GRAND RAPIDS — Carrie Mess, aka Dairy Carrie, loves her cows.
Mess is a Wisconsin dairy farmer and blogger who boldly touts the industry and is a self-proclaimed
“agvocate” for farming practices.
Mess was the keynote speaker Friday at the 22nd annual Women in Ag conference held at Nazareth Hall.
Mess operates a 100-cow dairy in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, and writes “The Adventures of Dairy Carrie, I
Need a Drink” blog. As the title of the blog indicates, Mess is not afraid to push boundaries and stray
from traditional views.
The title for her presentation was “Welcome to the World of Agvocacy.” She said the coined word for being
an agriculture advocate is a challenge to pronounce at first, but it is now hard for her to use any
other way.
“The bottom line for all of this is that we love our cows. We want what’s best for them, and what’s best
for our customers,” she said in a talk to 150 women, from high school students to seniors.
At the conclusion, Mess challenged the women to do one or two things each week. The first idea was to
post something at least once a week regarding agriculture on one or more social media outlets, including
Facebook, Twitter, etc.
The other request was to approach someone in a grocery store and thank them for being a customer. This
was an idea she observed her father-in-law do, and it impressed her.
As she began her talk Friday, Mess showed a video of a Hollywood actress depicting terrible conditions at
a dairy. The message advocated vegan diets and boycotting livestock farms and their products.
“There’s people like this (referring to the video) who will tell our story. If we don’t tell it, they
will.”
She said the other side is loud. “The activists have the time, the money and the power.”
They run emotional tear-jerking videos and seek donations.
“We don’t put a tin can by the mailbox asking for donations to our cause. Has anyone just stopped by your
farm and offered a donation to help?” she asked.
Using a bit of her admitted unusual sense of humor she said, “Our jobs are not sexy. You’re not going to
see a television series about corn growing. — Is it going to tassel yet? Tune it next week to see.”
Instead Mess said, “What we are is slow and steady. Farmers have knowledge, passion and trust. People who
buy our food trust us.”
She also dared to contradict the often-heard message that “We need to educate the people about farming.
That is wrong. What we need to do is help influence them about our ways.”
She explained if you say someone needs to be educated, it’s implying she is dumb. Like the negative video
influences people in an adverse way about agricultural practices, the farmers need to engage one on one,
as well as through social media outlets to share the positive aspects.
“Emotions matter, how can farmers influence their customers? Tell your story. I told you my story today.
I tell it on my blog, You need to tell your story,” Mess said.
Speaking of the approach of thanking a stranger, she was with her father-in-law when he approached a
stranger buying milk in a convenience store. He smiled, extended his hand and thanked her for being a
customer.
“She may see that video, but she will remember that farmer who thanked her personally,” she said. “You
need those one-on-one conversations.”
Mess cited the old saying, “People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”
A few years back she helped organize truckloads of hay to be delivered from Wisconsin to farmers and
ranchers in Texas during a severe drought.
“I have learned I am part of an amazing community — part of an amazing industry,” she said.
Mess is not shy about admitting there can be issues on some bad farms, but that is not the majority.  

“Sometimes we are mean to a cow,” was one of the topics she addressed on her blog. When taken out of
context, it can appear to be out of line.
“I’m not everyone’s cup of tea, but we all need to tell our story. We all have different networks so, how
are you telling your story?”