Lieb, told WBEZ.
Read the full article at WBEZ-Chicago (NPR) here.
July Top Reach, Syndication, and Social Echo
July was a busy month for earned media coverage. Several articles had exceptional potential audience reach, the highest being 60.2 million. Many articles had high syndication levels, which refers to how many news channels share the same article across platforms. A few articles achieved high social echo, which refers to articles or broadcasts that had high engagement on social media.
Highest Reach
- “O’Fallon Around Town – July 6 edition” – This round up of news in the O’Fallon area discussed how three farmers markets are now accepting SNAP and Link Match. Illinois Farm Bureau partnered with Food Works and the Illinois Farmers Market Association to support the program at the markets. The article was syndicated and picked up by Yahoonews.com. The Yahoo article had a potential audience reach of 60.2 million.
Most Syndicated
- “Central U.S. is now getting worst of the drought. Corn crops are stressed, rivers are running low” – This article originated with the Associated Press and featured an interview with Peoria farmer Mike Shane. The article discussed the ongoing drought across the Midwest and Illinois. It was picked up by more than 300 newspapers in Illinois.
Top Social Echo
- “Analysis: Decades of U.S. corn export dominance fade as Brazil seizes top supplier crown” – This Reuters article discussed how U.S. corn exports are falling behind Brazil. Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert was interviewed for the article. The article had the highest social media engagement with 132 Facebook interactions (likes, comments, shares) and 81 Twitter interactions (tweets, quote retweets, likes, comments).
Looking ahead to a busy August, news requests continue to focus on the impacts of drought on crop progress, State Fair and Farm Progress Show. Both events provide us the opportunity to continue promoting passage of the 2023 Farm Bill.
For additional information or questions, please contact IFB Media Relations Specialist Sierra Henry at shenry@ilfb.org or Director of Issue Management DeAnne Bloomberg at dbloomberg@ilfb.org.