How The EcoDairy Museum Teaches Visitors About Agriculture

Posted by Carol Miller|February 19, 2016

During the North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association (NAFDMA) Convention in British Columbia, attendees made an unusual stop at a dairy that was part functional farm, but even more it was an educational venue: the EcoDairy.

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Large photos have an emotional impact

In different places throughout the museum, the EcoDairy had large format photos that had our group pausing to look and smile. These types of resting points help make the more educational displays sink in.
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The theater at EcoDairy

The theater was impressive and looked prohibitively expensive at first glance. But a closer look showed that the equipment was the same many home theaters use, with a projector, and screen.
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Audience in the EcoDairy movie room

The EcoDairy created risers in the theater and installed more expensive seating. Swap out the chairs with benches, and you have a theater set up farm markets can easily afford.
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Car charging station

Consumers worry about the news stories they hear about how agriculture is polluting rivers, lakes, and the ocean. If you can find a real-world way to show how your farm is helping protect the environment, it will go a long way to building trust with your customers.
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Chow for Cows

No fact is too small to earn a display. What do you feed your crop? What can you teach visitors about that?
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Dung display

And no fact is too gross! Kids love being disgusted, so long as it's in a safe manner like this exhibit.
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Self-grooming brush

Even unglamorous items like this cow hide brush were given the museum treatment.
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Cushy Cows display

Many of the EcoDairy's practices are new or not widely practiced. It made sure it explained why each method was being used in displays like this one.
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Tongue Twisters sign

Like an art gallery, the EcoDairy had signs next to their stand-alone displays. This one set up a series of photos with cows sticking their tongues out in highly inventive ways.
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Tongue Twisters photo display

This is such a simple idea: hang a series of related photos in identical frames and spotlight it with signage and lighting. No matter the topic of the photos (even if it's of cows poking their tongues out), it gives the images importance.
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Milk tasting at EcoDairy

If you produce the best milk around, why not show it off with a milk-tasting station? The same idea can work for any farm, especially those that produce ciders and juices.

The cows receive care that follows the latest research in sustainable dairy farming. They had gel beds to lie upon, each had names, and the cows decided when they wanted to be milked by entering a milking robot. Each of these, our tour guide told us, was designed to increase the amount of milk.

A good portion of the building, however, was dedicated to a museum, complete with exhibits, theater and activities.

Farm marketers struggle with how to educate the public about what farming involves. When we asked farmers about their greatest concerns with dealing with the public in our State of the Industry Surveys in 2015, education emerged as the No. 1 issue. The EcoDairy, with its well-funded emphasis on education, has several ideas that any farm can adapt for their own use.