2013 Final Wisconsin Farm Technology Days Report

Barron County

Landmark Farms Committee

Committee OverviewLandmark Farms Committee: Responsible for the recruitment of area farms and ag-related small businesses to participate in the Landmark Farm program. The program essentially consisted of a donation by the farms and businesses in return for a package. Package form added as an addendum to this report.

Committee Responsibilities Recruit area farms and ag-related small businesses through newspapers, mailings, word-of-

mouth, and posters. Upon receiving a donation from a “Landmark”, deliver to them their package. Promote, through newspaper and signage, the “Landmarks” of the county.

Committee StructureLandmark Farms Committee – Sub-committee of the Fundraising/Hospitality Committee and PR committee.Structured as follows:

(1) Chair – organized meetings, divvied tasks, tracked progress (1) Executive Secretary (Tim Jergenson) – relayed progress to Executive committee along

with Liaison (2) Executive committee liaisons – relayed progress to Executive committee along with

Secretary. The reason behind having two liaisons was because one of them was also the liaison to the Commemorative tractor committee. We felt it was necessary to have some overlap with that committee because of the fact that the tractor was the main part of our package and this program was an additional avenue in selling the tractors.

(3) Committee Members – active in all aspects. Attended meetings, helped with disbursements of packages, provided input on all decision making. One of the members was also the committee chair for the Commemorative tractor.

BudgetOur initial budget was included into the Fundraising/Hospitality committee’s budget (see attached). We budgeted for 300 Landmarks at $300/each. In hindsight this was a very lofty goal as no previous county had even surpassed 100 Landmarks. We ended up obtaining 128 Landmarks. Also came up with the $300 level based on past shows and the fact that we weren’t primarily focused on making money but more so promoting our local farms and ag-related small businesses.Our initial expenses were estimated at a relatively arbitrary number of $20,000, mostly based on past shows. Upon recognition that this committee should be set up as a separate sub-committee we tracked income and expenses separately from the Fundraising/Hospitality committee.

Our final numbers are as follows;

128 total Landmarks = $43,390 = $339/LandmarkSome Landmarks gave more than the required minimum. We looked at this as just the fact we had some generous donors in this county.

Expenses:Tractors: 131 * $125/each = $16,375A farm could pay an additional $125 to receive both tractors. We estimated our cost at what we were charging for a retail price on all items in the package except our signs.Hats: 128 * $12/each = $1536Carrying Bag: 1000 of these were ordered for the Hospitality committee to use for the Outagamie Co. show. The Hospitality committee allowed us to use the excess at no charge.Cookbooks: 128 * $15/each = $1920Yard Signs: Total Cost = 3898.23

Landmark could receive an additional sign for an extra $20Temporary Sign at Show = $527.50Permanent Sign on Fairgrounds = estimated to be $2500Misc. costs associated with advertising in Country Today = $507.34

Total Expenses = $27,264.07

Net Income = $16,125.93

Timeline 20 – 18 months prior to show

o Brought to the Fundraising committees attention that the PR committee had designated a point person to spearhead the Landmarks. Fundraising committee had already had some discussion on it given the fundraising aspect. Decided at that time to form a Landmark subcommittee. Recruited members and formed a direction and goal.

18-12 months prior to show o Developed our strategy with the contents of the package, and rollout.o Finalized our logo and application form

o Rollout included an initial mailing to an identified 400 or so Farms and small businesses in the county and nearby surrounding areas. Also included some articles in the local newspapers and radio ads explaining the Landmark program. Worked with the PR committee on any media-related activity.

o Had the majority of our package ready by our 2012 Barron Co. Fair. Our show had a booth at the fair with merchandise and other things. We had about 20 Landmarks sign up and it ended up being a great kick-off to our program.

12-9 months prior to show o Never later than a month or two after a Landmark had signed up was their

package delivered. Consistently did this leading up to the show. o Updated all Landmarks on our website as they signed up.o Developed an info brochure on the package and posted that along with our

application form on our website. We decided not do online ordering. They could print the application off on-line and mail to the extension office.

o Procured U-posts, given to us as a donation from one of our major sponsors, for the yard signs to be placed with.

9-6 months prior to show o Continued to roll out the package. Developed a strategy with the Tractor

committee to send a stamped receipt to all Landmarks to be able to pick their tractor up at the show.

o Started discussion on strategy/needs at the show. We weren’t able to deliver the tractors until the show started. Needed a

spot to do that at. Ended up that Barron Co. was given its own tent located right next to headquarters to sell merchandise, the commemorative tractor, and we used that tent to disburse our tractors to the Landmarks. One of our members allowed everyone in the tent to use an enclosed trailer for storage. Worked well.

6-0 months prior to show o Put an article in the local newspapers identifying the Landmarks up to that point.

Also put one in the Country Today’s “FTD” section closer to the show. About 3 weeks prior.

o Decided the deadline on becoming a Landmark would be the last day of the show.

o Discussed with Anna Maenor the deadline on when she needed our listing of Landmarks to be put in the official program. That deadline was 6 weeks prior.

o Constructed a temporary sign of all Landmarks up to about one month prior to the show.

At the ShowSet Up: Our tent was set up in conjunction with the Merchandise and Tractor committees. Set up the day prior to the show. We had about 6-8 individuals who helped set up. Ended up working very well given we had a tent that was sufficient in size to accommodate for 3 committees. Merchandise had one side of the tent and the Tractor/Landmark had the other.

Our committee didn’t need a lot of space as we weren’t selling anything. Other than the trailer, a few tables and chairs were ordered through the Merchandise committee for us to use.

During the show: As Landmarks entered our tent someone from our committee or the Tractor committee checked them off from our master list and gave them their tractor out of the trailer. Worked very well. We had a few Landmarks that didn’t pick up their tractors and those were delivered by one of our members after the show. We divided the staffing by one morning and one afternoon shift, with one person per shift as a requirement. A couple volunteers outside the Landmark and Tractor committee were recruited to help assist in the disbursing of Landmark tractors. In hindsight they weren’t needed as the overall tent was well staffed and other volunteers were knowledgeable enough to help disburse if needed. The chair of our committee and the chair of the Merchandise committee each had a radio. We didn’t need to communicate much with anyone else. If questions arose, the headquarters trailer was next door.

Additional thoughts for a successful Farm Technology Days showAfter the show: Sent a thank you letter to all Landmarks. In that letter also asked them to confirm their recognition wording for the permanent sign. Permanent sign to be done by December 31 st following the show.

Other thoughts: Used the extension office as a central location for the storage of package. When packages were

needed a couple members would make them up and have them available for the people that would be disbursing them. They used a checklist to make sure all the contents were there.

Application with payment was sent to chair of our committee. Credit card pmt. was forwarded to extension office. Check pmt. was forwarded to Treasurer.

Be consistent with the yard sign. We ordered 20 additional yard signs and they ended up being a different size.

The key to us getting 128 Landmarks was that we started the rollout sooner than past counties, about 12 months out. Barron Co. Fair was the key to that kick-off.

For any follow-up questions please contact:

Barry Ranallobranallo@cumberlandfederal.com715-822-2249