Wilkinson trains and directs the training of a corps of grassroots spokespersons now numbering more than 1,500. Activity reports sent into NCA show that the participating cattle people have reached more than 90 million persons with the message that cattlemen care about their families, about the environment, about their local communities, about their cattle, about the safety and healthfulness of their products. Wilkinson works with 33 affiliated state cattle associations and state beef councils in training and coordinating spokesperson programs. Counting additional individuals who have been through the training, the program now has spokespersons in 47 states. NCA provides the spokespersons with basic information and data on key issues.
State organizations provide statistical data on the cattle business in their states.
Then all of this is personalized by the local spokespersons. They tell specifically what they do, on their own farms and ranches, to conserve resources and improve conditions for wildlife. The best public relations is doing good and then telling about it. Well, these people really do good, and then we help train them on how to communicate what they do and why. Each person determines what he or she cares most about.