"Be persistent and have a thick skin"

Editor's note: Here you will find an agricultural reporting example of enterprise journalism. This approach is what Wikipedia defines as reporting that is generated not by news or news releases, but rather through sources developed by a reporter or news organization.
In this case, reporter Betsy Freese - as Livestock Editor of Successful Farming magazine (U.S.) - used her initiative to establish a highly-read annual series known as "Pork Powerhouses." Content that she gathered and reported came from sources she identified, established and has maintained across the years. From the start, "Pork Powerhouses" has been valued nationally.
We hope you enjoy and get helpful ideas from her explanation of how this series originated and what she has experienced in working with it. Jim Evans.

About the author: Betsy Freese is Editor in Chief of Living the Country Life, LLC, which includes a magazine, web site, television show, and radio network. Freese is president of the North American Agricultural Journalists and a past president of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association. Before joining Living the Country Life, Freese was the Livestock Editor of Successful Farming magazine, to which she still contributes.

How did you come upon the "Pork Powerhouse" idea, and when?

I got a call from Ernie Barnes at the National Pork Producers Council in the spring of 1994. He was getting questions about the rapid expansion by some of the nation’s pork producers, but NPPC was not allowed to divulge information about its members. Ernie wondered if I could dig up the sow numbers, and offered his help. I thought it sounded like fun.

How did you develop your approach?

I started at the top of the list, and called Murphy Farms in North Carolina to find out what they were doing. Trusted sources in that company helped me develop contacts with the other large producers. I visited several operations that were growing rapidly, including Premium Standard Farms in Missouri. Some of the companies were easy to work with and some were not. I found over the years that companies who did not want to share information were often in financial trouble.

How did/do you gather information for Pork Powerhouse updates?

I keep running files on each large farm. When I see something in the news about them, or hear a comment from someone in the industry, I make a note in their file. That way when I call them to update sow numbers I have background research in hand. I know if they have bought or built a farm or sold part of their operation. I usually hear if they are having financial difficulty.

What difficulties and challenges have faced you in planning and carrying out this series? Examples?

One producer threatened me with harm if I reported his sow numbers. He went bankrupt soon afterwards and disappeared from the industry. One company complained to my employer. I struggled to get reliable information from a few operations in the 1990s. When the cooperatives were first building sow farms, they did not want their farmer-members to know and were not happy with my reports.

What special satisfactions have you found?

I hope I have helped pork producers better prepare for the future. The sow numbers I collect each year show expansion and integration in the largest portion of the industry. So far there has been no contraction among the Pork Powerhouses list overall, but I’m predicting that will happen in the next year.

What tips or advice would you offer for succeeding in this entrepreneurial kind of agricultural reporting?

• Be persistent and have a thick skin.
• Keep lots of notes and refer back to them.
• Build a bank of trusted sources in the industry and routinely interview them, even if it is off the record.

Read recent articles about the Pork Powerhouses

• "The big squeeze: Pork Powerhouses 2008"
• "Pork Powerhouses 2007"

Some other resources about enterprise reporting

• "Making the case for enterprise" 
• "The essence of enterprise"

What examples of enterprise reporting have you used - or seen used in agricultural reporting?

Please send them to Jim Evans at evansj(at)illinois.edu

Thank you.

(This professional development feature is provided through a partnership of IFAJ and the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, University of Illinois.)