It’s the new mantra in agriculture: tell your own story.

I hear it all the time – from advocates like the American Farm Bureau to popular farm bloggers to the wired folks at Agchat.

Farmers and ranchers are being told to take their respective cases to the American people to educate folks on food.

“We need to get the message out, so kids know there’s more to food than going out and buying it in the stores,” U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., told the American Agri-Women Conference in Nebraska City, Neb., last week, according to the Syracuse (Neb.) Journal-Democrat.

Johanns, a former Ag Secretary in the George W. Bush administration, encouraged the women to talk to school kids and host farm tours so the public can learn that farmers and ranchers take good care of their animals and their land.

Here’s an easy way to do that: sign up for the Harvest Network.

We’re building a grassroots reporting team, offering you the chance to share your expertise and insight in our reporting. By signing up here and telling us what you’re interested in, we can then reach out to you when we’re reporting on a story that might be of interest to you.

Tell us what we’re doing wrong – or right. Share your personal story with us. Or give us tips on stories we’re missing.

The Harvest Network is completely confidential – it’s simply used a journalistic reporting tool. If you have any questions, drop me a line at peggylowe@harvestpublicmedia.org. I’m happy to talk to you about any concerns or questions.

Become a source for Harvest Public Media and tell your own story.